Excursions

Educational Trips on the Knox Program in Besancon

Group Excursions
As a participant in the Besançon program, you'll take several trips (which are included in the cost of the program) as a group throughout the school year. The first trip is a three-day fall trip to Paris, which will give you an introduction to the city's high points, before turning you loose to explore monuments and museums on your own.

As a group you'll explore the historic Louvre Museum and the extensive Musee d'Orsay. In addition, the Program provides tickets for a contemporary play or a classical play at the Comédie Française.

Short trips may also be taken to the region surrounding Besançon, with its vineyards, wine cellars, and picturesque villages. Ornans, with Gustave Courbet'shome and museum, and Arbois, where Louis Pasteur lived, are rich cultural sites nearby.

One of the highlights of the Spring term is a three-day trip to the châteaux of the Loire region or to another historically significant region of France. This trip may include visits to cathedrals and castles dating from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, such as Chartres, with its famous cathedral, or le Mont-Saint-Michel, "The Wonder of The West".

Opportunities for Involvement
As a participant in Knox's program in France, you'll be encouraged to become involved in one or more activities that will bring you in contact with the local community, especially with young French men and women with whom you share common interests. With a student population of some 25,000, you'll find that Besançon offers a wealth of clubs, sports, and cultural events.

Recent program participants have been active members of the following organizations and sports: theater group, university chorus, youth orchestra, cooking classes, fencing team, soccer, rowing, basketball, handball, skiing and climbing. In addition to athletic facilities at the university, there are several private gyms and health clubs in Besançon, plus a municipal swimming pool.