The Tate Modern is London’s premier modern art museum, featuring works from 1900 to the present. It is home to some of the world’s best contemporary art, including Pablo Picasso’s The Three Dancers, Salvador Dali’s Autumnal Cannibalism, and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych.

Named for Sir Henry Tate, a 19th-century sugar merchant from Liverpool, the museum is housed in the former Bankside Power Station. Organized by theme as opposed to chronology, the gallery allows its artwork to dialogue between past and present. Entrance to the main collection is free, and don’t miss the spectacular view of London’s skyline from the terrace of the Switch House annex.

This Elective will be led by Ms. Beebe.

Unearth medieval history at this nearly 1,000 year old UNESCO World Heritage Site.The Tower has housed thousands of prisoners and has borne witness to some of the most gruesome executions in England’s history. Come explore where Anne Boylen was executed, Elizabeth I held captive, and where Margaret Pole lost her head (on the 11th swipe of the axe, no less). Be sure to look for the White Lady, the Tower’s resident spirit, and be on the watch for any of the six ravens that must live on Tower grounds (rumor has it the Crown will fall if the ravens leave the Tower). Not into medieval gore? The tower also houses the crown jewels (worth over 32 billion pounds), and has served as a menagerie, the Royal palace, and the Royal mint. 

This Elective will be led by Ms. Schol.

With collections themed by all the regions of the world and over 8 million items in its collection -- it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast collection of the British Museum. Artifacts preserved there encompass more of the history of human society, art, and culture in one place than you are likely to encounter anywhere else on earth. The museum is best known for its Egyptian collection -- which of course includes items that presage our tour of the catacombs in Paris -- mummies and their beautiful cases, as well as tomb decorations, funerary masks, and canopic jars. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing the item that made understanding much of these ancient cultures possible -- the Rosetta Stone. Before I go I’m going to review a podcast series called A History of the World in 100 Objects. Produced by the BBC in 2010 -- it gives you a good sense of the wide variety of cultures and histories represented in the British Museum -- as well as introducing you to objects with scholars and historians guidance. If you want to understand the present, sometimes it helps to take a look at the past and you can experience more history in one place at the British Museum than anywhere else.

This Elective will be led by Ms. Floto and Ms. Lawrence.

In LOVE with fashion? Want to discover the history of shoes, underwear, and wedding dresses? Come join Ms. Floto on an excursion through the world of high fashion at the Victoria and Albert museum. With an impressive collection of over 28,000 fashion and jewelry items that span over 5000 years of art and design, you'll have plenty to marvel over in the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design.

This Elective will be led by Ms. Floto.

A true masterpiece does not tell everything.

― Albert Camus

Immerse yourself in the brushstrokes of the masters as you look upon the works of Cézanne, Vermeer, Monet, Seurat, Rubens, van Eyck, Rembrandt, da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The National Gallery is an ideal place to broaden your experience with art. Let each canvas captivate you as you make your way through hundreds of years of artwork, exalting in the beauty of these masterpieces and the ages-old secrets they might contain. 

This Elective will be led by a Tour Manager.

This Elective will be led by Mr. Dokko.

Click the button below for the Self-Guided Tour!

“(N)ot to thine eternal resting-place/Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish/ Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down / With patriarchs of the infant world … the wise, the good, /Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, /All in one mighty sepulchre.” -- from “Thanatopsis”, by Bryant

One mighty sepulchure indeed. This is how William Cullen Bryant described the earth -- and I believe climbing down into the catacombs of Paris will make this poetic idea even more real. Underneath Paris there is a labyrinth of quarry tunnels -- all of which are referred to as “catacombs,” but only a portion of these tunnels are a true ossuary. The bones entombed here are a result of moving bodies from overflowing and ancient cemeteries all over the city. Some of the people contained within this ossuary died over 1,200 years ago. This tour is meant for able bodied people who are ok with enclosed spaces filled with millions of human bones. If that sounds like you, we may just be friends. ;)

This Elective will be led by Ms. Lawrence and Ms. Schol.

Famous for its collections, the Musée du Louvre is home to paintings, drawings, sculptures, jewelry, textiles, and more. Under this massive glass pyramid, you can feast your eyes upon the Mona Lisa and decide for yourself whether she smiles or not. You can gaze upon the cuneiform text on the Code of Hammurabi, or cast your eyes upon the stunning Venus de Milo. There are simply too many great works to list them all–come explore what you will in this stunning museum.  

This Elective will be led by a Tour Manager.

Built with enormous colorful tubing and exterior escalators that offer stunning views of Paris, Centre Pompidou houses a vast public library, a center for music and acoustic research, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne. The museum features contemporary art from the 20th and 21st centuries, including artists such as Otto Dix, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.

Centre Pompidou is named for former French President and passionate modern art advocate, Georges Pompidou. The museum is the largest museum for modern art in Europe and the second largest modern art museum in the world (MOMA in New York is #1).

This Elective will be led by Ms. Beebe.

Overwhelmed by large museums? Can't get enough of Monet? Then the Musée de l'Orangerie is for you! This museum offers eight large murals by the famous artist as well as a video arrangement of the many meanings behind his iconic Water Lilies. It also contains works by Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir. It is quaint and yet impressive!  

Once you're done, you can walk over to the Place de la Concorde where they publicly executed King Louis 16th and Marie Antoinette. It's also close to the Tuileries Gardens where you can take in picturesque landscapes. Death and Serenity --always a great combination!  

This Elective will be led by Ms. Floto.

TBD, enrollment limited to 25 adults.

This Elective will be led by Mr. Dokko.