In March 2008 I will be chaperoning a group of 36 students aged 15 -18 for two weeks to Europe. We fly into Paris (4 nights), TGV to Avignon (2 nights), TGV to Carcassonne (2 nights), charter coach to Barcelona (3 nights) and end up in Valencia (3 nights) for Festival Fallas.

Because I am an educator I reinforce with my students that this is an educational experience, not a holiday. We are planning a "movie night" in January which will feature movies (or portions of movies) that have particular relevance to the sites we will be visiting. Ideally, we are looking for movies shot at these sites, but more importantly they should demonstrate relevance to what we will be seeing. Initial thoughts include "Marie Antoinette". I've been told the castle scenes of "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" were filmed at Carcassonne. Can anyone validate this? Is there a film that features Guadi's achievements in Barcelona?

We hope to pull scenes from 3 or 4 movies, serve pizza and get us in the mood to "be there".

Looking for suggestions from those in the know.

Check this out:

http://www.amazon.com/Antonio-Gaudi-.../dp/6305669430

teacherCanada:

Just to avoid any misunderstanding:

Antoni Gaudi is NOT praised in Europe. His architecture is considered as "kitsch". His architectural style (a version of art nouveau) was a dead-end road. The only artist who followed this way (who was not an architect) was Hundertwasser.

The mainstream of European architecture followed the Bauhaus style - also in Barcelona.

For Paris, I strongly suggest "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" (The Fabulous Life of Amélie Poulain). It gives a quite good impression of life in Paris (albeit exaggerated).

"Camille Claudel" is interesting for late 19th century Paris, and of course Claudel and Rodin.

"Surviving Picasso" for post-war Paris, and although Barcelona is not featured in the movie Picasso is of course closely associated with that city.

If you are not looking for historical films, but more for films that shot on location and give you a feeling for what you will see - what about L'auberge Espanol? It was billed as a "Friends" type of thing - young europeans all living together in an apartment in Barcelona. There is at least one scene that takes place at the Gaudi Cathedral. It is also a favorite movie of both of my teens.

And yes, Robin Hood was filmed partially at Carcassone. Check out the website www.imdb.com (Internet Movie Data Base). You can actually do a search for locations. And ditto the suggestion of "Amelie" - I think there are even tours that take you to all the places in Paris that Amelie visits. And again, a great movie for teens to watch in general.

I just watched this film last week, Netflix is wonderful. But, I think I would watch it first before showing it to students. Just to be on the safe side.

Nlingenfel - which movie are you refering to? Thank you to all of you who have offered suggestions. I have heard of Amelie. My next task is to try to locate some of these titles in rural southern Ontario. We are not a hotbed for foreign films.

AtlTravelr - any suggestions how I might be able to snag a copy of "L'auberge Espanol"?

Does Netflix offer a free trial? or maybe you can sign up for 1 month.

You choose your movies from a huge selection online and they are mailed to you in a couple of days. You just drop them in the mail to return them. You can sign up to have 1 movie at a time, or up to 3, I believe. It's a great service.

teacher - I show that you can buy Auberge Espanol (drop the L when searching) on Amazon for $5.49 (and I guess that is even cheaper when using the $Cdn!). Also, poster above may be referring to this movie when he says to screen it first. As I said - it is sort of like "Friends" so it is a group of young Europeans living together doing what young people might do - i.e. going out and getting drunk, having sex, etc. Though as I recall the sex was not graphic visually but there is a scene where the Belgium girl explains to the French boy how to please a woman. I watched this with my high school age daughter and son and squirmed just a bit but I'd still highly recommend it.

Also - another post is on this board titled "I Love Paris" and it is referring to the name of a movie - Paris J'teaime (sorry for my French spelling!). It sounds like another good choice and it apparantly just came out on DVD - seach for the post to read more.

I learned everything I know about European culture from Eurotrip!

I was a huge fan of Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" as a teenager and while I was studying in Montpellier in college I made a point of going to Carcassonne, which I simply had to visit after seeing it in the movie! The city is completely recognizable in the movie. Despite being a huge tourist magnet, Carcassonne really is an amazingly well-restored walled city and your students will love it. Have fun!

Just watched Avenue Montaigne recently out on DVD with some great views of Paris. Before Sunset also has nice views of the city as the main characters are walking through it.

According to my Netflix info, Paris je t'aime was just released on DVD. I didn't see it in the theater but it sounds perfect for your purposes.

IMHO and re. Carcassonne I would be thinking of a movie which tells the story of the Catharists (sp?).
Sounds a bit more relevant for the region than the fact that the castle was used for shooting a movie that has nothing to do with the area.
Unfortunately, I am no movies expert, so I cannot come up with a good suggestion.

I think that cowboy is referring to the Cathars.

Hi teacherCanada,

If I may ask about your trip .. are you traveling by using one of the student tour companies, and if so, which one?

Many thanks!

To help with your request, the poster who recommended searching the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/) has probably a good idea. Just a keyword search of Valencia brought up a movie that is all about the region, among other hits.

To search by filming locating, I've discovered that you can do a keyword search, get the results, go down to the bottom of the page, click the "more," and then you can click filming location (it's so nice to learn something new!)

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I will explore www.imdb. I will need to do a little research on the movies "avenue Montaigne" and "Paris, je t'aime". Portions of the Da Vinci Code may also be suitable for display. As you may have surmised, I'm not interested in showing a full length feature as much as I would like to have the participants get a feel for the area, its geography and history. I feel they will take greater ownership of the experience if they have greater foreknowledge of what to expect. Also, I'll be able to relate the real site to the images they'll remember from the films. Examples would be shots in the Louvre from the Da Vinci Code, Carcassonne from Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, etc.

Scotlib, I would be pleased to tell you more of what we do for our travel planning. We are required by our school board to use a travel professional because of liability and insurance issues. But, I am not a lover of packaged tours (such as EF or Explorica).

Our compromise is the following: With a great amount of research from fellow travellers, reading and this message board, I develop a trip itinerary with as much detail as possible and then forward it to 5 or 6 companies that specialize in group travel and ask each to quote what they would charge to fill our needs. I ask them to make any suggestions or improvements (things I might have missed and things they would be aware of because of their expertise). I am honest with each and tell them we will work with the company that best meets our needs. We have always travelled without a tourguide choosing to increase the adventure quotient. This trip (March 2008) is the first year we will use one. I'll let everyone know whether it is a success.

Even though we are from Ontario, we are using a travel company based in Edmonton, Alberta. I will forward their name to you if you wish.

To give you an idea of costs, 36 students, 4 complimentary chaperones, student cost $3400 each. Cost includes all accommodation, insurance, transportation (including air from Canada), all meals except lunches which we prefer to get locally (to enrich student experiences) and entry to all attractions (and there are lots). Hope this helps - please let me know if you have any further questions.

Many thanks, teacherCanada, for the information you've shared.

For my first trip of taking students to Europe we used EF Tours. Had an okay trip, and for a lot less money, but then the experience was also a lot thinner, I'm sure.

When did you start planning your trip and put out the proposal to the group travel companies? Are you using the same one this time as past trips?

I do hope to catch any trip report you post about your trip. We're considering some of the same places for our next school trip. I learned about the Festival Fallas just recently, and that certainly looked like an interesting experience!

Many thanks for your time!

scotlib - EF is one of the companies we ask to quote on our trips. Once we factor in membership costs ($99), optional excursions (up to $400) and other things like higher quality meals and access to more tourist sites the prices are nearly the same. We like to customize our adventures (for example we will be attending a football match in Barcelona in March). Organizing the tour also gives the chaperones control over timing, for instance if we want to change our itinerary and stay an extra 3 hours shopping we can do so without getting permission or affecting another group. EF will do custom itineraries, but they cost more than our trips. I've never travelled with EF and would certainly consider them if we were "on the same page". In Canada EF has a very good reputation for delivering what they promote. Our trips are usually longer than EF's package trips. In March we are away for 16 days.

We start our planning about 20 months prior to travel, choose our travel professionals about 17 months prior to travel and get board approval about 15 or 16 months before departure. We try to give students as much time to earn money or fund raise as we can. Student make their first deposit about 16 months before departure and make about 3 more payments during the next 12 months. Our trip costs include a comprehensive insurance package.

For many years we used an Ontario travel agency, Ellison Travel. They did a very good job and I would recommend them to others. We switched to Mariden Travel who now have an office in Ontario because they offered a slightly better itinerary, a 24/7 guide and a higher hotel rating for just a little more money. So far we have been pleased with what they have done for us. The true test comes on the trip.

If you wish I can forward to you via email our initial proposal to travel agents and our present itinerary. That might give you an idea you can work to your advantage.

I have never posted trip reports on Fodor's because this board focuses more on individual and family travel than school groups. I would certainly consider doing so if I felt there was interest.

You can contact me at [email protected] if you wish further information

Thanks for the contact info. I'll write direct for the detail stuff.

If you do post a report after your trip, I believe everyone always looks for feedback on hotels, good restaurants, and interesting museums or events. Also, when you have the teen angle, that would be very helpful for ideas for families taking teens to Europe.

Cheers!

I'd love to read a trip report from a school trip.