The following itinerary is subject to change.
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Depart with your fellow Gamecocks on an overnight flight to France. Be sure to sleep on the plane because we will hit the ground running once we land at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris on Wednesday morning.
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Bonjour! Arrive in Paris and board a private motor coach for a three-hour drive to the Normandy region in Northern France. Light refreshments will be served on the bus and we will stop en route so you can purchase lunch. Upon our arrival in Arromanches, we will spend the afternoon visiting the D-Day 360 Museum. Finally, we will check into our hotel and have dinner.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. After breakfast at the hotel, we will visit the American Cemetery in Brittany for a tribute ceremony, where the Marching Southerners will participate in a mass band performance of “Hymn to the Fallen.” After having lunch on your own in Saint-James, we will visit the one-of-a-kind medieval town of Mont-Saint-Michel. We will return to the hotel for dinner.
Friday, June 7, 2024
After breakfast at your hotel, we will travel to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, where the Marching Southerners’ will participate in a mass band performance of “Hymn of the Fallen” at a wreath laying and commemoration ceremony. Walk down historic Omaha Beach. In the afternoon, we will visit Bayeux before returning to the hotel for dinner.
Saturday, June 8, 2024
After breakfast at the hotel, we will travel to the first town liberated by American troops, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, where the Marching Southerners will participate in a Musical Salute to Liberation and march in a D-Day Memorial Parade. Then, we will make the three-hour drive back to Paris, where we will check into our new hotel and enjoy dinner.
Sunday, June 9, 2024
After breakfast at the hotel, we will visit the one and only Eiffel Tower. Enjoy lunch on your own before we spend the afternoon on a guided tour of the city, including Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, the Opera House and Montmartre. We will enjoy dinner and nightlife in Montmartre before we return to the hotel.
Monday, June 10, 2024
After breakfast at the hotel, we will head to the world’s most visited museum, the Louvre, to view rare artwork including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. Enjoy some free time to explore Paris on your own and shop for souvenirs before we gather together for a special farewell dinner.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Au revoir, Paris! After breakfast we will depart for the Charles de Gaulle Airport and start our journey home, returning with a lifetime of memories.
Jacksonville State University's famed Marching Southerners performed at Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee in London in 2012, at the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 2016 and in the World Peace Day Parade at the Vatican in 2019. Now, the Sudler Trophy winners have been invited to perform in Normandy, France, in June 2024 to observe the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Join this once-in-a-lifetime trip to France to pay tribute to the brave soldiers who fought to liberate Western Europe from Nazi control and change the course of World War II.
The Tour de France, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games share an impact that goes way beyond the sphere of competition. Both with more than one hundred years history and sharing the same spirit that existed between their two creators, Henri Desgrange and Pierre de Coubertin, they have often been linked by the exploits of their mutual champions, from André Leducq who made his debut on the international scene at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris before twice winning the Grande Boucle, to Bradley Wiggins opening proceedings at the London Games dressed in yellow, just after the first British triumph on Le Tour in 2012. These two “monuments” also stood out through their popularity and the unique enthusiasm that they inspired millions of spectators.
The coming together of the Tour de France and the Paris 2024 bid committee is therefore perfectly natural and absolutely constructive. It will take shape throughout the entire 104th edition of the Tour de France, which is enthusiastically throwing its weight behind the Paris 2024 bid. From Düsseldorf to Paris, athletes promoting the bid will be involved in presentation of the Yellow Jersey, starting with Laura Flessel, the French Minister for Sport, and finishing with Tony Estanguet, Joint Chairman of the bid committee, invited to present the jersey to the outright winner on the Champs-Elysées.
On the route, the riders on the Tour de France will also have several opportunities to put the spotlight on the Paris 2024 bid. Firstly, by completing kilometre 2024 on the stage between Pau and Peyragudes on 13th July, two months to the day before the final vote by the IOC members in Lima to choose the host of the 2024 Olympic Games. On that day, the Tour de France will be welcoming Bernard Lapasset, Joint Chairman of the Paris 2024 bid committee.
A little further on, the Tour de France will spend a whole day in Marseilles for the decisive time-trial, with the start and finish at the Stade Vélodrome, a venue which is intended to host the Olympic football tournament. Similarly, the route of the time-trial will take in Promenade Georges Pompidou, which looks over the site proposed to host the sailing events.
The Tour de France will then have the opportunity to display the proximity between Marseilles and Paris, because the finishes of these two last stages are only separated by a little more than 24 hours. As it gets to grips with the final circuit in the French capital, the pack will have the unique and unprecedented opportunity to cross the nave of the Grand Palais, which is in line to play host to the fencing and taekwondo events in 2024, for a simply magical finish!