Bricklynites Join Residents of Other Inland Cities on “Rogue Schoolers” Trip to France

September 23, 2024

by Gloria Vanderbrick, Bricklyn Eagle People in the News correspondent.

Rave reviews are in from 17 participants hailing from Inland communities across America who joined a recent expedition to France focusing on art and artists.

Among the travelers’ reactions: “An exhilarating trip;” “history and beauty surrounded us;” “incredible food and drink;” “wonderful to meet our LEGO hosts in the Realm of Paris;” “learned so much in just ten days;” “delighted to travel with residents from other LEGO cities, and make new friends.”

For much of the trip, the Rogue Schoolers (as they are called) — led by the knowledgeable, intrepid, red beret-topped Jennifer Brickdon — travelled along the Yonne and Seine Rivers on a French passenger barge that slowly made its way from the Cathedral City of Sens towards the City of Light and Love, Paris.

Photo of Rogue Schoolers group. The name Rogue Schoolers was apparently based on a member of the League of Inland Cities hearing an Outland visitor say he was traveling in Bricklyn with “Rogue Schoolers.” Investigation by The Bricklyn Eagle determined that the visitor, apparently under the influence, slurred the words “Road Scholars” so that it sounded like he was saying Rogue Schoolers. This whimsical Rogue Schoolers moniker stuck and was used by the League of Inland Cities when naming their new travel program.

*Note that all photos and illustrations in this post, unless otherwise noted, were taken*
*with the assistance of Dall E-3 Chat GPT.*

Among the Rogue Schoolers’ trip highlights were visits to:

Auguste Renoir’s home in the tranquil Village of Essoyes;

the imposing and extravagantly decorated Château de Fontainebleau;

the artists’ Village of Barbizon, home of the founders of the Barbizon School of painting;

the historic Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, which came to serve as the model for Versailles;

*Rogue Schoolers in front of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte.*

Vincent Van Gogh’s residence in Auvers-Sur-Oise, where he painted daily during the two months before his death;

The home (and now museum) of the talented, and under-recognized, artist and sculptor Camille Claudel; and

Claude Monet’s home and extraordinary beautiful gardens at the village of Giverny.

Getting from Bricklyn to Paris

Meeting of the League of Inland Cities. — *Meeting of member realms of the League of Inland Cities. Photo from The Bricklyn Eagle archives.*

The League of Inland Cities sponsored the Rogue Schoolers trip as a pilot project to broaden tourism between Outland and Inland cities around the world.

Fortunately, the next generation of high speed passenger jets recently put in service by Brick Air has more than halved the travel time for the 3400 mile flight between Bricklyn, VT (hub of Brick Air) and Paris, France.

A flight which used to take over 50 hours now takes just a little over 20 hours. The planes offer comfortable seating and multiple in-flight entertainment options.

📍 Editor’s Note: As previously described in our report on Bricklyn’s new high-speed rail service, there are striking speed differences between LEGO and non-LEGO modes of transportation. The new Brick Air jets have a maximum speed of a remarkable 166 mph — equivalent to 1200 mph for human-built supersonic jets.

The Rogue Schoolers trip was also facilitated by residents of the Lego-based Realm of Paris, which is located in the basement of an undisclosed house in Paris’ “Marais” neighborhood. The location borders the old city wall, which is similar in many ways to the Great Wall of Bricklyn.

Residents of the Realm of Paris graciously provided accommodations to the Rogue Schoolers group while in Paris, and helped arrange travel outside of Paris, including the barge voyage along the Yonne and Seine rivers.

Given the notable success of this first Rogue Schoolers trip, tour organizer and guide Jennifer Brickdon is confident that many more LEGO visitors will follow. ✥

📍 Editor’s Note: Coincidentally the LEGO Rogue Schoolers tour tracked a remarkably similar itinerary offered by the non-profit Road Scholar organization. Our Vermont-based Outland correspondent, Wayne Senville, participated on this Road Scholar tour (he would have been much too large to join the Rogue Schoolers group). Senville provided us with several photos we’re posting below. Unfortunately, the Road Scholar and Rogue Schoolers groups did not connect with each other while in France, as their travels were a week apart. C’est dommage!