Jacques Swanepoel
The European tour was one of the best decisions I could’ve made and an incredible way to start a holiday. We saw many famous landmarks, some of my favorites being the famous churches and cathedrals such as Notre Dame and Saint Paul’s Cathedral. The music we heard was nothing short of amazing as Handel’s Messiah proved. Overall I am very glad to have been a part of this tour

Jacques van Rhyn

The tour was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! I enjoyed everything: all the French phrases that we used to pick up French ladies (just joking), the Tube and all the "So, do you come here often"s, composing Haiku in St. Paul's, eating McDonalds on an industrial scale, having roast chestnuts, trying to get through a day in Paris using only German, the parties in the Tube, speed walking through the art museums to fit everything into our schedule, saying Re-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-eSHA-aA-aA-aA-aA-aA-aA-aA-aA-aA-aArd and having croissants in the mornings instead of Recommended Soviet Rations, just to name a few aspects of the tour. I thank Mr. Upchurch and Dr. O for an amazing tour. I sincerely hope music tours like this one will become an annual event at SJC

Tino Mudiwa
This holiday I went on a tour to London and Paris and it was amazing. We saw some of the most spectacular spectacles on this Earth such things as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Notre Dame. I don’t think I could have picked better people to go with as well, we all shared a great sense of friendship and respect.

Grant Carroll
Many thanks for organizing the marvellous tour to London and Paris. Judging from the some stories of the tour and over 700 photographs, some of which are amazingly beautiful, you have stimulated a curiousity and appreciation of music, architecture, drama and travel in the boys. The attention to detail and the places the boys visited was impressive and perceptive. As parents, we could not have kept up the momentum of taking teenagers to all the places you visited! Thank you again.
David and Wendy Carroll

I enjoyed many things on the London-Paris London tour : the huge cathedrals, the Mona Lisa, the music, Handel’s house, the chocolate croissants but the thing that kicked me in the face was the magnificant tea at Fortnam & Masons. All in all I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the whole trip but this was the thing that stuck out to me and where I had the most fun!




















Aashish Diayar
The tour was spectacular. The music was extraordinary and the performances we attended were inspiring. I enjoyed the company of all the boys on the tour and I made lots of new friends. The sights in both cities such as the Big Ben and London Eye were spectacular. Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up was amazing. The artworks we saw were breathtaking and seeing so many famous artworks such as the Mona Lisa and Venus Demilo was a blessing. Dr Oosthuizen and Mr Upchurch were the best tour guides we could have asked for. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and it was a great way to start the holidays.




















Robbie Nutt
This tour was quite amazing. I had never been to Paris so it was really cool seeing the Eiffel tower. Here is a quote that I said one of nights while eating supper “ Don’t let what you can’t do prevent you from doing what you can do”.

Saturday 11 December

The morning began with a visit to the Musée d’Orsay, where the boys admired Impressionist and early 20th-Century art. We continued on to lunch on the South Bank of the Seine, and planned to walk to the nearest Metro Station on the way to St Michel. We were surprised when we turned a corner and saw a Gothic-Revival Basilica loom up before us. We took a detour into the Basilica of St Clotilde, seeing the fine architecture and another famous French organ where Franck was organist.

We resumed our route to the area of St Michel, where the boys had dinner, and ended the evening with a visit to Place Notre-Dame de Paris.

Sunday 12 December

We started the day with a Mass at St Sulpice, one of the more important churches in Paris. The boys were especially impressed by the grandeur of the outer façade, and the power of the Grande Orgue, the second-largest and one of the finest organs in Paris.

After returning to St Michel for lunch, we took a walk to the Sainte-Chapelle nearby. The building, built to house the Crown of Thorns in the thirteenth-century, has some of the world’s most beautiful stained-glass windows, the colour, vibrancy and detail of which stunned the boys. Having emerged from the chapel, we headed towards Notre-Dame.

We walked around inside of the Cathedral in anticipation of the afternoon’s organ recital. The massive organ (7,800 pipes) astounded the boys, and the nave of the Cathedral was packed with an audience that sat captivated throughout the performance.

Afterwards, the boys were given the choice to either attend a Chopin and Beethoven concert at St Julien or to visit the Eiffel Tower again. After regrouping, we enjoyed dinner in Rue de la Harpe at L’Hostellerie de L’Oie qui fume.

Monday, 13 December 2010

Our last day of the tour, and in Paris. This morning we took another metro to area in Rue Rome, where several specialist music shops are trading. Several boys bought music, and admired the nature of specialist music shops which does not exist in South Africa.

We made our way from the Hotel to the Opera, where we caught the Roissy bus. After a 45 minute trip, we headed for Terminal 2a, where we tried to catch the earlier flight to London. Despite the efforts of accommodating BA staff, we were too late, and had to take the flight to London as scheduled. The flight was delayed by more than an hour. Boys and staff hurried through security, to be met by poster-bearing BA staff running with us to gate B37. The last of the St John's party entered the 20:05 flight back to Johannesburg at 20:01!

Of course, no fantastic trip will be completed without stories of baggage lost (and hopefully delivered today). Due to the delayed flight from Paris, only two bags arrived in Johannesburg with the flight. Apart from this minor inconvenience, we all had a fantastic time together, sharing wonderful musical moments, renewed friendships, or strenthened existing ones.

This tour offered our pupils an opportunity to hear world class performances, to see some of the world's most amazing buildings and art works, and to experience some fine cuisine.