Hee, independent study! That'd be awesome, and you must keep us updated if you go through with it. : )

I would definitely do the second, though, if I were you - you like the topic more, which is more important than liking the teacher, and both subjects are cool, interesting (and, okay, I'm biased - I really want to read those essays!). And keep in mind that someone who likes Simon Schama - while perhaps originally easy to work with - may not remain easy to work with; the French Revolution, as we know, tends to bring out the vicious side of historians. XD