Campanile - Chantilly

... up & drove off - nervous as always when first behind the wheel - driving on the "wrong" side of the road when we are tired after such a long flight, but we made it safely to Chantilly in about half an hour. Very happy with our hotel Chateau de Montvillargenne - checked in straight away but no clean clothes due to delayed bags, so still had ...

... metro by myself going to the Champ de Mars to watch the Bastille Day fireworks. The man sittinng next to me began talking to me and it turned out that he is a contributing editor and photojournalist for Harper's Magazine. He gave me advice about careers, getting a degree at the SciencePo and left me with his business card. It's not always easy to make lasting friendships, of course, because it's most likely that you live far away from whoever you meet. I was lucky ...

... knows Nutella is addictive and quintessentially European. Only after wards, I knew it was time to pound the pavement so the calories didn't begin to add up. After all, I was in a carbohydrate nightmare and surrounded by French women who weighed 90 pounds wet but walked around with a baguette in one hand and a stick of butter in another (kind of similar to our Minnesota Fair except they weren't on a stick). I was a giant compared to those chicks!! Time to exercise :-)

... doubt any fish caught in it would be edible *shudder*). Everyone is drinking wine, or beer; alcohol is so readily available, and ever so cheap. Walking into a Monoprix (French chain of supermarkets), we bought a bottle of wine for 2.27 euros. About...$4.00 CDN. I have no doubts that the wine will prove to be quite tasty, and that the 'cheap' wines here will rival our midrange wines in Canada (although I plan to test this theory in a few moments, as we plan to take our bottle over to ...

... pedestrians, are apparently just suggestions. Every morning they flood the gutters of the streets. I couldn't figure out why they wasted so much water every day until I saw the street sweeper go by: they flood it, he cleans it. The sanitation workers wear bright green outfits and use bright green old-fashioned-looking plastic brooms. And they stand around a lot. There are a lot of trash receptacles all over the city, which ...

... which was the best part of the trip so far, it really is amazing. Today or tomorrow we will go see the Sacré Coeur and Van Gogh's house on a 2 hr walking tour of Montmarte and also go to the markets today :) We will be heading off to London on Monday to stay there for a week then up to Scotland for 3-4 nights. Enjoy the photos -Jezz

... Ghana) and back to Paris, through Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Sénégal. I still have some minor things to get set and then we'll leave for the next 3 months. Après quelques mois de silence, dus aux multiples modifications de mon projet de voyages et aux reports qui en ont découlé, voici quelques infos sur la version définitive du raid que je suis sur le point d'entreprendre ...

... Thanksgiving. I'm so lucky to have my family (my immediate family, at least) with me for Thanksgiving...it's my favorite holiday and I can't imagine spending it in a foreign country without them. Anyway, hopefully I'll have time to write in this between now and when I come back from Lake Como the Sunday after Thanksgiving...as always, if you're reading this and I haven't heard from you in awhile, drop me a line and let me know how you're doing...I miss all of you!

... and chocolate mousse. All were delectible!!! After such a rich and delightful meal, we were more than ready to return to the hotel for a good night's sleep. As we walked the few blocks back to the hotel, we reflected on the day's events. We laughed at how throughout the day, French people, yes I said French people, would stop and ask 'All-American' Susie for directions in French. Barry now calls her 'French Susie'. Thus was our day in Paris!

... which soothed me since I wasnt able to get there in this trip.I saw a new show called Feerie, at least i think its new. Sitting that close was interesting, when the dancers would come out from the side stages as they swept pass me to start thier new numbers, the feathers from their cstumes would pass over us sometimes! Afterwards, after buying some stuff and taking pictures, i caught a ride ...