Campanile Montesson - Le Vesinet Île-de-France

... Edward had commanded the English center. I tried to imaging what it would be like to stand against a charge of thundering knights intent on killing me.

Some place on the hillside fell John of Luxembourg, the King of Bohemia who had come with 500 knights in support of the King of France. John was old and blind, but went into battle anyway, guided by a knight on either side. He and his knights fell very early in the battle. The day after the battle Prince Edward ...

... so the guide (not ours, but the one we saw in the airport) decided to show us a few things in Paris. So, the poor girl who got her luggage had to roll through the crowds on the streets of Paris! Anyway, we finally get to sit down to eat. The meal was fabulous!!! We were FINALLY experiencing Paris. We had a quick walking tour and a bus tour, then we were off to our hotel. As we drove...and drove...and drove...and drove...we started to ...

... seen. It's on a hill, so the view is spectacular. It has luscious green grass that you can actually sit on, as opposed to the Luxembourg Gardens where it is only for decoration; if you sit, a kind police officer comes shooing you away. The flowers are impressively well-kept, there's a lake, swans and even a waterfall. The best part is, it's a bit far from the center, so there were no tourists except us! We had a lovely picnic and took a ton of pictures of us posing in ...

... some had expertly carved statues. I kept my eyes open for "famous" inhabitants. We saw Colette's resting place, Baron Haussmann's family crypt, and I think a few others. We never did find Jim Morrison, though. After that, we were exhausted from all the walking, so we headed home. The kids played happily for quite a long time with the Legos later after we got back to the apartment. The owner's husband came and fixed the water problem. It was, uh, good to have a functioning toilet again.

... always order one of their 'special' meals. I ordered their low-calorie meal the day before we left and my meal came out first and had much more fruits and veggies than did the regular meals. As usual I was able to sleep for most of the flight. Despite the two hour delay and long lines through passport control I made it to the meeting place in plenty of time. Everyone on the trip ...

... all in the archeologist's passion of reconstructing the history of a people by carefully digging into the layers beneath our feet. Here, under the fabled Notre Dame, were remains of Lutece, the fabled Roman city within the confines of Gaul. It was an excellent introduction to the period for the students and a vivid reminder of how one era builds upon the remains of its predecessors. We risk in becoming ...

... so I figured she needed the help. She was traveling to Paris to visit family, and then afer she was going to take a flight somewhere I think to visit her parents, which she haden't seen in years. The woman was greatful to me for my help and thus she treated me to an expresso as a way of saying thank you. We talked some more and we took a moment to relax and enjoy the morning. Finally we decided that it was best that we both went our seperate ...

... Hyvin pelottava perhe oli myös liikenteessä, jossa kaksi poikaa oli puettu tytöiksi röyhelömekkoihin ja sekä äiti että isä kutsui heitä koko ajan "tytöt tulkaas nyt" jne. ettei nyt vaan tulis traumoja! Aamulla ihan pikkusen kirpas ku poliisit puhallutti kaikki ja oltiin vasta tajuttu, että rajahan on 0,2 mutta Valtteri puhkui kirkkaan nollan. Hurautettiin siitä sitten Köpenhaminaan mistä löydettiin validi hotelli ja lähdettiin viettämään iltaa Casinolle. Jossain ...

yesterday was actually a pretty cool day in paris. although i didn`t hit everything on my overly ambitious travel agenda, i got to spend practically the whole day with joe and chris. even though there are times i enjoy travelling on my own, i am starting to realize that for me, many experiences are more fun when shared with family and friends. so, joe and chris met me at notre dame at 11. we did the whole touristy thing - the churchy part, took lots of stained glass ...

... jammed an escalator at the trainstation, we get lost (given incorrect directions) and then had to walk though a group of drugged and drunk teenagers to get to our hotel (scaring the kids). Then we go and eat at Pizza Hut (which was very nice) and the people at the next table are openly staring, pointing and talking about us in French that we couldn't understand. How rude! Not a good first impression. It does gets better ...