Premiere Classe St Quentin St-Quentin

... as the bus felt like any regular coach bus in the US, you’d look out the window and realize with a jolt that you’re in a totally different country. It’s great to be sketching the historical buildings I’ve read about for years. I mean, I love the Illini Union and all, but it just doesn’t have the same kind of pull that an ancient cathedral does.

This trip also marked the end of our orientation period ...

... this stuff. And I doubt you have to be an architecture nerd to appreciate it, either. I still can’t wrap my head around how the master builders were able to construct these buildings without TI-89 Titaniums or at least computers! After sketching a few views of this building, it was back on the bus to head to our last destination of the day, the landmark building of…our hostel.

... damage in World War II, so now it’s mostly ruins, but it’s still a sight to see.

We were the only ones in the historic area of the ruins, which is definitely the way to see Councy. Part of the beauty is how nature is slowly retaking the stones of the fortress – the mix is stunning. So we spent a few hours sketching the area after taking a ton of pictures. We also were pretty misbehaved tourists ...

... edge so she felt like she could knock on doors and shake people's hands as we went past.
It isn't easy trying to get out of a city when you can't read all the signs and you are wrestling with an unfamikiar piece of hardware aka GPS. We did get out of Lille but ended up in some very scenic little village roads as we kept missing turns and our GPS would "recalculate" again!! I can imagine a huge room of GPS ...

(84 miles) This morning we spent some time walking around Lille a town where I used to serve as a missionary. We even bumped into some missionaries while we were there. It's great to be back in France on a bicycle. There's something magical about the rolling hills and the green and yellow fields. There's more up and down ...

... June 3 - Brussels - Hotel Francois - rue Borgval 15 Thursday June 4 - Monday June 8 - London - Langland Hotel - 29-31 Gower Street Tuesday June 9 - Thursday June 11 - Dublin - Abraham House -82 Lower Gardiner Street Friday June 12 - spend night in Dublin airport - Ryanair - Flight leaves 6:25 - Arrives in Beauvais 9:00 Saturday June 13 Sunday June 15 - Laon, back in the apartment Monday June 15 - Return home - 6:14 pm

... on the beach there to sanctify it. Cy will be impressed. It is a very sad & moving thing to visit all the war grave sites. Have taken over 300 pix so far! The question of the day: Why do the stop signs here in France say 'STOP' and not 'Arret'?????????????????? Bob

For the inauguration, Jason and I planned a small party for the assistants in Laon. Our menu consisted of Chicago style hot dogs, to represent Obama's Chicago connection, a chili that was supposedly Obama's family recipe, fries, because we originally wanted onion rings, because they are shaped like O's, but don't exist in France, and O shaped cookies for dessert. We also had some snacks and had planned to ...

... I think I am entitled to have parties every once and awhile. After dessert we exchanged our Secret Santa gifts. Candles and chocolates were the mainstay, but overall it was really nice. Everyone pitched in and helped me clean up, and they left a little after midnight. I'd say it was a success. The next fete we are going to have is going to be a Venezuelan theme I believe, so it should be good as well. See you all soon for a real American Christmas!

... sure. It was played on a smaller field, and not many people were there, it seemed like they were the parents of the soccer players. The soccer players did seem to be older though, so it is hard to say. Nevertheless, it was interesting, and it was something to do on Sunday, when there usually is nothing to do. SuZanne left around 5, and that was that. I am going to go visit her for a weekend sometime. We are also making plans to go to Brussels pretty soon.