Bob is back, so we are able to write in our Blog today–although we missed Papa Livre, Nathan and I felt more comfortable getting around than I thought. Bob’s room at Sogeti University in Les Fontaines was extremely small; similar to a college dorm room in the United States. He was able to meet his counterparts from Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, India, and of course, France. The purpose of their meeting was to share and strategize for 2010.
Nathan and I stayed back at our Hotel and slept in, ate at cafes, and shopped for souvenirs. Our highlight was our visit to the Catacombs, and that was a very eery experience! Back in the 1700s, Paris decided to relieve congestion and improve sanitary conditions by emptying the city cemeteries. These bones were carried down into quarries by priests (via ceremonial processions) that were 100 feet under the earth, and miles long. One mile is open to the public, and probably the scariest part to Nathan and I was not the skulls and limbs stacked up as walls for the entire passage, but the fact that we were so deep underground. Along the way, there were huge domes in the ceiling that were explained on plaques as “cave-ins”. Today, Paris injects concrete into the earth to ensure these tunnels do not cave in (yeah, right). 🙂
When Bob got back this evening at about 6:00 p.m., we all went to a final destination to mark the end of our trip to Paris…walking along the Champs-Elysees ending with our climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Wow…what a breathtaking view…I thought more so than even the Eiffel Tower. Over the past six days, I have literally done an equivalent stairmaster workout that would equate to 8 hours! We just had dinner at another lovely France cafe, and are now in our room packing for our return to the United States tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 11:00 a.m. France time (5:00 a.m. Cincinnati time), and we will land in Cincinnati at about 3:00 p.m. Just in time for quick trip to the grocery, and to bed since it will about 10:00 p.m. France time….we will be exhausted, I am sure.
Thanks for visiting our blog this week, and we will “see” you all tomorrow! We also miss our Lucie and Zoey, and know that Reese and the Curry’s are taking good care of them!
Auvoir Paris,
Bob, Lynn, and Nathan
