Hi! It's Sarah again. I know I posted sort of recently, but I feel that I really need to blog the events of last night. Prepare yourselves for an exciting blog. :)

We spent the morning and afternoon at Yad VaShem and the Valley of the Communities, which was a pretty intense afternoon to begin with. At 4:00 pm that afternoon, we were supposed to go to the Western Wall where 3 boys on our trip were to be bar mitzvah'ed at our Shabbat service. Mommy and Daddy really didn't want to go, but Emily and I finally convinced them to go to celebrate with the bar mitzvahs and their families.

We didn't actually have the service at the Wall itself, as the women would not be allowed to go into the mens' side. Instead, we had it at the southern steps of the Wall, in front of the mosque. So there we were, 90 of us sitting on the southern steps, and about a third of the way into our service, right before the b'nei mitzvahs were going to read from the Torah, it happened.

I heard a scream from the back of the congregation, and I turned around to see the people behind me running and covering their heads. I was confused and didn't understand what was happening, but at that moment I saw something huge and white fly over my head. I heard Daddy yell "Run, run!" and for a split second I thought we were being bombed. Mommy pushed my head down and I ran down the stairs as fast as I could to the other side of the wall. Everyone else in the group was also trying to get behind the wall, and everything was in a panic. I learned later that some kids climbed up on the roof of the mosque and threw rocks at us. They hit two people in the head, one in the back, and one on the ankle, and three of them were bleeding. A few more people were hit in the leg, but nothing serious. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Some people were crying, and everyone was running around.

Our tour guide, Ron, took control. He called the Western Wall security, and talked to the security guard for the mosque. They posted policemen on the roof so that we could resume our service. This was the last thing I wanted to do. But we did resume the Bar Mitzvah service, though we were all very shaken up. The security guards talked to the injured people, but they all had relatively minor injuries so they didn't have to got to the hospital.

After that, we went to the Kotel. We could see through the dividing wall to the mens' side, and we saw a huge group of them in all black just davening and praying obsessively. After that, I stood outside the exit waiting for the rest of the group, when a security guard came up to me and told me to put a scarf around my legs. Apparently, the Orthodox passing by had complained about me wearing shorts. I wasn't even at the Wall!

Dinner was good. Talk to you soon!

Saturday, July 24

Shabbat.
So breakfast is cold (except for the coffee..)
We decide NOT to join the walking excursion in the AM to the Christian sites OR the Shabbat service at HUC and sleep in until 10AM. Breakfast is served (or so we think) downstairs until 11. So I go down at 10:20 to get a table. We have been so rushed every morning (because we are such late risers, we barely have time to enjoy the incredible buffet spread each day), so this morning we were all looking forward to a relaxing breakfast OUTSIDE (usually those tables are all taken). We I get down they tell me that all the tables outside are taken so I said I would wait for one, but they told me that I should sit inside because the breakfast closes at 10:30 today for Shabbat. A quick call up to the room to get the remaining troops up there moving and I try to nab a table outside (some are vacated but not set for new people). Getting a table cleared and then reset (we never really did get silverware) was a HUGE feat but somehow I did it, despite the servers waiting on all the MEN wanting tables and coffee first!! So we get our breakfast (cold-no toasters, no omelette bar and NO Espresso bar) but trays of pastries, breads, cheeses, all types of yogurts and smoked fish and and fruit and juices. Emily has her salads, olives, cheeses and halavah. Well, it turns out that breakfast does NOT close at 10:30 "for Shabbat" today but 11:00 as usual. He was just trying to get me to sit down and have breakfast then and not in 10 minutes! We have a lovely and relaxing breakfast OUTSIDE and linger over coffee for a long time.
At 12 we are going to hear a speaker in the hotel that KI has arranged over lunch (!-didn't we just eat??) from a representative of Women of the Wall....gotta run. I will have to blog more later about last night and the Bar Mitzvahs at the wall and Shabbat dinner. It was quite an experience and I think I may have to have Sarah do the honors!
Today we have designated as a 'family day' and are not doing any group activities (except the Women of the Wall talk) and tonight we are going to Yossi's. The girls want to join the teen group after Havdalah services on Ben Yehuda Street, so we may go alone (we will see).

Friday, July 23

Still going strong.
Today we went to Yad Vashem.
Our guide was a survivor from Slovenia who somehow survived Auchwitz with her older sister and then got to Australia after the war.
We then had a memorial service at the Valley of the Communities and placed flowers near at our ancestors cities. We tried to find Memel but didn't so placed one of our flowers at Vilnius.

Yesterday after the cooking class and dinner, the Cantor organized a small dinner with his family, us and another family that we all know (they are KI members, not on the tour but here for a family Bat Mitzvah)-Ruth and I were at Stanford together and she was in Marc's med school class and she is married to a knee orthopedist in Santa Monica and their three kids (their oldest is an Archer grad who is entering her 3rd year at Wash U). It was fun and then we walked on Ben Yehuda Street which was alive at 11pm. We all got ice cream. Marc, of course, got coconut.

Cooking class with the "Israeli Giada": amazing chef whose studio is above the market.
First we shopped with her, tasting at all her favorite places and then up to her studio for a cooking class where we cooked an incredible 4 course dinner (we mostly did the prep): salad with cucumbers (rare short season cucumbers), ahi tuna ceviche with cilantro, chiles, spices, roasted eggplant with tomatoes and balsalmic, pan roasted okra (it was actually really good), roasted sea bass with olives, tomatoes, then beef on pureed jerusalem artichokes with long beans. The dessert was fig and saturn peaches with sweet wine, brown sugar on a bed of coconut cream and then under the broiler. She promised us all the recipes but could we repeat these flavors?

Hey everyone! It's Sarah again, and this time I'm ready to do a full length blog on today :).

First thing in the morning (our group still doesn't quite understand the meaning of "relaxation time" or "sleep"), we piled into the buses and drove to a parking lot where we piled into the jeeps and jolted around a bit on some bumpy roads and photographed a tiny stream called the Jordan River. We also saw some fenced-in areas labeled: "Danger! Mines!", but our jeep driver assured us that the Israeli government wan't exactly sure where the mines were, and for all we knew, we could be driving in a mine field at that very moment. Then we drove to a random spot on a hillside of the Golan Heights and learned about the Syrian war, before piling back into the jeeps and driving to a kibbutz.

We had lunch there and saw the dairy farm. The cows were very self-sufficient, and were able to wait patiently in line to be hooked up and milked, and after they were done, would take off the milking machines themselves. Another barn held baby calves, as well as a dying cow that was shoved off the the side where tourists couldn't see it. We also got a tour of the kibbutz, and met some Israeli pre-schoolers who were terrified at the very sight of us. Apparently, 16 year olds live on their own on this kibbutz. I'm planning on moving there in two years.

After that, we piled back on the bus and headed to the sites for our two options: ATV or biking. In case you don't know what ATV is (you're not missing out) it's like a motorcycle/golf cart with 4 wheels and no doors. If the ATV flips, you can't get out, and you have to have a drivers' license to drive one. Naturally, we went biking. But the bikes we rode sat 3 people side by side and you steered with a wheel, like a golf cart with pedals. Mommy and I went in one; Emily and Daddy in the other, but we quickly lost track of them. It was a long bike path, insanely hot, and I was driving. We also saw some more nice "Danger! Mines" signs on the road. When we got back, Mommy was sweating so much it looked like she wet her pants. Daddy and Emily got back a while later, and his shirt had also been soaked. The cantor came back last of all, because apparently he was forced to push the 3-seater bike most of the way.

But most of us got back alive, and we were well enough to take a dip in the pool. Mommy wants me to talk about the dinner, but I won't. After dinner we went to the army base. I wonder who told Mommy and Daddy not to go. Hmmmmm... Oh yeah, me! We climbed on tanks and took pictures with the soldiers. It was one of the more boring experiences of my life.

Anyway, gotta go. Love you all! I'll write again when the effect of this last blog has worn off of you.

Tuesday, July 20

A lot to report from today but it will have to wait until we have more time after dinner.

Just a few thoughts from Sarah:

Hey everybody! I know you've all been waiting anxiously for my next blog, but unfortunately I'm not going to blog much right now. I'll write later after dinner, but I just wanted check in with everybody.

Yesterday we went zipline-ing (as you can tell from our facebook pictures) and it was amazing! We also went to a kibbutz where this old guy, with a handgun clearly visible strapped to his belt, reassured us that Lebanon and the Hezbbolah will definitely attack Israel again, but this time he wasn't going to play nice with them. I was sort of hoping that being nice hadn't been an option the first time. Mommy didn't let me get ice cream, but that's okay because I got some after lunch. It was pecan flavored.

Anyway, that wasn't a particularly good blog, but I promise I'll write a better one after dinner about today. :)

Monday, July 19th (continued)

Today we enjoyed the wonderful hotel breakfast (they have an espresso bar-two double espressos to go!!) and of course the wonderful spread of breads, cheeses, eggs, fish and for Emily-Israeli salad).
This morning's activity was Zip lining (see photos). We took a cable car up a mountain and then were harnassed on to Zip down. We all (well most of us) did it and the girls went together. It was pretty cool...you can go as fast as you want and feel as if you are flying through the air. The Cantor went upside down (see photo!). A jeep ride takes you back up the mountain, but I decided to hike it with the Cantor. Probably not a great idea. It was only about a 15 minute hike, but steep. Very steep. When we got back to the busses he had a touch of heat exhaustion....fully recovered now, however.

After the ZIp lining, we went up further north, all the way up to the Israeli-Lebanon border. We sat at the border fence which is on the property of a kibbutz. The furtherest northern Kibbutz. We heard from a Kibbutz member about the struggles with Lebanon and Hezbollah. He was a 70 year old crotchety guy who emigrated from Cleveland (!) in 1940. His view was that there will never be any peace. From where we were sitting we could look over into Lebanon and see their houses and Mosques. It was eerily quiet. No movement on the roads but we could hear the sounds of the Mosques in the distance.

After that we headed to Kiryat Shmona for lunch. We all inhaled falafels and Shwarma (turns out it is turkey, not lamb?) in pita with yummy salads, hummus and fried eggplant inside. And then ice cream of course before getting back on the bus to come back to the hotel. Our bus decided to spend the afternoon at the hotel but the other half went to Akko....we just wanted some down time. On the way back we stopped at the Naot factory (shoes) and many (Emily included) purchased a pair of sandals. They are like Israeli Bierkenstocks. Cute walking sandals.

Back at the hotel (our clean clothes waiting for us in our rooms!) we quickly put on bathing suits and headed for the pool. Swimming with the Cantor. What could be better. Watermelon poolside. It is pretty hot here but not as humid as Tel Aviv. 33 C, whatever that is!! A nice breeze up on the mountain though. And of course the bus is well air conditioned.

Tonight dinner is at the hotel and then we are hearing from a former commander in the northern army to give us an update on the current situation up here (should we have had this talk BEFORE we ventured up here??) And it is Tish b'av tomorrow. So we have an optional short service tonight. Tomorrow after a visit to a kibbutz we are going biking int he Hula Valley or ATV..not sure what we will do. Stay tuned.

Monday, July 19th

A lot to blog.

We had a wonderful dinner at Zvi and Tami's. Entertained by Maya, their 10 year old daughter. She was so funny and the girls were comparing iphone apps with her. She is so outgoing and funny. She kept us laughing the whole night. When we first arrived, Zvi took us on a tour of the institute, which has really grown in the last 27 years. I recognized some of it, but so much development. He took us into the mathematics institute where saw a computer from 1954. Very big. The girls got a kick out of that. Dinner was delicious-typical Israeli fare that we can't seem to tire of. It was great the girls came with us. We all had a great time. We got back to the hotel late via a cab driver from hell. He went so fast that the 30-35 minute trip took only 20. Then we read in today's Jerusalem Post that 50/1,000 cab rides result in injured passengers. We got lucky!

Up early on Sunday morning and checked out of the hotel. We got on busses and went to the Jaffa institute. This is a program started in the 1980's to provide programs for kids (arabs and jews) in the poorest areas around Tel Aviv. It has now expanded and is a large program with several other locations and even a boarding school in the south. We visited and played with the kids etc. See the photos below of the Harry Potter books and one of the girls at the institute. Sarah's KITT group made a large donation to this program.

Then we headed to a Tel Aviv mall....felt like the Beverly Center. Not much special there, but the girls had a good time and Marc and I walked around outside and found a medical clinic to look at (always in search of a tax deduction opportunity).

After that we went to a fascinating interactive museum, the Palmach Museum, which tells the story of the early IDF. It was very interactive and moving. I will have to remember to describe the museum to Heather. Never seen anything like it. On the way up to the North (Galilee) we stopped at the site of Yitzak Rabin's assassination. The spot has a plaque but also there is a memorial that shows where everyone was standing (Rabin, bodyguards etc.) at the time.

Then back on the bus for the long ride up to the Golan Heights. This took about 3 hours and with a stop or two and some traffic (sig alert on the Israeli freeway?) we finally arrived at dinner about 7:30, starved. Dinner was in an amazing place. There were tables set up outside under trees with lights. Salads on tables when we arrived...the usual (eggplant, hummus, tomato etc.) Then they brought a mixed grill for each table of chicken, lamb, sausages and I am sure some other things. We have been sitting with different families each night and finding some interesting people. Marc and are are the MDs of the trip...thanks to the Cantor's announcements. No real illnesses yet, just some minor tummy troubles. But not us!

After dinner (dessert of watermelon-very popular here- and baklava and mint tea) we went to our hotel. This is where we are now. it is called the Pastoral hotel and Spa in Kfar Blum It is on a huge piece of land owned by the Kfar Blum Kibbutz. One of the kibbutz' businesses is operating the hotel. This feels as close as we will ever get to a 'family camp'! There is a spa, great olympic sized pool and a beautiful dining room. The best part? Not the 20 different yogurts at breakfast along with all the different smoked fishes, but the fact that the kibbutz will do your laundry for just $12 a bag-yahoo, clean clothes!!

Saturday, July 17th

Shabbat Shalom.

A few photos from our day.

Usual breakfast buffet...except all cold (and no toaster for the bread due to it being Shabbat)...then how do they make the coffee? I am not sure but happy they did.

Out the door at 9:30 and up to Caesarea where we spent most of the morning and early afternoon. Back to the hotel around 3pm for lunch and swimming. We noted "Cholent" on the Shabbat menu here at the hotel. Nothing warm, but who would want anything warm? It's 32 C by the pool clock.

We are going to Zvi's tonight...first a promised tour of the Institute and then dinner at his home.
The girls are actually not coming with us as they want to hang with the teen group going into Tel Aviv for post Shabbat dinner and shopping.

Details on all of that later.

Friday, July 16th

It's almost midnight and we are back from Shabbat dinner.

Before dinner we went to an open park in Jaffa where we had a 'drumming circle' at the ocean. Photos are below.
Following that, a short Shabbat service and then at about 8:30 we headed back to Tel Aviv to a roof top of a near by hotel for Shabbat dinner. We sat with the new rabbi and his wife and ended up with fun conversation and a joyful time despite the rather sweet kosher wine.....

More from Sarah:

Hi, this is Sarah! So, I know that I haven't written at all yet, and I'm sure you all miss me (or not, but I'd rather you did), but here I am!

Today was our second day in Israel, and as you can probably imagine, we were SO PYSCHED to get started at 8:30 in the morning! We went to an underground ammunitions factory museum underneath a kibbutz where we watched a video on the subject, which I found fascinating. We then listened to our tour guide recite word for word the video we had just watched, only this time I found it difficult to concentrate to due the sweltering heat and sheer boredom that's caused by listening to the same exact lecture twice in a row. Somehow, the subject wasn't really that interesting anymore. Our tour guide then led us down into the actual factory, and proceeded to give us almost exactly the same lecture for the third time. By this point, I was ready to permanently lock myself in the in-house tanning booth. (They had a tanning booth so the people working in the underground factory got enough UV light and Vitamin D.)

After the ammunitions factory, we visited Independence Hall, where we received the same lectures on the foundation of Tel Aviv and Israel at least two or three times. I'm hoping that this pattern doesn't continue.

After lunch we returned to the hotel, where Emily and I spent 2 hours memorizing our itinerary, which outlines in detail what we're to do every moment of our day, even during our "free times".

Shabbat was fine. Dinner wasn't that great (so much Jewish food!).

But if you're worrying that I'll keep writing these long, boring posts every day, please don't. I'm currently trying to find out if an activity called "relaxing" is in our exhaustive itinerary, so I'll be very busy and probably won't post for a while. Love you all!

Friday, July 16th

Everyone slept well. We, unlike most on the trip, are pretty time acclimated already.
Up early because we had to be "on the bus" -always our biggest "tour group" nightmare phrase- at 8:30. A hotel buffet breakfast is included and what a breakfast it is. If only we could get up in time to really enjoy it! The top of Marc's (dried fruit, nuts, fruits, breads, fig jam.....) and Emily's (cucumbers, olives, tomatoes-yes for breakfast-) horseradish. Wonderful yogurts.
Then on the bus at 8:30. We head south to Rehovot. Looks much more built up (since 27!!) years ago? We visit the Ayalon Institute, which is much more interesting than it sounds. It was an ammunitions factory that was secretly built and operated between the end of WWII and Israel's independence. It operated underground a kibbutz for 3 years in total secrecy. Some of the people who worked and lived on the kibbutz didn't even know what was going on under the kibbutz bakery and laundry. Very interesting. Then we went up to Tel Aviv and visited Independence Hall and learned about the establishment of the Jewish State in 1948. It is a passionate subject here, obviously, and the guides convey that with gusto...pretty moving.
We then had the afternoon on our own. We visited an open air market (Em bought a beaded bracelet) and we had lunch on the mall. Back to the hotel for resting and swimming (Deb only!). The pool is salt water and so refreshing. It is about 90 degrees so the water felt so great.

Now we are getting ready for Shabbat. We are meeting in the lobby (there is that dreaded phrase again) in about 10 minutes to drive to Jaffa. A drumming circle is planned and then a late dinner on a rooftop there. Kabbalat Shabbat.
More on that later.

Thursday, July 15th

Up early and out of the hotel by 7:30 to go to CDG to get a 10:30 flight to Tel Aviv.
At dinner last night Laura suggested that we take the RER to the airport. It sounded like a great idea because the stop (which she located on her iphone) was close by (St. Michel, Notre Dame) and the trip only 19 minutes door to door. What we didn't calculate in were the multitude of stairs in the metro stations (lugging luggage), getting on the wrong RER (a very nice woman saw us and our luggage and said-"this train isn't the one that goes to the airport") She actually got off with us and showed us how to locate the correct train that would go all the way to CDG.Once on the correct train we stood so squished, standing up with luggage on our feet for about 25 minutes. But we made it to CDG. We got out and then had to find the terminal because the RER leaves you off at the train station, not exactly the terminal. Another set (or two) of steep stairs with luggage. Then we needed to go through the turnstiles again to get into the airport terminal...but we couldn't find 3 of the 4 of our tickets (which we needed to get through the gates)...we tried to jump them, but we had all that luggage. At one point, Marc got stuck in between two glass barriers and couldn't get out!! Finally someone came by to help a woman in a wheel chair get out of a door behind the turnstiles and we stuck through.

We found the terminal and walked about a mile. Long story made shorter....we arrived at our gate about 10 minutes before take off due to a malfunction of the luggage belts and extra security for Tel Aviv check in. But we did make it. And arrived at about 4:15 into Tel Aviv where we were met at the gate and taken through luggage and security and customs by a nice Israeli and to a waiting van.

The Hilton is great. Right on the water and we have balconies from our rooms that overlook the Mediterranian Sea.
We met everyone (the Canter was waiting for us at the bottom of the elevator) in the lobby and we took buses to Yafo (Southern Tel Aviv) down some dark small alleys to a Yeminite restaurant. We had the entire upstairs and the food came fast and yummy.
We were starved having had no breakfast (rush to the airport, no time for the lounge or snacks) and the food on the plane (you no like....). We all had the chocolates from last night's dinner and that was about it! Baskets of pita, salads of ALL kinds, olives, pickles, all so great. Falafel balls, cigars etc. We thought this was dinner until they brought out the kebabs (lamb and chicken) and french fries and stuffed vegetable (with lentils and rice)....and of course dessert of watermelon and baklava. Mint tea and we were done. We walked back to the buses through another dark alley and came home with instructions to be in the lobby at 8:30 tomorrow AM. This will certainly put a crimp into our 'rise at 11, out of the hotel by 12' schedule. But we will go with the flow!
More tomorrow. Got to get everyone to bed.

More Wednesday, July 14th

We are in Israel. We have joined the group in Tel Aviv.
But back to our last days in Paris.
We had a wonderful dinner at Bouquinoste (still not sure about that spelling). I will have to leave it to Emily to recount the menu but suffice it to say we had some very inventive dishes, some which didn't seem to match the menu description but were wonderful anyway and Sarah had a dessert that came with a scoop of ice cream made from a marshmallow infused with either lemon or lime.

The next day we woke to a threatening sky. It was Bastille Day so Eric Kayser was ferme and we had to settle for PAUL (a chain bakery-they have one at CDG-but still yummy) We managed to get about half way to the Pompideau Center before the rain came down. I have never seen rain this hard before....at one point all 4 of us were huddled in a store front doorway with a small overhang with about 5 or 6 African street merchants trying to stay dry. After about 10 minutes of that the rain let up to a gentle downpour and we continued on to the Pompideau with the hotel umbrellas. To be up on the 6th (top) floor with the incredible rainstorm and thunder, it was pretty incredible. We saw the permanent exhibit, which was terrific. I don't remember having seen it before because usually we just sit outside and people watch without going inside! We had lunch at the cafe and waited for the rain to stop. It finally did after about 3 hours (and a lot of modern/contemporary art later) and we walked back to the hotel. Everyone napped (except Deb who did 2 loads of laundry at the laundromat around the corner). Amazing what 3 days of clothes can be.

At about 7:45 Laura walked from work (she is now at the Mac store that just opened at L'opera). We took a cab to Le Dome (we broke down, the girls really wanted to go...). We all had fish..of course. I was feeling so fruit deprived I had the melon glace for a first course (it was so sweet and perfect but I have never paid so much for a piece of fruit). Marc had his favorite Sardine dish (and asked if they had "rogets", which they did not). Sarah had the little fried fish with too many bones and Em and Laura shared a Salmon Fume dish to start. Then the girls (and Laura) got their favorite Langostine with pasta and Marc got John Dory and I had a white fish with capers and vinegar. All delectable. We did have wine but Marc will have to fill in those details.
For dessert: Sarah had fraise de bois and Laura and Em shared raspberry and peach ice cream. Marc had pistachio and coconut icecream and I had a spoon. Metro back and packed up for our trip out.

July 13, 2010
We had a late dinner last night at the Creperie St. Germaine. We found it and the girls remembered eating there with Bop and Gok and El two years ago! Of course we had to end the meal with a dessert crepe. It was a warm night and we walked back to the hotel around 11pm. When we went to dinner at about 9:30 it was still light...are we on double daylight savings time here?

Slept very late (11am)-after an early morning wake up (4;30 and Marc was down in the hotel lobby using free Wi Fi to check in with the office). Skies are clear and it is warm. Shorts and tank tops for all (except Marc....). We head directly to the Eric Kayser we saw near Rue Buci the day before. Rolls (fig, apricot) for Marc and Deb and chocolate things for the girls. We get the smallest take away espresso cups (so cute)...We head to the Musee d'Orsay. It's open today and we are dismayed by the LONG line outside to get in but it moves fast and we are in in about 10 minutes. The museum is undergoing a big renovation so one floor is closed but they moved all the impressionism/postimpressionism to the first floor and we mostly stay there. A lot of Rodin and Degas sculptures and of course all the impressionists. It's really crowded but great.

We decide to have a lunch picnic (it's now about 2pm) so head back to, where else, Eric Kayser (are we are like those people who come to Paris and just have McDonalds because it is so familiar?) They have a great deal...sandwich and water bottle for 5 EUROS!).
We get two sandwiches (chicken, brie), a container of "tabouli"-which is a couscous salad with raisins, and a slice of artichoke tart). We schelp, I mean, take it all to Jardin Luxumbourg. Great for people watching, as always. A lot of kids out with their parents, couples and a lot of kids playing soccer.

After lunch we head up to Rue Moufftard. We pass by several Ecole Superiors where students are gathered. We think that acceptances just came in as there are postings on the walls. Rue Moufftard is busy. A lot of tourists in Paris right now. But it is July. The girls both buy dresses at a small shop and we find the "flower ice cream' shop we remember from several years ago. The girls get Mango/Kiwi and Marc and Deb share coconut/date. We sit in the square and people watch again. It is still warm (in the 80's) but a wonderful breeze.

We wander around our old haunts en route back to the hotel. Someone is staying in our apartment! The windows are open!!
We notice the neighborhood hasn't really changed but see an new Subway shop around the corner. How someone or why someone would eat Subway when Eric is just a few blocks away is unclear to Emily (and to the rest of us!!). We also notice several Starbucks both around Odeon and Rue Buci. Hmmmmmm

Back to the hotel by 7. Naptime for all before dinner. Bouquinste...will check the spelling on that later.

Monday, July 12, 2010.

Blog test:

We arrive in Paris 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
Uneventful flight and the girls actually slept for much of it!
CDG is empty. The new AF terminal open, clean and deserted.
Our bags are the first ones off.

Taxi to hotel. Seems like the longest trip (about 60 minutes) but we get stuck in traffic leaving the airport. Several police cars with sirens on zoom past but we never see the incident.
Sarah doesn't throw up. Which is good.

Into hotel (RC). Sky is cloudy but air is warm and no rain. One room is ready so we all crash for a couple of hours then venture out for some lunch. It's breakfast for the girls since they slept through the plane breakfast service. It is 4pm.

We find a cafe on Rue Buci (market is closed today) but sit inside due to them multitude of smokers outside-is the law that you can't smoke INSIDE a restaurant but you can still smoke OUTSIDE? It's not Santa Monica, we all acknowledge. We all have salads (except Em who has her smoked salmon plate with toast-which of course makes for a desperate hunt for water about an hour later). After lunch we wander the area, see Rue Universite and Rue Jacob and other familiar spots. A lot of people out and most stores are having their July sales (SOLDES). We pass the Medical School and there are people gathered outside with name tags. It is a neurology conference. We don't stay although it could be tax deductible. Guess not.

We head back to the hotel after a couple of hours. The girls will say we got lost and fumbled our way back to Rue Christine...and maybe we did. But we found it and promptly went back to sleep. It's now 8:30pm and we are considering an outing for dinner. Thinking of looking for that crepe place nearby.