I have attached some pictures of the beautiful flowers around Loches. Some of the flowers are for sale at the market, and some are in the park, and others are in flower boxes around town. They take a lot of time and care with the flowers on the streets and in the boxes. I am amazed at all the different types of flowers and how full they are. They are overflowing the flower boxes on bridges and normal streets. Because of the architecture, the town is quite gray. T...

Yesterday we arrived in Paris with my mom and dad. Trying to drive in the city is difficult because there are so many little streets, that if you miss one, forget it. We finally found our apartment and it is great. We are in the St. Germain area and it is bustling. We are on a pedestrian alley filled with restaurants and shops and a pub and even a mexican restaurant. We ate at the mexican restaurant last night and it was really good. Lucy and I were so happy, we ...

My friend Sloan emailed me and asked what a typical day is like for us, so here it is. We wake up late and whoever feels like it walks the few blocks to town to get the baguette and pastries for the day. After a late breakfast we read, play cards, and sit outside on the patio in the sun. Current gin score, Lucy 475, Wendy 73. She asked me if I was embarrassed to be losing so badly to a 13 year old and I told her I was going to come back. I'm the tortoise not the ...

Hi it's Lucy again! So today was my first day of school! I was SO NERVOUS! I walked to school and went to the principal's office where I waited for my french teacher to come and take me to my class. When she came we walked upstairs where there were already kids milling about outside the classroom waiting for her to arrive. When they saw me there were a few whispers of "wait, is she new? is she part of our class now?" and thankfully a few hellos and smiles. My cl...

Chateau de Chambord began as a hunting lodge in 1519 by Francois I. It is the largest chateau in the Loire and Francois I loved to come to the chateau to hunt stags and women. His two main passions were hunting and flirting. The king supervised the enclosure of the forest surrounding Chambord with the largest wall in France - almost 20 miles long and 8 feet high. He would ride out in to the forest and the women would watch from the tall terraces of the chateau. H...