Elizabeth+H

May 6th (Thursday) Paris:

A special ceremony at Arch de Triumph. Many soldiers, commanders etc. came to honor unknown soldier's grave. After ceremony past Eiffel Tower and along Seine and Louvre, to see the Mona Lisa painting. Other paintings were nice, but Mona Lisa the best painting

We saw also the Notre Dame cathedral and Saint-Chapelle cathedral with the beautiful stained glass windows. Trees on Avenue de Friedland and Avenue Foch were budding. Of course, the Eiffel Tower is amazing.

Went to site of Bastille prison, passing by stores on Champs Elysees, looked very interesting, and then to Sacre Coeur erected on Montmartre. Then to Bois de Vincennes, where walking around is a wonderful process to view the vegetation. We took the tram to the Botanical Gardens, which is very prettywith the tulips in bloom. We then went to the Zoo, which was very interesting with all of the different animals there.

May 7th (Friday) Paris:

Started out at 8:30 took the tram went to Malmaison, where we saw the pine trees all lined up in neat rows. We got a tour of the house and grounds. They were formely owned by Napoleon and his wife, though not last, Josephine. It is now owned by the French Nation, and it is used as a Museam of Napolean and Josephine articles.

Then to lunch at Cafe Le Paris, a delicious coffee shop. After lunch, we went to Versailles. Of course, the rooms were all interesting, but the Mirror Gallery of Louis XIV is my favorite. It is the room in which William 1st was crowned as first emporer of Germany. It was made even more interesting because it was the room in which the German surrender was signed. The room is very large, 73 m x 10.5 m x 12.3 m, and has wonderful decorations. The Versailles fountains are beautiful, and they started playing when we saw them. They are also going to play them on Joan of Arc s anniversary next week, and we regret that we aren't staying any longer. The day is bright, sunny and brisk. The water and lawn views were a delight with the sun sparkling on the water, and shinning through the trees. We now know for sure that the Parisian Spring has commenced.

May 13th (Thursday) Paris and Tours:

Then through Trappe wonderful apple trees in bloom alongside the road for many miles. That was to supposedly shade the French royalty as they traveled in open air carriges throughout the countryside. The trees are very much equal to the cherry trees in Japan, but the apple trees bear apples instead of cherries.

Then at 10:30 Chartres and I took photos of the Chartre Cathedral. The caretacker took us around for a tour. He is a very interesting man, showing us all of the wonderful sights. The architecture is excellent and the glass windows are the finest of anywhere we've been, and it can have few equals any where.