…Notre Dame. Again. Notre Dame means ‘My Lady’ in French, and today we climbed up the towers today. We didn’t see a hunchback, but he could have been hiding. Or he could also be dead because the ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’ was written in the 19th century. Notre Dame is, this year, celebrating its 850th anniversary, so there are lots of building and bleachers out in front with which to admire the view. As we ascended, we went around and around a central column, like the stairs on the cathedral on the hill overlooking the City of Paris. We kept ...
Notre Dame, Is the claim to Fame, Of Paris, On the River Seine Today we, Up and went to see, The church, With big pink trees Later then, We went there again, To hear, One play an organ In other un-rhyming words, today we went to Notre Dame. We went on a tour in the afternoon, and in the evening came back to hear a man play an organ. That’s all for now, Folks! ...
Today we went to the Louvre. The Louvre is a timeless art museum located on the banks of the Seine River in Paris. In it are well known pieces of art, including the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. As I already said, we went there today. We met our guide under a small arc in the front courtyard of the museum. We went under I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid and started our tour. This wasn’t one of those ‘here are the facts about so-and-so, made in year such-and-such, and made by the great artist ______.’ This was a ...
Today we went to a major attraction in Paris. That major attraction was proved to be major by the large line that was already forming by the time that it opened. The attraction was the catacombs. The catacombs of Paris are large and extensive, and they used to serve as a quarry for limestone up until after the French Revolution. Now, after climbing down flights upon flights of stairs, a visitor can see that there are bones galore stacked on top of each other for about six feet above the floor. There are what we think are femurs stacked for ...
My sister is different. She may be absolutely brilliant in math and science, but when it comes to photography equipment, she is sometimes absolutely clueless. A prime example of that is when my father is taking a picture of Eryn and I in front of some interesting scenery (the Eiffel Tower) and he told us to look at the lens, my sister asked, ‘What is the lens???’ I answered her question, and she said, ‘Oh yes…I knew that!’ Today we went to the Arc de Triomphe, which is on the western end of the most expensive street in the world; ...
In this case, unlike in the case of Arthur and his company of brave knights trying to vanquish the rabbit in Monty Python’s Holy Grail, the ‘holy hand grenade was actually a fruit. It might not have been holy, but it fit in one’s hand and was called a grenade. Today, we woke up early in Fez and hopped into the van with Majeed and all of our stuff. We went to the Fez airport, checked in, went through passport control and security, and waited in the departure lounge for our plane to arrive, empty, and then start to fill ...
Tonight, when we were sitting on the rooftop balcony of the Clock Café, my father and I looked out towards the west, towards the sunset, and saw an interesting hill and cloud formation. There was a purple-ish hill in the front, and then a purple-ish cloud in the background, with light orange and white wisps of cloud vapor in between. That created the look of a large volcano caldera, with the wisps of vapor steaming up from the lava. My father commented on how it was tilted towards us, but when my sister and mother looked, they couldn’t see anything ...
Tonight, when we were walking home from dinner, there were sections of the walking-only road that were very congested, and others that had very few people on them comparatively. I say comparatively because when my mother and I go to her PT early in the morning, there is almost no-one out there, save a few early-risers. Anyway, the people came in pockets, and they came every 10 meters or so. For those of you using the imperial system, that is about 32’ 9.703125” using www.metric-conversions.org. So, in other words, the pockets of people were about 30 feet apart. Today we ...
Today we went to the Café Clock for breakfast. Three of us had the Ricotta Pancakes while my mother had scrambled eggs. We then immediately left and didn’t stop at home so that we could get to a fort on a nearby hill as soon as possible. We first weaved our way through crowd filled streets, crossed a major one, and then started up a dirt path. We went up, headed towards the fort that was at the top of our field of vision. We kept going up until the trail ended except for a small ledge that extended about ...
That is my mother’s suggested title for today’s post, and Eryn says that she (Mother) is getting illiterate. I don’t know. I just work here. Today we, excuse me, I went on three trips out of our house in Fez. The ferst one was one going to Mother’s physical torture this morning, the second one was out on a shopping expedition to get food and sweets, and the last and final one was to dinner at Le 44. For the PT, my mother and I went, and while she hissed, I did schoolwork. Then, I went with my mother to ...
For those of you who don’t know what rock management is, it is when a manager asks an employee to get them a rock, and is never satisfied with the rock that is brought to him. That is about what happened today to my father and I at the Post Maroc office today. When we arrived, we pressed the button for a slip and it rolled out. When our number was buzzed, it stayed on for a split second before being replaced by another number held by someone else. The security guard then made us his personal project and started ...
This morning, my mother and sister went to PT, while my father and I stayed home and did techy stuff. When the women in my family came back, we sat around for a little bit before heading out on a shopping expedition. We left our house and walked down the street, turned right, then right, and then walked down the hill on the way to some stores that we had been to before. First, we went to a scarf shop that Eryn had been to previously, and my mother bought a scarf, after bargaining of course. After we left that ...
We got up early this morning and walked bare-footed across tile flooring on the roof of the hotel and watched the sun rise above the horizon. Then we went back to sleep. We did things that did or did not need to be done, and then, in the middle of the afternoon, we saddled up on our camels and rode away. We rode for about an hour on the dunes of the Sahara desert before arriving at a camp. My father and I climbed up a nearby dune, and my sister and mother followed soon thereafter, and we watched the ...
Our driver today at first called the monkeys ‘crazy monkeys,’ but by the time that we left the place with the monkeys, he was calling them chimpanzees, which also didn’t sound right. Barbary Macaques is the correct name of the monkey, and it is also the type found on the rocks in Gibraltar where we had gone in 2004. This time, however, we saw them on the side of the road while going through the Middle Atlas Mountains while driving south from Fez to the Sahara, where we are now. We got in the car with Majeed early this morning ...
Today we went to gardens. Well, one of them was officially a garden while the other one was debatable, as it was also a park. The first one had an attached museum that we also saw. In the museum there were old clothes, old clothes, and old weapons and instruments. The first garden was small and not very well maintained. There were overgrow hedges and bees by the dozen. However, the fruit trees had heavy branches, laden with ripe fruit. The oranges were ripe and everything was in bloom. The second garden was much better cared for; the fountains were ...
Well good morning Ethan. Are you warm yet? The high here today will be 63 with showers. By the end of next week it will finally be almost warm here. Did you enjoy your flight? Laters, Love Grandma
It’s pretty warm here ( as in I sweat when I stay outside for 10 minutes) and the flights were long and very annoying
Good Morning Ethan. Your body will adjust to the heat. Give it time.
Be very vigulant while there. The pick pockets are very good at what they do!
Its in the 50’s here this morning and raining.
I would like some of you heat. Love you
I would gladly trade this weather for your weather, because I prefer cold to warm. Also, we have not gotten pickpocketed yet, so that is good.
Good Morning Ethan. Sorry we wern’t home yesterday to take your call. We went to the Rodeo to watch Bull Riding. The sun was strong so was pretty hot because we went early so we could get a parking place close in the handicapped area. There was one bull that was full of trouble. He’d dump his rider fast and then run to the other end of the arena. Three guys on horseback were susposed to push him back to the open gate that he was suposed to go through. But instead the bull chased the horses and anybody too close to the fence. He was having a lot of fun. Finally they let a big black bull in to have a talk to the unruly one and lead him out the gate. A couple minutes of excitement.
On the 4th of July we went to the Island Park in Springfield. Again we went early for close up parking. We acheived that but I was ready to go home by 7 pm! Fireworks don’t start ’til 10 pm. We stayed. Luckily I brought a book to read and my puzzle book! It was cold too after the sun went down.
Summer arrived on Thursday. Todays in the mid 80’s tomorrow in low 90’s.
I’m glad you’re having a good time and seeing and experiencing a lot of different things. Sounds like a place much different then you’re used to. ENJOY!!!!
Love You and Eyrn
Grandma
Hey all the food sounds sooooooo good im camping right now but when i get home for I am going to try to mango banna pancakes. Yum
Our thermometer says that it is 102 degrees farenheit, so we are staying inside……
Sounds like you had a lot of fun at the Rodeo. Did you like the fireworks?
Ethan
Thats really neat that you get to go to another country. Is that because you are waiting for the visa to India? You said the food was better. Why is it better? Oh what fun! Love you
I’m sure glad you enjoyed holding that cobra. He looks kinda harmless!! Glad you were careful tho.
We’re having summer today. 98 or 99 degrees. Its to start cooling down tomorrow. I had forgotton how hot this really was!
Grandpa is having a grand time in California. Today he’s enjoying Tony and Jack. Well Brittany too and the rest of them. They were getting ready to go swimming.
I went and had lunch with Barbara at the Stage Coach Restaurant. Too warm to do much. Thought of going to the beach today. Its actually nice there today.
Love You All.
Grandma
I think the cobra was harmless because I heard one of the handlers talk about the cobras not having fangs. It sounds like it is hotter there than here, but soon we will be in the desert where it will be over 100 every day.
Ethan