We continued catch-up in the morning. I strolled down to do a bit more grocery shopping including beer. While there I had a nice quite solitary breakfast of cafe a last and pain au chocolat. Around 11 we hopped on the metro and headed for the Louvre. Before entering we had crepes for lunch. Note to self – next time the boys split a crepe. These were huge, the giant burrito size. love the way the French cook potatoes, yum.

Even though I’ve been to the Louvre at least 4 times these. are still galleries I’ve never seen. To please the fails and give a winch for Can we amid for its Mona List fort. to get there we went through about 5 other gallous first. Then we just wandered from one to another and ended up finding the crown jewels of Louis the XV (1 think that was the correct Louis) aid bits of jewelry from other lay. Michael liked the rose diamond about the size of my thumb and net to a clear square at diamond over twice its size. No wonder they wouldn’t allow photography in that gallery. It also had thick steal doors (slightly concealed behind wood fronts) and no windows (inside gallery-small by Louvre standard). The next part the caught my interest was the section containing the living quarters of Napoleon III and some other furnished rooms. The luxury in contrast d where Queen Mary livid in Edinburgh castle was evident even though Queen Mary’s chambers were elegant a couple centuries made a big difference.

Steve left is shortly before 5 to go to the opening reception of his conference. We continued to look around did some souvenir’ shopping and fond a teller machine since we were almost out of cash. ATMs make life so much more convenient.

My herd’s getting tried sine my keyboard still hasn’t recovered for the spill so more later. I don’t usually use my pen this much.

When we arrived just after dark all three levels were open but by the time we reached the front of the line only the first and second levels were open. I’ve never been able to go to the top so that while disappointing it was not terribly surprising. We went to the second level first and started slowly walking the perimeter. We stopped on the east side and watchers some brinks quit a distance away. On the north side we could see part of the Arch Le Defensé.

Before we got any further around there was a security announcement saying they were closing immediately and please calmly make your way down as quills as possible That scared Michael and we got in line for the elevator. Michael worried about the delay while we waited and to announcement continued in 5 languages. Other were less concerned coming up in the elevator we went down in. w2 We had noticed military scattered around the park that surrounds the tower but just figured it was a pkprecaution in this days of terrorist attacks. On previous trips I’d seen troops in Barcelona (Basque separations sometimes used terrorist tactics) but not in France. There were a few in London in 2003 near Parliament.

So we strolled up to another building with a raised plaza to view the tower and take more pictures. From there we watched the light show before taking to metro back to the apartment.

Was catch-up day, the boys were behind in their school work and Steve still needed to finish his presentation My legs and feet needed a day where they were not being used for hours at a time. Plus we needed some laundry done. I know it seems a sacrilege but then are still practical considerations and the vacation part of the tip was over. Never fear we didn’t just stay in all day. Later in the afternoon we hopped on the metro and went into Paris proper. Then we headed to the Eiffel Tower as our primary destination. It is open late and neither Steve nor I had been on it at night. The night before we noticed that at 9 o’clock the tower put on its own light show with synchronized lights flashing on the tower. First, we walked around a bit then found a brassiere a block from the Eiffel Tower for dinner. The boys have a favorite did here Pate Caribonara, rich creamy pasta served with raw egg yoke to mix in and lots of cheese with bits of a smoky ham in it. I had some that night too with a nice Bordeaux while Steve had Beouf Bergenion. The dale chocolate mousse I had for dessert was excellent.

We arrived a Pairs Beauvais Airport and took the bus into Paris. Then a taxi over to our apartment. That’s when I discovered there were no non smoking apartments but there is a/c and we have large doors that open onto the balcony from both the living room and bedroom. Since we are in a business district almost all of the restaurants are closed on the weekend so we walked down toward the Arch La Defense to the Auchan market to get supplies. There were some restaurants open in that shopping center but the market had priority now that we have a tiny kitchen (think RV size).They had quite a crowd at the Arch listening to music. Kind of cool but we needed to get to the market before it closed since it was now after 9pm. We just made it. about half way through our shopping by states the "store will be closing in …" announcements. Some bread, cheese, eggs, milk, yogurt and laundry detergent later we walked out to a magnificent fireworks display and laser show on the arch. I have always enjoyed fireworks in France, their displays are always excellent to outstanding. Needless to say we stayed to watch so dinner was delayed dinner to after 10:30. From our balcony you can see Sacré Coeur and from the plaza next to the hotel you can see the Eiffel tower, Are d’ Trompe and Arch La Defense. Not a bad view at all!

Remember those detailed instructions! They were wrong. We got off the A1(M) who we were directed then proceeded to go in circles because we couln’t find the street names on the instructions. after almost an hour of looking and asking people where one of the roads was we gave by and culled the inn. Where the lovely woman who runs the place said that was the long way around (and sent you through the Scottish equivilent of the projects – not where you want to be lost. fortunatelt we got lost before entering that area) and to go back to the A1 and take a the A720 exit to the A701 aporox. 3 miles and she’d be on the left. Her directions were spot on though we did pass theB&B and have to go around the block. Because of all the detouring we didn’t arrive until just after 10:30. With the correct instructions we’d have been thereby 9. We had a very nice large room there. Plenty of space and a big bay window over looking the front garden. Though most of it was parking. Steve wandered down to a pub but my feet said no to more walking. The one benefit of being over a pub the night before was convenience.

The next morning a full Scottish Breakfast: bacon, (2 rashers). egg (one), sausage (one), toast , coffee/tea juice, yogurt, porridge(oatmeal) though none of us had it all. Then off to the castle. Nice hike up the hill, sure wouldn’t want to do that in armor or with someone shooting down on me. Smell similar to the Jovik exhibition in parts of the castle. It was interesting seeing where POWs were kept. They actually had pretty good rations but did have work detail. There was a guy dressed as a sailor from that period (the POWs were mostly captured seamen) who gave an interesting talk on life as a POW and as member of the garrison that manned the castle. Including the differences between sea rations and garrison rations. It was educational as well as entertaining.

Steve, then feeling nervous about finishing his paper headed off to an internet cafe to get work done. I took the boys on a double decker sight seeing bus tour. Where we learned more about the city, it had been a financial center and very wealthy for centuries. Toured the University and New Town sections (new town is only 300 years old). We met Steve back at Starbucks where I logged in and was harassed by friends on the Pro Dev mail list for taking my computer with me.

The next many after breakfast (the first time we stayed at the same place for 2 nights) we headed off to Preswick Airport south of Glasgow. We drove through Glasgow but did not stop sinoe Steve was concerned about getting lost and possibly missing our flight. Instead we had plenty of time at the airport. especially since on flight was late.

First the frustrating part, we had made reservations of one of the smaller hotels near city center the St Denys. We arrived at a reasonable hour of 6:30 of to find that while we had a confirmed reservation their was no room available. Not to worry she told us there was a room for us at their "site" hotel 6 blocks away. Okay, we go there to find that the room they had was for a 3 person not a 4 person family and no cots available. They did have 2 rooms for 2 we could have for the some price but on different floors. So she cheeked around and found 2 rooms next to each other 2 more blocks away (with a bigger car park). We took them even though they were smoking rooms over a pub because by now of is 8 o’clock and we are tired and hungry. Had a fairly lousy meal at a restaurant in city centre but choices were slim that late.

The cook was on vacation so no breakfast there, and we had to be out by 9 anyway. They were agreeable to our leaving the car in their car park while we explored York. We started of a Starbucks, one without writes access, sigh. Then moved on to the York tourist office to took a B&B for Edinburgh. They took the info and said check back in half on hour. So we went over to the York Minster. a very large cathedral that Steve liked best of all the English ones his visited. The wooden church inside the cathedral with its paneling and ornate caring was particularly impressive. It did not have a separate roof instead soaring to the Minister roof above.

Next the Jovrik,when doing some building work a while back remains of the old viking settlement of Jovrik wen found and excavated. Then turned it into a tourist attraction as a recreation of a couple of streets from the era, complete with the "sights and smells". Smell it did since authentic sanitation was shown. Though I dare say less the the New Orleans Superdome the first week of September 2005.

Back to the tourist office and our B&B reservations have come through complete with an AA (automobile association) step by step print of with mileage breakdowns for services and road changes. Cool maybe we wont go lost for a change.

We decided on a stop at Bolton Castle to stretch our legs. Bolton was only open for another 20 minutes when we arrived so we decided to just visit the gardens. They had a hedge maze which amused the boys for about an hour then on to Edinburgh.

Our next night was spot in Nottingham Made famous in the this of Robin Hood. The biggest challenge then was finding a place to park. Again we stayed of a Holiday Inn Express but this one was in city center and had no parking. There was a public car park a block away but we could not find an entrance. We did find another pewit car park a block the other direction and used if. Just as well since of we bf by 10 am the next morning then rate was £3 while the public one was £10 and the one the hotel people recommend was £7.50 after the hall discount.

We gob off to an earlier start Tuesday morning (no homework before venturing) and decided to go to Hardwick Hall another impressive abode. Seeing signs of Sherwood Forest we derided to detour through there. That was a fun side trip. A nice hike in the words and small visitors center with something rare in England-no admission fee, not even a parking fee.

As we were returning to the car I saw a sign offering the opportunity to shoot on English Long Bow. When we went to check it out the rate was £3 for 6 arrows so I thought t boys could shoot 3 each and Steve and I the same. Steve had stopped at the shop to pick op a Sherwood Forest emblem for his hiking stick so we went on ahead to the archery area.The archer who was helping Michael spent a lot of time helping Michael learn to hold the bow properly, notch his arrow, etc. It was obvious the man was passionate about archery. So I told him that each boy would shoot the full 6 flight of arrows. Instead of just handing a bow & 6 arrows over he spent over 20 minutes with each of them instructing them on how to draw, aim and other skills. Steve showed up during part of Michael’s lesson and was impressed as I was by the archer’s efforts.

Michael was able to hit the target consistently and even "brush" but not pop the balloon on the bulls eye. Ryan was moved up to the targets further away and a real long bow. (The one Michael used was resin not wood.) Ryan has shot bows before in scouts. He managed to pop the balloon but he also had some shots that ended up is to ground and in the safety rutty behind the targets.

Of my "boys" Steve shot the best though he what straight to the farther away bear target. Steve shot well with few misses of the smaller target. Then it was my turn. I started with the bear and had a nice group around the heart marker, all within a 5" circle except I that was low. So the pub a balloon on a post further back. Got that as well (first try) so they replaced it with a "bird" Problem was they also changed the arrows from regular sharps to ones with a padded point approx. ! in diameter. It took most of a flights to adjust to the change in handling but I did knock the bird off it’s post twice. Course once was by hitting the post and that would not help in real hunting.

It was well with the £9 he ended up charging us. One of the highlights of our English car tour. A good thing since when we got to Hardwick Hall it was closed. They changed opening days that week and wen no longer open on Tuesdays. So we walked around the grounds looked inside the rums of the old hall but couldn’t enter to explore. I must say they have some great views.

We tried another castle with no more success and when we found the Ably it had just closed.

this was my second visit to Warwick and the first for Store and the boys. The sheer size of the place is impressive. One thing that makes it interesting to visit are the waxwork figures portraying events at the castle. One is entitled "kingmaker" and other depicts an 1890s house party for royalty.The figures are from Madame Tussahs and extremely lifelike. while most of the figures are inside the roms one that was is a niche Near the entrance fooled Steve completely.

In the Armory there is an impressive collection of weapons including the longest gun I’ve ever seen meant to be fruit by one person. Though it does refuse a support stuck in the ground to support the end of the barrel. The boys were excited about the full size trebuchet and of course we had to watch it being prepared for and fired.

In spite of all the wonderful they to see and hear ( the English Bowman exhibition and talk was very interesting) one thing I will never forget is the if you wanted catsup or mustard with you meal of the restaurant there if was an extra 15p or approximates 30¢. You would think a $9 kids meal would include catsup. I will note the is the of place that charged for condiments to go on a sandwich or with "chips" (aka fries).

I am amazed at how much food & lodging are costing. Thad expected both of these to be less than in London but they are not. In addition while the pasties have been good most of the regular meals have been mediocre. To give you an idea of pricing a 500 ml bottle of water is a £1.20-£1.90 The exchange rate is $1.90 to £1. A "pint" of beer is £3 and a Subway sandwich is £4+ . A standard bottle of Corona is £3.50, try changing $7 for a Corona in Houston and you’ll be out of busies in a heartbeat. A can of Coke is £1.30.

Holiday Inn Express was £76 to £88 or $150 to $170 a night. Basically everything is double the US price as seen in major citers. Hotels that would be $40-$50 in the US are $110 or more in the UK. I will really appreciate the I bedroom apartment in Paris next week at $150 a night.

Skipping ahead, the food in Edinburgh, Scotland while no less expensive was much better.

Continued on to the home of Shakespeare – Stafford Upon Avon. there we strolled to the Gobi Theater and watched the canal boats, including one going through the look. after which we headed on to Warwick for our visit to the castle on Monday Sept. 6.