We love Paris, but we also love Bourges! On the way, we stopped at Guedelon, where a midieval castle is being built using tools and techniques during that period. It was very, very enjoyable. Interesting, and the forest setting was beautiful. We had a picnic lunch with the group with eclairs for dessert. Ann made the supreme sacrifice and gave me the chocolate one while she ate the coffee flavored on (not too good--as bad as our ice cream last night). We had a four hour bus ride to Bourges, and the French countryside is beautiful. We stopped to take pictures of the vineyards. I'm afraid I'm having trouble getting the photos on line tonight, but maybe tomorrow. Bourges is just on the edge of Burgundy, in the Berry region, near the Loire River. We had some awesome wine from the region. It's Sancerre, if you can find it on line or anywhere. Walking around Bourges is like walking around a movie set. Most of the buildings were built in the thirteenth century. The cathedral was incredible. The stained glass windows were even more impressive than Sainte-Chappelle. Our guide was wonderful! She had so much knowledge, and explained the stories in the windows. After the tour, quite a few of us went to dinner at an outdoor cafe. The waiters spoke almost no English, and the menus were only in French. We pulled out our French phrase books, but it was difficult to figure out what everything was. The couple with us got their salads a good 20 minutes before our food came. Jane's dinner was not what she ordered, but she didn't want to send it back because it would take too long. And their desserts were not what they ordered. The people at the next table waited about an hour for their food. One of the waiters walked away down the street and didn't reappear until much, much later. But the wine was great! Put a big smile on Ann's face! ;) Afterwards we walked around the town. They have a light show after dark, which was nice. The cathedral is lit up at night and music of the time is played throughout the town. Ann said if Bourges was on Househunters International, she could definitely live here. It's got very few American tourists--it's not even in the Rick Steves book because it's away from everything. A real gem. We picked up some trivia today. Cul de sac literally means butt of the bag, or bottom of the bag. French roosters don't say cock-a-doodle-doo. Instead they say cock-a-rico. We saw lots of cats in Bourges, Robin. Reminds me of Vieste. Problems today? A couple. I didn't hear my alarm this morning at 6:00. I didn't wake up until 6:30. Ann got up early and was in the bathroom when she heard it go off. She was afraid that I died or something (not that she bothered to check!) and was wondering what she would do. And my clothes got wet on the floor again. We had a very tiny elevator in the hotel in Paris. When we were trying to squeeze in (think subway) with our luggage, Ann had to reach over me to push the button. We kept going to the basement and up to the same floor we were on. Finally we realized that we were pushing "1" to go the first floor. In Europe, the first floor is "0". I wasn't able to answer any of my e-mails today, I'm afraid. This Internet connection is screwy here. Maybe tomorrow....