We will split the first week between Cortona and Siena. Our first stop will be in Cortona. We will spend a long week end there and then on the 14th drive over to Siena. There we will stay at the Hotel Almadomus which is a hotel run by a convent. We will depart there on May 20 and go to Florence. In both Siena and Cortona we will be able to see life in the smaller towns, go out into the surrounding country side and accomplish beautiful landscape work.The short trip between Cortona and Siena can be treated like a field trip so this change will not compromise much time. As far as meetings go we need to set a single time in the day or evening when everyone can usually be present. Monday evenings and Wednesday near mid day work best for David. I can meet most any evening and on M-E-F afternoons. Please send my your top 2 choices for a meeting time so that we can prepare a schedule of topics and meeting times for March and April. Once we get that settled, I will start a blog that all of us can participate in and it will be a place we can post our work and news while on the trip so your family and friends can see what you are doing.
For the non-photo majors, I would like to know how many want to get together for a review of basic photography principles and to go over your camera with you, so let me know this week if you want to do this. I would like to get all these details settled by spring break so we can relax and roll through the spring without a lot of stress. Ciao!

Il pleut! A dreary day, I hope all are sleeping as I have not seen but two of the students this morning, and the town sounds quiet. Rennes is a very nice small city, even has a single north-south metro train. I think everyone has appreciated the beauty and antiquity of the medieval part of town, it was built in the 12th century! The rest of the town is modern and fairly new, having been rebuilt after a huge fire in the 18th century. There was a huge market yesterday and I enjoyed taking some pictures of the people and the food. Everyone is ready to be home. No one has been homesick, but moving about as we have been doing is tiring. I hope that each student has gained some understanding of France and its culture. I don't think that is possible without seeing some of the different parts of the country. It is important these days to see the other side of what we are being told in our media and by our politicians. I am pleased to report that the French people have welcomed us warmly, have not been the least bit interested in talking politics, and have shown no animosity toward the US or us as a sample of its citizens. There was a last minute impulse to go to Normandy, but that proved to be beyond our budget and time. Everyone of our group has conducted themselves in a fashion that
puts forth a very positive image of our school and its students. Susan and I have had a good time getting to know each one of the students and will miss them this summer. A bientôt!

We had a wet trip to Blois. Lots of confusion about train schedules, but it all worked out well for us. Pouring rain, we were late out of Dijon back to Paris where we had to change to another train station. We missed our connecting train, and were told to await another one at 8 PM. Will, ever observant, noted a train at 6:30 and no train at 8 so we rushed to that train. Arriving in Blois it was raining cats and dogs--there were big poodles everywhere-but fortunately our hotel was directly across from the train station. Didn't look like much, but it has worked out well. Nice young couple run it much like a B&B and that is nice.
Yesterday we went to see the chateaus. They were impressive and everyine seemed to enjoy that. Last night was the "Son et Lumiere" at the Royal Chatgeau in Blois. Really a spectacular show. Today is a free day and tomorrow we head out for Brittany and the city of Rennes.

We gathered at Gare de Lyon and arrived in Dijon in less than 2 hours on the TGV which was a really nice ride. I think all needed a day to decompress from the intensity of Paris city life. Dijon has been a much lower key experience, but I think all have adapted to it quite well. Sunday we had a nice meal at a good restaurant nearby the hotel. Yesterday waas a great day as you can see from the photos. We visited the Cote d'Or, the richest wine country anywhere. Our guide, Yannick, was very knowledgeable and a quite nice man. We visited the chateau which is the home of the Order of the Tastevin for a lecture on the history and organization of the wine production of Burgundy. Then armed with new knowledgb went to two wine tastings and tours of important wineries. I can reeport that most all used the spittoons and did not swallow each taste. none the less it was a tired quite3crowd on the way home. We head for Blois this afternoon.

Bon Jour We're in Dijon

"I miss Paris, this place is dull, it only has 5 pages in the tour book, there's nothing to do." Now I understand the meaning of "How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen Paree?" The relaxed pace of rural life and the beauty of the rolling fields of Burgundy is hard to adjust to once one has been in Paris. Tomorrow we head out to tour the countryside and visit the wine country. I think that the significance of the place will become apparent. Our hotel here is nice, but it is a railroad hotel, not a boutique hotel like we had in Paris, it is a different experience and is very convenient.