Buon giorno i miei amici! A Week in Tuscany

Hello Friends! What a week this has been. Lee and I left Geneva Oct. 23 and met my cousins from California in Florence, Italy and proceeded on to La Capannetta, the Tuscan farmhouse just north of Siena which we rented for a week. This was a 400 year old farmhouse which had been updated within the last couple of years. The driveway was 2 mile long and the views of central Italy and the hilltop villages were breathtaking. We were not idle for many minutes the entire week. We began our adventures in Volterra, which sits high above rich farmland and is encircled by impressive walls and topped with a grand fortress, and San Gimignana, a Tuscan hill town with 14 medieval towers. We leaned against the "tower in Pisa" and spent a day in beautiful Florence, where we visited the Accademia and Michelangelo's David and the Uffizi Gallery. My favorite was Civita, a small Etruscan town which is connected to nearby Bagnoregio by a footbridge. It was quite windy the day we were there and we could imagine the challenge to grasp the handrail when fierce winter weather rolls through. The cave we entered in Civita dated back to 1300 BC - Oh, my - incroyable! The fall colors are peaking in Tuscany which made the views that much more beautiful. I've tried to capture some of the sights in Tuscany and views of our farmhouse with some photos. Ciao!!

Mme. Wallace

Paris - c'était magnifique!

Bonjour mes amis! Lee and I left Chambéry Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 6:00 am for my orientation for the Fulbright program in Paris. After we arrived Wednesday afternoon, we had physicals and finished all requirements for our visas. Wednesday evening was amazing. We had a reception at the Palais de Luxembourg including the five exchange teachers, research scholars, and teaching assistants in France for the school year. We met the Ambassador of the U.S. to France and other officials involved in this Program. Thursday and half of the day Friday, the five exchange teachers were involved in seminars concerning "teaching in France." Lee went to a car show featuring the newest cars for the upcoming year. He loved that! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we explored beautiful and historic Paris. We walked and walked along the Quais of the Seine River. Saturday morning we went to the Dali museum in Montmartre, and, to our delight, there was a wine and food festival so we were able to sample foods from different regions of France. Sunday, we went to a church service at St. Sulpice, which is the church featured in the Da Vinci Code. This church has an enormous pipe-organ which has a rich history with a succession of 12 world-class organists. It was the Messe de la Rentrée, so there were many school children participating in the service. We returned to Chambéry via TGV Sunday evening, a bit tired, yet invigorated by the sights and sounds of Paris.

Mme. Wallace