Today we go back to Paris, to celebrate our anniversary tonight (8th) and then fly home tomorrow. We are really looking forward to going back to Paris with a more relaxed attitude (we tried to see too much our first three days there) and are both looking forward to getting back to our real life at home (and especially our dog!).

Yesterday we drove from Amsterdam to Verdun, France, where the bloodiest part of WWI took place. 300,000 were killed in 300 days. Several villages destroyed and never rebuilt. It had beautiful memorials and monuments throughout, very humbling and meaningful, and lots of references to the American forces that came and General Pershing, my own hometown hero (well, Tisha's hometown at least). Chad walked through a trench (I couldn't handle it), and we wandered the grounds and through the woods. The most striking thing of course was the rows and rows and rows of crosses. Haunting.

Arriving in Reims, we took a taxi to the main part of town (I booked us on the edge of town to save money and then we ended up spending 35 euro on taxis; oh well, travel lesson). It was very nice, with another huge Notre Dame similar to Paris's, and its own share of Roman ruins. We ate at a French restaurant, but though we are in the Champagne region, did not find cheap champagne to drink. We're going to look again this morning before we head to Paris to take with us for tonight to celebrate our anniversary with. I splurged on the hotel for tonight so it should be really nice.

Then tomorrow night, back home. It will be so nice.