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Luxemburg
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Downtown Heidelberg, Germany, as seen from Heidelberg Castle.
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The castle
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This is the opera house in Budapest, Hungary. The statue is of Franz
Liszt. We were in Budapest to attend the wedding of Gergely and Yvette
Harcos.
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The phone booth in front of the opera house.
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The writing desk of Franz Liszt. The museum staff later informed us
that we weren't supposed to take pictures in the museum.
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A view of the Danube, separating Buda and Pest
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The Royal House in Budapest
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Back in France now, here's a shot with Nathan on his trip with the Student
Ambassadors. We had just enough time to snap this photo in Mulhouse,
France before they retired for the evening.
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We celebrated Halloween in Strasbourg with the other Japanese students
in Megumi's study abroad program.
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This was the first Halloween party for most of them.
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But they still did a great job on the pumpkins.
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A Christmas market in Strasbourg. The sign is written in the German
dialect of the Alsace region.
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A Christmas tree stand
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Here's a similar Christmas market in the nearby town of Colmar.
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Some of the Christmas cakes (Buches de Noel) on sale
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The canal area in Colmar is called "Little Venice".
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More Christmas items in Colmar
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Megumi and I posed at the market back in Strasbourg.
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We spent New Year's Eve in Paris. Here's the Eiffel Tower lit up
at midnight. People were setting off firecrackers all around us.
Definitely one of the more dangerous New Year's Eve parties we've been to.
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Part of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace in London. There
were so many people there, it was hard to get a clean photo.
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Westminster Abbey
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Next, we went to visit our friends Andreas and Helena while they were in
Cambridge. We went "punting" down the river.
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A view of Kings College from the boat.
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The maths bridge
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Two images from Bibury, England in the rural region of the Cotswalds.
This is the River Coln.
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Here is one end of the Arlington Row houses, built in the 14th century.
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Stonehenge
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The cathedral in nearby Salisbury
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Back in London, here is the memorial plaque for Princess Diana. They
have since constructed a larger memorial fountain.
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London Bridge
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Megumi bought a small model airplane which we flew a few times, before
it became irreparably damaged. It still makes a nice display piece.
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We took a trip to the Black Forest area of eastern Germany with some
friends from Strabourg. Here are two pictures from Freiburg.
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Megumi enjoying the rope swing
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Megumi and Chika
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The top of our hiking trail. We didn't really expect that much snow.
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By a waterfall in the forest
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The American cemetery at Normandy
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I went with Dad and family.
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Megumi's family in front of the Sacre Coeur
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Megumi's brother, Kazuhiro, and me in the same pose
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Mont Saint Michel...
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...and our rental car
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My return to the Loire Valley and Chenonceau
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Lillies in the castle, taken on May Day.
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A beautiful shot in front of the castle, taken by Megumi
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Chateau Blois
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A church near Blois in the Augustin Thierry garden
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In the lobby of Megumi's parents' hotel
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In front of the red carpet at the Cannes film festival. We attended
the screening of "Innocence" by Mamoru Oshii. It was hot!
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Megumi interned at a hotel in Cannes during the festival, so we got to
mingle among the stars for free.
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A street in Cannes
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A view of nearby Monaco from above
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We went during the Grand Prix.
The Monte Carlo casino is in the background.
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Sending a postcard from Monaco
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Back in Strasbourg, we observed the transit of Venus between the earth
and the sun.
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We used my binoculars to project an image onto paper.
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If you click on the picture, you can just make out the shadow of Venus
in the lower left-hand corner.
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Megumi's friend Kakki visited Strasbourg from Germany.
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Here are a few shots from short trips I took around France. This is one
of the new tram line in Bordeaux.
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A Roman aqueduct in Montpellier
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The medieval village of Carcassone, near Montpellier
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The bridge that separates modern Carcassone from the walled-off village
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Inside the walls
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A Roman amphitheatre in Nimes
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Another shot of the amphitheatre
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At the farewell party with Megumi's study abroad program in Strasbourg.
I sang karaoke with Alex, from France, and Tomaki, from Japan.
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Akihiro and Megumi at the party
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The France-Japan house in Strasbourg
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The Arc de Triomphe on July 14, France's revolution day.
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The square in downtown Milan, Italy
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A nearby cathedral
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A street in Milan
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Italian ice cream
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The duomo in Florence
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Here's a view from the top
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A square in Florence
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The Ponte Vecchio in Florence
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Siena, Italy
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A view from the tower
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A nice picture taken by Megumi from the top of the leaning tower of
Pisa
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Here's the tower with our group...
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...and with Megumi
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The tiny country of San Marino, embedded in northern Italy.
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The cliffs in San Marino
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Venice, Italy
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St. Mark's basilica
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Traveling by boat is fast, but expenisve.
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The alternative is navigating the maze of narrow streets.
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Back in Paris, here is Megumi's friend Etienne (in the center, standing
behind Megumi) with his family
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The spiral stairs leading to my apartment. I lived on the 7th floor.
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My 183 square foot apartment
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Megumi juggling in the apartment
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The math department at Orsay, south of Paris, where I was a postdoc
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