Reims Cathedral

Reims Cathedral lies in France in the the town of Reims. During world war I the cathedral was bombed and was almost destroyed. A statue of Joan of Arc lies right outside of the cathedral that was built in 1896. Joan of Arc was a farm girl who said saints appeared to her and talked to her. The French and the English were fighting against each other and the English had taken over half of France and were getting ready to take over Orleans a very important city. The saints told Joan to go to the king of France and ask him to let her fight in the army. Well Joan went to the king also known as the Dauphin and asked him to let her fight and he said yes. So Joan went to Orleans and saved the city with the Dauphin's army and they took it back. Then the Dauphin came to Reims and was crowned king of France. But then two years later Joan was taken prisoner and was taken to court and tried for being a witch and was found guilty. And on May 1431 Joan was burned at the stake. 

Mount St. Michael

Mount St. Michael is located in France and when the tide goes out it becomes part of the land, but when the tide comes in it becomes an island. This is due to an earthquake in 725 which caused a tidal wave that wiped out everything in front of it except Mount St. Michael and caused it to become a island when the tide was in, and a part of the land when the tide was out. The monks were thankful to god for saving them so the turned from farming to fishing. Over the years the abbey grew bigger and more Pilgrims flocked to it and pretty soon the island was full of people. One story about the abbey is about a English captain who was trying to take the abbey noticed a basket that hauled up food and supplies to monks in the abbey and thought that if he could befriend some monks he could get them to haul up some of his men who would then open the gates and let the army in. He manged to befriend five monks who were going to pull the soldiers up to the roof. But fortunately the commander of the abbey-garrison found out the plot and killed the five monks and continued to pull the basket up himself. The soldiers unaware of what had just happened continued to climb into the basket. As soon as the basket reached the top the monk killed the man inside of it and let it back down again. The captain of the English army waited for the gates to open but they never did, and then the tide came in and they were forced to retreat. As they did the captain wondered why his soldiers had not opened the gate and as he looked at the mountain he knew the tragic answer. 

This is what Mount St. Michael looks like when the tide is out.

This is what Mount St. Michael looks like when the tide is in.

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a ancient medieval castle that lies in southwest France. It was first built by the Romans but then it was taken by the warlike Visigoths who made it their capital for three hundred years and then the Saracens took it for fifty years! There was a lot of battles that were fought for the castle but finally the French king took control of it. Each king that controlled the castle wanted to make it stronger and by 1285 the castle had two walls and fifty towers to protect it. We have a game called Carcassonne that we play.

Making eggs

Today I made eggs for my family and got to eat one. First you pour melted butter on a pan and the you spray it with butter. After that you put the egg on the pan and wait for it to cook. Then you flip the egg up so that it is on the other side. then you flip it again and put it on a plate. Here are some pictures:

This is all of the ingredients for the egg.

This is me melting the butter.

This is me waiting for the egg to cook. 

This is a video of me flipping the egg.

Book review: Inheritance

This past week I read Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. It is the fourth book of the Eragon cycle. It is about Eragon and his dragon Saphira and their friends the Varden trying to defeat lord Galbatorix and restore peace to the land of Alagaesia. On the way they find dragon eggs and dragon souls called Eldunari. Eragon gets help from his old trainer Glaedr, an old dragon who's rider was slain in battle by Eragon's half brother Murtagh. I really liked this book and I would recommend this book to anyone who can read well and enjoys fantasy.

This is a picture of Inheritance.

The rock of Gibraltar

The rock of Gibraltar is located in Spain and was the entrance to the Mediterranean. It as first claimed by the Saracens in the year 711 as their headquarters to take over Spain. They succeeded in taking over Spain and ruled it for 700 years. In the year 1462 the Spaniards were able to take over Spain again and they used the rock as a fort. But other country's wanted the rock as well because whoever controlled the rock they controlled they entrance to the Mediterranean. In 1704 the English took over the rock and in 1779 the French and the Spanish attacked the fort and began a four year siege. But the English defended the fort and has controlled it to this day. The author of the book was held in the prison of the fort until the military found out that he was innocent and let him go. He also got to go inside of the fort and got a tour of it when he was older.  

Rio de Janerio

Rio de janerio is one of the most beautiful city's in the world. It is in Brazil and was once its capital. It was named when some Portugal explorers first saw the bay of Rio and called it Rio de Janerio the river of January because it was new years day. There is a mountain at the mouth of the bay called Sugar loaf mountain which was said to be unclimbable. One day a English flag appeared at the top of the mountain and the whole city was mad at the person who did it but they could not get it down. A young English man had climbed to the top of the mountain and had put it up there. And then when the city was at the height of it excitement the flag suddenly disappeared. The man had climbed back up there and taken it down. Rio also has a huge statue of Christ the redeemer that is at the top of another mountain.