Thanks, Malcolm. I envy you the visit to Andre Eve's nursery and private garden. Wow. Also the Bagatelle judging, complete with champagne. I was very lucky to be able to attend the conference myself, and have some photos on my Picasa album of the Day of the Rose at Chaalis before the conference began, and of Prof Joyaux's gallica collection in Commer. I broke my camera during the conference so it's nice to see your photos, Malcolm - I didn't get very many. It was fun to see a photo of me, Sherri and Judy. I had to laugh at photos of Betty under a drippy umbrella - is it ALWAYS raining when she's visiting gardens? It certainly should whet appetites for the conference in Lyon. Are you planning to go, Malcolm? I will have to miss it -- Anita Here is a link that might be useful: Day of the Rose

Hope this post isn't too late for your visit. I used to live in Downtown La Crosse. Unless things have changed a lot, Cass street down to the bluffs has some georgeous gardens attached to some beautiful Painted Lady Victorian homes. Once you get to the quieter part of that street (past Hwy 35 on 13th st. South and Cass), There are actally mansions. I would also reccomend (hope this doesn't sound morbid) a walk through the La Crosse Cemetery. It has beautiful with big old mosoleums of the Lumber Baron and Grain Baron families. It's accross from the UW campus on the North side. Also around there are some nifty walking trails and the La Crosse Zoo. Have fun.

If you can afford it, stay right in Boston. Boston is such a walkable city, and it would be a shame to lose that aspect. If you have to stay outside Boston, see if you can find something in Brookline or Cambridge, which have direct routes into Boston on the T and are still quite urban. Copley Square is nice (Copley Square Hotel, Lennox, Bullfinch, etc.), lots of shopping, old churches, gorgeous old public library (enter for a few minutes just to see the interior courtyard, which is a real treat). I love the Boston Harbor area (Marriott Long Wharf - gorgeous indoor pool overlooking the harbor) - you're within 10 minutes walking distance of the harbor, Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, and the North End. Here are some of the things I plan for guests when they're here for a few days: - Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. Wander through the Haymarket open air market. Watch the street performers. Have a drink at an outdoor cafe. Go up the back of Faneuil Hall and take the Parks Service tour. It's interesting, short, and air conditioned - and there are clean bathrooms. Have lunch at Durgin Park, which is the oldest continuously-operating restaurant in the country. - North End (you can do this on the same day as Faneuil Hall, if you're not tired). You get to the North End through the back side of Quincy Market - it's close. See the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea") and the Paul Revere House. Wander around the streets. Have dinner at almost any restaurant, preferably on a side street. (Ida's, in a tiny alley off Hanover Street, is a favorite of mine.) Get pastries from Mike's or another pastry shop, walk over to the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and sit and watch the kids playing in the water. By the way, if you're worried that this is too much walking, you could walk the entire route straight through in about 15 minutes! - Do the Freedom Trail, but only part of it. Start at the State Street stop on the T (orange and blue lines), and catch the Parks Services talk on the Boston Massacre (or, as my British friend calls it, the Boston Incident:). Follow the red line of the Freedom trail past the Old South Church (the Parker House Hotel, which is nearby, has nice public bathrooms on the second floor!), through the Boston Common (you can see the Statehouse from there), and on to the Public Garden. Take a swan boat and see the Make Way for Ducklings statues. Buy the book as a souvenir. - From the Public Garden, you can go up Beacon Hill (not my favorite, but very pretty), or you can head into the Back Bay. Walk down Newbury Steet and shop or eat in the pretty outdoor cafes. - Walk the Esplanade. See where they do the famous Boston Pops 4th of July concert. Watch the boaters on the Charles River. - Take the T (red line) to Harvard Square and explore Harvard. If you like to walk, take the T to Porter Square instead, and walk back to Harvard Square. It's about a 1.5 mile walk filled with shops and restaurants. - From Boston, take the T (blue line) outbound to Wonderland, which is the end of the line. You'll be at Revere Beach, which is the oldest public beach in the U.S. Eat at Kelly's Roast Beef, an institution! From downtown Boston, it takes about 20 minutes each way, so you could easily go to Revere Beach, walk the beach, get something to eat, and be back within two hours. (Btw, I know you can also reach Castle Island Beach in South Boston by T, and it's interesting, but I don't know it as well, except that I know that Sullivan's is the recommended place to eat there.) Hope you have a great time. Boston is a wonderful city!

Actually, clippings do NOT save an entire thread. Only a single post within a thread is saved...the post where you click the "Clip this post" link. Additionally, you may only save a maximum of 50 clippings. Once you reach the limit, you will no longer be able to clip a post or email a post until you delete at least one clipping. A better idea is to either bookmark the thread or save it to your local machine/computer. There are pros & cons to both. To save an entire thread you need to either bookmark it in your browser or save it to your machine. If you clip it or bookmark it, if pictures are later moved or deleted from the photo site by the poster, you will also lose the pictures. However, if you save a thread to your machine the pictures are saved with the thread and you will always have them. If you bookmark a thread, then every time you bring it up it will also bring up any updates to it. However, if you save a thread to your machine, it will only have what saved..no updates. Of course, you can always re-save it and it will get all the updates. Caution: If one or more of the pictures are gone, you don't want to save on top of the old thread b/c it will overwrite it and you will lose the pictures you previously saved...so save it with a new name (maybe a version #). To bookmark a thread Firefox: 1. Click the "Bookmarks" menu item and a menu will appear 2. Click the "Bookmark This Page" option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify where to put the bookmark. You can create a new folder, save it to an existing folder, or save it in the default location..."Bookmarks Menu". You can update the "Name" if you wish to. Internet Explorer 7.0 and earlier: 1. Click the "Favorites" menu item and a menu will appear 2. Click the "Add to Favorites..." option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify where to put the bookmark. You can create a new folder, save it to an existing folder, or save it in the default location..."Favorites". You can update the "Name" if you wish to. To save a thread to your machine/computer in html format Firefox: 1. Click the "File" menu item and a menu will appear 2. Click the "Save Page As..." option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify where to put the saved page. This works the same as saving a file in any other product such as Word, Excel, etc. Internet Explorer 7.0 and earlier: 1. Click the "File" menu item and a menu will appear 2. Click the "Save As..." option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify a location to put the saved page. This works the same as saving a file in any other product such as Word, Excel, etc. To save a thread to your machine/computer in Word or other word processing format Any browser: 1. Open up a new, blank document in MS Word or whatever your word processing application is. 2. Copy (usually [Ctrl-C]) the thread. I usually select & copy everything from the title of the original post to the bottom of the last post...this prevents you from copying the page headers & footers. To select only what you want, click & drag your mouse or click on the beginning, scroll to the end, and do a [shift] + Click. (To select all, use [Ctrl-A]) 3. If you want, you can edit the thread in your word processing application. 4. Save it as you would any other document.