Headed to France today

I am all ready set to go!
Here is my itinerary

Tue Aug 18
12:51 pm CST: I depart St. Louis on United Airlines. I transfer planes in Washington, DC - Dulles International Airport.

4:00 - 5:30pm EST: I am in Washington DC and this will be your last chance to call me in the United States

5:30 EST: I fly on Lufthansa Airlines to Paris, France

Wed Aug 19
6:55 am (French local time*): I arrive in Paris, France - Charles De Galle Airport
I expect to go through customs which may take a couple of hours.
*Europe is roughly 7 hours ahead of the central time zone.

10:27 am (French local time):I take the Eurorail to Rennes, France. I am so excited about taking the super train.
2:15 pm: I arrive in Rennes, France
I will take the bus to dorm and try not to sleep for the rest of the day (everyone recommends that)

Wed Aug 19 -Mon Aug 24
The International Ethology Conference
I'll be staying in University Rooms Accomodations. Affordable, private and looks comfortable

Fri Aug 21
That afternoon I present will my paper in the Animal Personality Symposium.
Until that time, I'll be practicing my talk, checking out other talks, meeting scientists, networking and if possible - blogginf and telling you all about what and who I see, hear and meet.

Tues Aug 25
The conference ends, but I'll spend some time in Europe, since I've never been before.
5:58 am (local French time): I will take Eurorail to Amsterdam. I have to transfer trains and train stations in Paris. I'm a little nervous. I speak no French and only survival spanish. I printed out some common French phrases for travellers to take with me.

2:36 pm (local Dutch time: I will arrive in Amsterdam and meet my friends Tim and Kevin. Kevin is also a biologist. We stared graduate school together. He's a superstar and studies disease ecology in birds. I'm hoping he'll let me interview him and hang out and do some bird science. Exciting!

Tues Aug 25 - Sun Aug 30
I'll be in the Netherlands with my friends checking out the Netherlands, and hopefully Belgium a little. I expect there will be some exciting urban ecology, wildlife and nature blogging opportunities to compare and contrast to urban American settings.

For example, did you know that house sparrows, Eurasian tree sparrows and starlings are all native birds of Europe that now call North America home?

Last note:
When I get internet access, I'll post updates to the blog, Facebook, FriendFeed, Twitter - so please follow and make comments. Heck, ask questions.

Also, if you would like a post card from me, then you need to leave a comment in this or any of my other European posts before I leave. I'll need your name and address with zip code!

Bon voyage!