Next thursday, I'll be leaving for Paris to attend the "Rencontres du Ciel et de l'Espace 2006" until next sunday (so no internet, I believe). These are the "Meeting of Sky and Space" (Ciel et Espace is a french astronomy magazine).

It's every even year (since 98) and I've always enjoyed them (we get to meet lots of friends we read on the internet and meet new ones). There's one conference after the other and/or occuring simultaneously.

It's the biggest astronomy meeting in Europe. Several years ago, I met astronauts (like Jeff Hoffman)...I don't think there's a conference one is expected to give, this time. Renting stands at La Villette has become quite expensive, so it changes, becomes more commercial. Things like telescopes, meteorites, books, trips, memberships, etc..are sold. La Geode (right behind) currently has Roving Mars shown! (I'm not at all sure to have the time to go there, though).

What's fun too is that thanks to the internet, I know more and more people and it definitely helps to know english as most of the info first appears in english.