The Countdown has begun….only 13 more days until we leave for our trip to Paris!

Last year’s journey through England was an amazing adventure, and we saw so much more than we could have ever imagined.   But it was a lot of traveling, not to mention the daily, anxiety-filled chore that was driving on the opposite side of the road in an opposite-sided car!  I think the stress took a few years off my life.  So this year, we wanted to stay in and around one place and take our time to explore at a slower place.

So, we rented a little apartment in the 11th Arrondissement in the Bastille neighborhood.   The apartment is on a little side street called the Cour Damoye, in a very old building…but the apartment is modern, has all the amenities we need, and should suit us fine.

For most of the trip,  we will be exploring Paris and visiting all of the major sites.  Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Orsay Museum, etc. …and one evening, we booked an evening cruise down the Seine River.  We are also looking forward to eating our way through Paris…Lena is especially excited to see if chocolate croissants are even better in Paris.  I’m looking forward to eating baguettes, cheese and drinking wine!

We also plan to take a few day trips by train (no driving on this trip).  We want to visit Versailles, which is supposedly vast beyond comprehension and impossible to see in a day.  We also want to go to Chartes to see one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.   The town of Chartes is also supposed to be very quaint and picturesque.   On another day trip, we are going to visit a little walled medieval town called Provins.  It sits on a hilltop and looks almost fairy-tale like.

Palace of Versailles

And last, but not least,… we have a special day planned for Lena….but we are going to wait until we get to France to tell her.  We are hoping to use this secret trip as a bribe and maybe we can coax good behavior for as long as possible.

Since Lena goes to bed pretty early at night, I think keeping this travel blog will be a nice diversion  after a long day of sightseeing.  Keep checking in to follow our adventure!