On the Eve of Departure

We're a little over one day from departure for Paris, France.

"Really?" I ask myself.

Must be true because all of a sudden I can't stop thinking about all the preparations I wish I'd done, all the French I wish I had learned, and all the promises broken never to wait until the last minute again. Still, I think we're probably as prepared as we ever will be so let's just go with it and see what mischief we can get ourselves into!

On our trip to Senegal last year, I made some vane promise to keep everybody posted on our trip along the way. I solemnly vow the same promise this year only I'm really going to try to post to this blog rather than use email like last time. Feel free to share this with anyone who expresses interest in following along. The more the merrier! To assist in my efforts to post more frequently, we're taking along a sweet little tablet that should get me more motivated to record our activities.

The rough draft of our trip looks something like this (subject to change at any time and for any reason):

1. Leave bright and early Thursday morning from Portland International Airport, stop-over in Phoenix, then on to Philadelphia. The flight leaves Philly around 6:20 in the evening and arrives in Paris the next morning breakfast time. 
2. For those of you living in Oregon, there is an 8 hour time difference between Oregon and Paris, just so you can keep track.
3. Now, Karen's aunt has proposed that we get this trip started right off the bat with a sight-seeing tour or a trip through the Louvre and a couple of stops at fine dining. Personally, I think I'll be looking for a flat place to lay down and catch 20 winks before I'm ready to kick-start the sight-seeing! An evening bus tour or stroll down the boulevard (that's French for boulevard!) and a good nights rest would set me up for a day of museum viewing I think.
4. Days 2 through  4 include multiple museum sightings, a few particularly noteworthy dining establishments and the occasional stroll down the boulevard (did I tell you that was French for boulevard?)
5. I'm told day 5 will be attempting the Eiffel Tower.
6. Over the course of the next few days we will visit the likes of the Rodin Museum, Napoleon's tomb, Dome Des Invalides, Church of St Louis des Invalides, Notre Dame, and  the Opera House.
7. Our hotel is near the Seine so I anticipate long walks along the Left Bank and the Right Bank, perhaps a river cruise at night and other romantic things like that.
8. I'm getting tired already! Other planned stops include Forum Des Halles, Georges Pompidou Center, Luxembourg Gardens, Sorbone, Pantheon, Cluney Museum, Picasso Museum, and St Dennis Bacillica.
9. On Easter Sunday "the girls" (Karen and Lorraine) want to attend mass somewhere. Then we've arranged a private guided tour with a local Parisienne who will take us on a two hour walk around her neighborhood. 
10. One of those days we're planning to take a trip northeast of Paris to a suburb called Houilles where my family lived when I was young. We found a picture of the house on Google Maps and it looks just like I remember it! That should be an interesting trip. 

I'm sure that we'll be seeing plenty of sights and have lots of interesting tales to share along the way. Stay tuned!