We are actually leaving tomorrow. Poor Greg is nervous. And overwhelmed. He has never left the country and is a bit nervous about it. Understandable. First time I left the country I went to England where they speak English. We are off to France and neither of us speak the language. I speak Spanish so I will be able to sort of understand bits and pieces here and there. At least, I did last time I was there. Funny enough I found less people in France spoke English than other countries. Is that surprising given their reputation? I found it surprising. But we are prepared. We bought a phrase book that should keep the miming to a minimum. Hopefully.
So we’re having to take a detour. We are going to nip over to London so Greg can interview (another reason why he’s a bit overwhelmed) and fly back on January 6. Get this, we fly out to Orlando on January 7. All seats seem to be booked on all US bound Air France flights on January 5. What the heck? What a random day for all the seats to be booked. To make matters all the more confusing we can’t change our return flight until after we’re in Paris. If we try to change it now they will charge us $2K+ per person? Huh? They have some weird rule about recalculating the entire flight cost, not just the return, if we change it before we start our traveling. Boo. As soon as we land Christmas day we have to make our way to the ticket booth to change our return. Maybe there will be two seats available of the 5th? A Christmas miracle!
So here’s hoping we can get a cheap and cheerful return ticket, a nice smooth train ride to London and a peaceful on-time flight back to Texas.
G mapped out our entire itinerary on a map so we’ll have directions on where to go. We are definitely hitting The Louvre, The Rodin Museum, The Orsay Museum, the catacombs, the Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel tower. The sites I want to visit are a bit more food related. In The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Peter Reinhardt mentioned a few bakeries known for their baguettes: Poilâne’s Cherche-Midi bakery and L’Autre Boulange. As for the sweets, these places are known for specific things: Carette Bakery for pasteries, Pierre Herme for chocolate cake, Ladurée Royale for macaroons, and Gerard Mulot for pastries and breakfast.
Thank goodness we will be walking everywhere! I guess I should go pack. I’ve been avoiding it. I hate packing. It’s going to be bitter cold there. It’s 70 degrees outside but I have to pack sweaters and thermals. I’m working on getting mentally prepared for the shock. I haven’t lived in what I call a “cold state” in 3 years. I don’t mind the cold. I do mind rain and sleet and we might be experiencing both. The rain boots are coming with me. Luckily they cleaned up nicely after ACL. Nothing the washing machine couldn’t handle.
Well…I hope to write a proper update of the holidays, honeymoon and Disney after we get back. Happy holidays and safe travels if you are going away from home!
Sifting Through...Expat Edition 
I hope you are having a fabulous time – and have a wonderful New Year abroad. Keeping my fingers crossed for Greg, although I’d hate to see you guys leave the ATX I WOULD then have a relatively solid excuse to visit London….hmmmmm.
We LOVE having guests over so you guys will be more than welcome to visit. As of now he got the job. Now we are waiting to see if the $$$ (these should be pound signs) is right.