Thursday, June 23, 2011

Week Two

I’ve been sitting here for a minute or two trying to think of something intriguing to write about. Then I remembered this blog was about what’s going on in my life and had to toss that idea out the window. Instead, I’ll just blab on for a bit about my upcoming trip which you are probably sick of hearing about.

Last Friday my dad and I made some plans for the week he will be joining me in France. I’m really looking forward to his coming over and am just thrilled that he will get to experience Europe. I’m pretty sure he never imagined traveling overseas and I’m really glad we will get to experience this trip together. He arrives on Monday, July 25 and as it turns out a lot of things in France are closed on Mondays. So, we are going to play that day by ear. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday will be spent in the city of Paris and we plan to hit the highlights such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre, etc. We also have planned a boat trip on the Seine, a trip to the catacombs, and an evening at the Moulin Rouge.

On Tuesday, we will head to London and will try to squeeze in a tour of Buckingham Palace (it will be open for the summer), the London Eye, 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. We plan to go to the organ concert at Westminster Abbey that evening and of course we want to eat some fish and chips while we are there.

Thursday we are headed to Normandy and have arranged for a guided tour. We will take the train from Paris that morning and arrive in Carentan (yes, this was also the title of one of the Band of Brothers episodes – I’m probably the only one who knows that.) about two hours later. My dad contacted a man named Ellwood who runs a tour over there. He was recommended in one of the books we have and we looked him up and thought he was quite a character. Unfortunately, Ellwood isn’t available but one of his associates (Allan Bryson) will be giving us our tour. I am really looking forward to this as I am a history buff and love hearing about WWII in particular. This trip will be an all day adventure and we will return to Paris later that night.

Friday we are headed to Versailles which I am thrilled about. Versailles was the palace of Louis XVI, the Sun King as he is known in France. I have wanted to go here ever since I began studying French and French history in ninth grade. So, this visit will be a dream come true for me.

We come back home on Sunday the 31st and leave Paris at 9:20 that morning so there won’t be time for doing much of anything the morning we leave. I’m heading out in only 23 days! It will be here in the blink of an eye! I’ve been planning this trip for so long and it’s so hard to believe the time is so fast approaching. As mentioned, I plan to take a computer with me and will blog as much as I can. I hope you’ll stop in and see what I’ve been up to each day.

4 comments:

Erika said...

Glad you have some fun things planned - You're going to have a great trip!

Alison said...

I remember Carentan! Love Band of Brothers, Damien Lewis is one of my favorite actors. :)

Candy said...

Can I just say I'm a tad bit jealous of your upcoming world traveling? I've always wanted to visit France and England. I cannot wait to see pictures and hear all about it. You are def going to have to invite the AI girls over and show us everything you did. Have you thought about filming any while you are over there? That would be so fun to watch over dinner one night!! Maybe something to think about...:) AND I know if you were filming and giving us a tour it would be HILARIOUS! haha

Kimberly Washer said...

I agree with everything Candy said, except the AI girls of course since I'm not in that group, but everything else...the jealous-ness, the videoing, your tour being hilarious, and I too have always wanted to visit France and England. Have sooooooo much fun and I'm gonna try my darndest to get down there before you leave to pass the magic jack along.