Yup. It’s Wednesday…again. What can I say? I would looove to say that I was traveling so I couldn’t post. Nope. Can’t say that. Honestly, I just think there is not much grey matter left. Wait a minute, I will blame it on COVID fatigue. That will do it. That’s my excuse. What do you say? Will you give me a pass?

Well, one thing I have been doing is getting everything ready for my trip to France for the month of September. I am so excited to be spending the entire month there. My husband and I are flying over the first of the month and spending a few days in Paris before we head out to the house we have rented in the Loire Valley.

He will be leaving after a week and then my college girlfriends will arrive. After a week with them, they will be heading home while one of my dearest couple-friends will be arriving. After that final week, we three will be off to Paris to end my time in France. After not traveling for an entire year, this will be a good way to “ease” back into it.

In preparation for spending a month in France, I have dedicated some time each week to reading books and watching youtube vlogs. I have read: Hidden in Paris by Corin Gantz; Summer at the Little French Cafe by Karen Clarke; My Good Life in France by Janine Marsh; Are We French Yet? by Keith Van Sickle. I am reading The Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel. The vlogs I am watching are: Diane’s “Oui in France”; Alex’s “French in Plain Sight”; and “Rural France Journals”. There are also a number of newsletters and blogs that I follow, including: David Lebovitz; “Secrets of Paris”; and “Bonjour Paris”.

Do you have any recommendations of books, vlogs, blogs, or newsletters that I should be reading/watching? I am always happy to receive recommendations.

I am also spending time every day with Duolingo. Woo-hoo, I am up to 349 days. It takes practice and time, but I am determined to not be some “ugly American”. Trust me, I have seen too many of them.

I have traveled to France for many years, beginning when I was seventeen. I have gone with groups, friends, and family. I can never think of anywhere better to visit than France. I have been on school trips, motor coach tours, river cruises, and itineraries that I have put together. I have seen just about everything in Paris and have been to most of the departments in France – the old and the new. I always joke that the only place I never get lost is in Paris. I am convinced that I must have lived there in another life…that or I started pouring over the map of Paris when I was twelve and never stopped.

It will be wonderful to travel again. To get on an airplane heading for new adventures. To see old and new sights (and sites). To just go.

How about you? Where are you off to as soon as it is safe?