The longer I travel, the more I feel, like Disney said, it's a small world after all.

Did you ever go somewhere quite far from home and bump into somebody that you knew?  Ray and I were in Paris once years ago, crossing the street at Place D' Italie......and who's crossing coming toward us in the opposite direction but a fellow that worked Ops at Tampa Airport with Ray.  He had no clue we'd be in Paris, and we had no clue he'd be there.  And yet......there we were, bumping into each other.

A couple of months ago I was leaving a comment on somebody's blog when I noticed that another commenter had said she'd be in Carcassonne in October.  I thought, "I'm going to be in Carcassonne in October.  At least very close to it." So I sent her an email and I said, "Actually, we're going to be in Caunes Minervois, a little village just north of Carcassonne."

She wrote back and said, "THAT is the village where I'm going to be.  My brother and his family own a home there.  We're flying in from London and arrive there on October 1."

I emailed her back and said, "I am taking the TGV down from Paris..........and WE arrive there on October 2."

Over the past few months, Mary and I have become very good friends via her blog, Across the Pond, and our emails that have been flying back and forth.  Mary is orgininally from Devon, England but has been on this side of the pond for 45 years.  I could tell immediately that I liked her.  We have a lot in common and have been having fun getting to know each other.

And yes...........we've already made plans to meet in person in Caunes Minervois.  Come to find out, her brother's home is within walking distance of the house we've rented.  Granted, it's a very small village, but still........ I find all of this such a coincidence.   I also find it quite amusing that Mary lives in North Carolina, not that far from Florida..........however, we're both going across that pond to actually meet in person.  We've been exchanging tips, suggestions, family info, etc. via emails.  So I have NO doubt that by the time we're sipping that wonderful Languedoc wine together, we'll feel like we've known each other forever.  And oh yeah.......I'll have my laptop and my camera, so I'll get to share all of this with you in October.

Walt Disney was right.........it sure is a small world.

See you here next time..............