When I had to cancel our trip to France this past April, I thought it's "forever" till we actually get there in autumn.  Well, it's just about here.  We leave two weeks from tonight to fly to Paris.

Somebody mentioned about crossing paths in Paris.......actually, we'll only be there the day we arrive and that night and then we're heading to the south of France, via the TGV to Montpellier.  We'll pick up our rental car there and drive the 40 minutes to Sete, which is located right on the Med.  We're booked there for one night and on Thursday, October 2 we drive to a small medieval village in the Languedoc, Caunes-Minervois, where we've rented a house for the week.  We do go back to Paris on Thursday, October 9, where we'll stay again at the Hilton at CDG for our flight home the next morning. 

On the day we arrive at CDG, we'll check into the Hilton and then grab the RER into Paris. (a 20 minute ride) Our flight arrives at 7:30 in the morning, so this gives us all day to soak up the City.  Change money into Euros, do a bit of shopping, have lunch.  And by then........jet lag will have set in and it'll be time for bed.

With that writing contest consuming a lot of my time since early July, I haven't leisurely gotten things in order for our trip like I normally do.  I'm a planner, and I enjoy this part of the trip almost as much as going.  So I've been pretty busy all weekend.

I've gathered together all the important info in a plastic, zippered pouch..........passports, e-ticket info for flights, railway tickets for the TGV, hotel reservations, etc.  But I also printed out a lot of maps/travel routes.  I thought it might be a good idea to know how long it would take to get from here to there.  With mountain roads, sometimes it's difficult to tell on a regular map.  So I went to Michelin and I love how you can figure out all the directions, with mileage and time and then print it out to take with you.  If you're going to be driving around Europe, I highly recommend going to this site and getting all the info you need.

I've made sure I have the adapter for my laptop, the one to charge my European cell phone and camera, the new travel alarm I got, printed copies of many restaurants recommended in the Languedoc area that I found from all my research on the Internet.  I've read the great guidebook that I bought about that region and highlighted villages I want to visit and things I particularly want to see.  And yes.............I'm such a planner, that I even researched and found out there's a yarn shop in Carcassonne.  So I'm anxious to visit that and bring home some nice French yarn to knit with.

I've touched base with my house/pet sitter and she'll be here on Sunday, the 28th, the day before we leave.  So what's left?

I need to recopy addresses and phone numbers into the new addition I got for my Dayrunner.  I need to put Rosetta Stone into my computer and study my French a bit more.  Oh........and I need to pack our clothes.  Temps have gotten cooler in the Languedoc the past week or so (YES!) and it'll be lovely to pack clothes for autumn. 

And yes....now I'm getting anxious.  I'm ready to leave.  Two more weeks.......and I'll be on my way!

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