2 months from November 7

Now that we're just a little over 2 months from blast off, it's time to get organized with this blog.  I've had a lot of trouble trying to find an App for the iPad that works seamlessly with Blogger.  So after a lot of reading and trying various Apps, I've decided to just use the browser and make believe it's the same as my laptop.  Hopefully it will work...if not, I'll resort to blast group emails to my family and friends...we'll see.

A very busy couple of months coming up (Jewish holidays, 2 weddings, a trip to Orlando with my sister and 2 cousins for a mini-reunion, finishing up a work project, a visit from a dear friend from Melbourne and a few other things that I won't bother to list.  Actually, for the first time, I'm looking forward to a long transatlantic flight with no phone or Internet and, hopefully, a mindless movie to watch :)

We've decided to take just one 25 in. suitcase and a carry-on for each of us and used the laundry facilities on our cruise ship whenever needed.  Lots of mix and match clothes should get us through without having to pay exorbitant fees for excess weight.  Should make getting from the CDG airport to Paris and the hotel to Orly airport a bit easier.  We're flying to Barcelona on a regional airline with hefty fees for overweight luggage so....definitely don't want to exceed the limit (fees at 10 Eu per each Kilo overweight).  We'll travel wearing our heaviest walking shoes and warm jackets...I always freeze on planes so I'll be comfy this trip.

I've had so much fun being a frequent visitor and poster to Trip Advisor's Paris Forum.  The members who either live in Paris or visit often have been amazingly helpful as I've worked on planning a tentative itinerary for our 4 1/2 days in the city of lights.  I'm truly addicted to the forum and really enjoy reading the trip reports as others come and go from Paris.  Art is content with reading what I hand him to read and with letting me do all of the planning...as we get closer to leaving, I'm forcing him to, if not make decisions, at least talk about them.

Since we're spending 2 nights in Barcelona prior to our cruise, I've also made reservations at the Renaissance Barcelona (a newly renovated hotel that was part of the AC chain prior to being purchased by Marriott).  We're looking forward to the rooftop terrace bar!  Our friends Tina and Tim are flying in the day before the cruise and we have dinner reservations for the 4 of us at Tapeo - a tapas restaurant that gets excellent reviews.  Getting very excited!

What to Pack?

So...after reading many articles and posts about what we can expect from the weather in November and how to pack accordingly, I've come to the conclusion that the answer is "who knows?". It might be cold, windy and rainy OR the temperature might be mild with cloudy skies and some days of bright sunshine. So...layering is the preferred mode of dress. Not a problem except for the fact that :

• We are flying to Barcelona after our 5 nights in Paris to board our first Oceania cruise.
• Meaning: need to pack for 2 weeks on a lovely cruise ship that lands us in Miami. We know from past experience that transatlantic (TA) cruises from Barcelona take the southern route with many warm days en route. So much for layered cold weather clothes.
• To add to the complexity, we will be flying on a european regional airline with very strict baggage limits.

Tis a puzzlement. We are committed to packing light with mix and match clothes and fewer pairs of shoes than usual. And continue to search for tips and hints from those who have done similar trips. We may not be the height of fashion...but we WILL have a great time!

Planning Stage

After years of refusing to travel to France, Art found that he enjoyed our cruise day stop in Villefranche and our day trip to Aix en Provence. When we decided that our 'big' trip in Fall, 2012 would be our first Oceania cruise - a transatlantic cruise on the new ship Rivieria, the next question was where, in Europe, would we go before the cruise. We learned from our two previous transatlantic cruises that we loved staying in one place for about a week and then cruising home. After much discussion (returning to Venice or Barcelona or going to Paris for the first time. To my delight, Art, despite his previous statements about his lack of interest in traveling there, agreed that he'd rather go some place he hadn't been to before. Paris. Fit the bill and big time planning began

I shall be forever grateful to our friends who were experienced Francophiles and to Trip Advisor's regulars on the Paris Forum for their willing and patient help in planning our 5 nights/5 1/2 days in Paris. After talking with us, our friends Cheryl and Chris decided to take a river cruise leaving from Paris and spending pre and post cruise days there. So we embarked on an almost daily email barrage of recommending Web sites, articles, and lots of money and time saving hints among us.

Key planning elements: booking a room at the Renaissance Paris Vendome using Marriott Rewards points...what a deal. They were having a special deal - we booked 5 nights for the points required for 4! Next: finding an airfare ( one way since we'll be cruising home). The best I could do was on American Airlines from Charlotte to Chicago connecting to Iberian. It does seem strange to go west to go east but the fare is worth it. We still have to decide if we will fly from Paris to Barcelona (the embarkation port for our cruise) and have the worry of keeping our luggage under the severe weight limit of European Regional airlines or take the new high speed train from Paris to Figeures in Spain where we'd have to change to the train to Barcelona but have no luggage limit. Still pondering.

With the 2 key items out of the way, itinerary planning begins in earnest. Planning for 5 days, geographically grouping the sights we most want to visit and figuring that we will do enough walking to burn off the excess calories we plan to ingest (bread, pastries, and delicious French food ).

Eiffel Tower Adding this picture to show what I dream about every day. I now know that travel planning is an addiction that creates serious withdrawal symptoms when I try to abstain for even one day :)

May 24... Having a blast planning with our friend Cheryl and Chris who are leaving for their trip in late July. Email messages back and forth, sometimes several times a day, with links to new sites, suggestions from the generous people on Trip Advisor's Paris forum for restaurants, transportation, etc. Now working on learning new Blog software so that I can blog with my iPad to avoid carrying my net book.

Guess that worked...first try to move a picture from one of my albums to the blog :)