Planning, Preparation, Packing

Although the decision to go on an extended trip to France was made over a year ago, at the time it was a vague idea, with no start date or end date, or even any specific destination (other than southern France).  With some advice from several friends who have 'been there - done that', we started firming up our plans in September 2013.

We wanted to incorporate a cruise into the timeframe, so we started looking at various cruises and settled on a Viking River Cruise (Chateaux, Rivers & Wine).  We found one that still had availability during the time we were thinking of!  It's amazing how quickly these cruises fill up -- and believe me, they are NOT cheap!   The cruise will be the first leg of our journey.

Once the cruise was booked we had a start date.  We chose to fly to Paris on British Airways via London because we have points on BA already and they fly directly to London from Seattle (our starting point) and we have had good experiences flying BA in the past.

We wanted to be in France a few days prior to the start of the cruise (March 29), so we are flying out on March 25, arriving in Paris on March 26.  After one night in Paris we'll be taking the train to Bordeaux.  The cruise starts and ends in Bordeaux.  We will have two days to explore Bordeaux prior to boarding the ship.  The first 10 days of our excellent adventure are set!

Here is the itinerary for the cruise:
http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/europe-france-bordeaux-2014/itinerary.aspx

Another city on our wish list was Barcelona, Spain -- we have heard so many wonderful stories about how beautiful it is and how wonderful the food is.  So...I got on VRBO.com (vacation rental by owner), and started looking for apartments in Barcelona.  Not knowing anything about the various neighborhoods is a little daunting, so we relied on  friends who had been there for recommendations on the best locations.  They sent us links to the places they had stayed and we finally booked an apartment right next door to one that our friends had stayed in in the Gothic district!

I won't go on and on about each apartment we rented, but we have now booked approximately 1 week stays at different apartments or homes in Barcelona (SP), Narbonne (FR), Uzes (FR), Aix-en-Provence (FR), and 4 days in Nice (FR), and 8 days in Paris -- all through VRBO.com.  Arne arranged all the transportation -- flights, trains, and a car lease.

Today we begin packing.  We borrowed some lightweight luggage from friends and I am trying on each outfit I am taking (to make sure I really want to take it), and then packing outfits together.  We were advised to pack half of my stuff and half of Arne's stuff in each suitcase in case one of them is lost - at least we will have something to wear.  I think that is a great idea!