Two weeks from tomorrow I will be flying from Madison to Chicago, and then to Paris. I arrive in Paris at 8:45 am local time (approx. 1:45 am central time, I think). Thus will commence the excursion I have imagined for several months, maybe even years: 30 days in Paris.
Actually, the title is a misnomer - I'll only be in Paris for about two weeks. (the domain names 30daysinfrance and onemonthinfrance were already taken, sheesh). The original plan was to rent an apartment in Paris for one month and spend the whole 30 days just wandering about the city ... then I thought I might get bored. I also realized/remembered that 1) Paris can be very very expensive to eat/sleep/live in for 30 days, and 2) I've always wanted to try my hand at bike touring, riding self-supported from city to city across a country. So, I decided I'd spend two weeks in Paris, then bike from Paris to Nice (pretty much cross-country, north to south) and fly out of Nice. I fell in love with the idea of exploring the French Riviera at the conclusion of my trip, sort of the cherry on top of the experience. Then I realized that 1) France may be smaller than the USA, but it's still a heck of a long ride from Paris to Nice, and 2) There's no good route to follow between those two cities - or at least no easy route, on account of the Alps being, like, right between the two. So, I settled on the following itinerary:
Sept 16 - October 1: explore Paris. To guard against boredom, as well as make this a true learning experience, I will be taking French lessons during my stay. No, I don't speak any French at present ... so, should be interesting.
Oct 2 - Oct 9: Take the train to Tours and cycle a loop around the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is supposed to be the cream of the crop for French cycling - easy terrain (mostly flat or gently rolling) and dense with beautiful chateau and castles. How will I carry my stuff from city to city? ... um, I'll get back to you on that one. The rental bike should have a rear rack, and I pack light - hopefully with some bungee cords and duct tape (as a last resort) I'll work something out!
Oct 10 - Oct 15: Return to Paris, fly from Paris to Nice, and spend the remainder of the trip soaking up the French Riviera (and possibly some of Provence).
So, that's what I'm doing. Why am I doing it?
Why Paris? Why France?
I don't know - why not Paris? Seemed like I couldn't go wrong with a city as renowned for its food, art, and culture as Paris. Truth be told though, the inspiration really came about because Sabrina (the re-make with Julie Ormond and Harrison Ford) has to be one of the best movies ever. I love that movie. It's a beautifully scripted and acted Cinderella story about an awkward chauffeur's daughter whose life is transformed by a year-long internship abroad in Paris. I just fell in love with the idea of self-discovery via travel to Paris - so I thought I'd try it myself. Don't judge me - can you blame a nerdy girl for wanting to follow in the footsteps of her favorite geek-to-chic heroine? Somehow I doubt I'll come back all suddenly sophisticated, sporting a darling haircut and make-up and wearing a tailored pantsuit and stylish wide-brim hat, but you never know ...
Why 30 days?
I dunno - seemed like a nice round number. I wanted to get away for more than a week, and more than two weeks. I wanted more than a vacation ... I wanted a sabbatical, an experience. I wanted enough time away to really be 'away.' I wanted a sort of return to the summers of undergraduate school, when I could spend summer completely detached from engineering classes and go live in Disneyworld or Australia or Washington DC or anyplace else that struck my fancy. Ideally, three months or even six would have been superb, but more than a month was getting out of my comfort zone (I do still have a house and a dog that need to be looked after - and paid for), so a month it was.
I honestly have no idea how good I'm going to be about updating this blog. I've tried starting blogs in the past and failed miserably after a few posts. If you're following along, let me know! I'm much more likely to keep the blog updated if I know there are people on the other end reading it :-)
