Pre-trip

Now that I retired I figured I would have time to do what I wanted and one of the things I wanted to do was to travel. Like everyone I have places I wanted to see and two items were as follows: Visiting Giverney, home to my favorite painter Claude Monet and seeing the beaches where the Normandy invasion occurred during World War II.

Yes, a bit diverse, but I read a great deal of non-fiction and have read extensively on World War II since it affected my parent's generation so much.

I found this trip through a travel company my brother has used. First I could get to both places I wanted to see on the same trip AND the company does not sock you with heavy payment for traveling and requesting a single occupant cabin. I combined the main trip, a cruise down the Seine with both a pre and post trip extension. I figured, go big

So I actually got the trip set up with the company in September 2017, nearly a full year before I would depart.

So researched the places I most wanted to see, when they were open and what I could fit into a day based upon what the company was offering in terms of optional tours. Plus I made contact with Virginia K, fellow cat mom and resident of France. We made plans to meet for lunch.

I also tried to learn a bit of French, but my brain and other languages don't mesh well. I did Duolingo on line, bought a used French language kit at my local library and also another online class through our local library system. I think that part of my issue is that I had no one to practice with!

Updated my camera with a nice Leica C as my old point and shoot camera was falling apart. I also bought enough memory cards to take around 10,000 pictures. I wasn't going to run out of memory as I take lots of pictures and edit out later!

Figured out what clothes I might need and purchased a few new things, but not much. The trip is not a fancy trip, even though it was partially a cruise, they tell you it is more casual. Nice without being fancy.

As my departure date approached I figured out what I needed to take with me in terms of clothes, got some cash in Euro and a credit card through my bank which wouldn't sock me with currency conversion fees.

Final packing on August 31 for a blast off on Saturday September 1.