Category: Planning to Travel

How To Europe, John Bermont, Planning to Travel, Travel, Travel tips for Paris, Trip to Paris

30 days to 30 days in France

Mona Alvarado Frazier
 rugby-pioneers.blogspot.com

If it wasn’t for the last minute a lot of things wouldn’t get done-Anon. 

This is the first time that I haven’t been obsessive-compulsive about planning for an overseas trip. But today I got a slight case of the jitters when I realized it is 30 days to my 30 day vacation in France. 


Maybe it’s because I’ve been there once before, or because I’m going with a friend who is fluent in French and it’s her fourth trip. We have our airline tickets, first week of lodging and that’s it. 


Maybe I’m not over-stressing because I don’t have to plan an itinerary to see Paris in 7 days. It’s kind of liberating. I can actually stroll, lounge, sip, watch, leisurely shop, peruse the vegetable markets, enjoy a film, or a picnic in the park.


These were my thoughts for a hot minute. Maybe I’m not over-stressing because I’m in DENIAL…OM…I am going to be gone for one month and trusting my home to my kids. They are young adults, two of which finally have full-time jobs and one who is in his second year of college. I can feel some slight fluttering in my chest. It wasn’t that long ago that I overheard that the middle one(over 21) was a beer pong champion. 


Deep breaths…find and read the Serenity Prayer…prepare a written document of rules and consequences-okay, back to the next 30 days.

Although I’m a fan of TripAdvisor and Rick Steves I  had a heck of a time looking for good advice-in one location- on how to plan for 30 days in another city. 


I’m a pretty light packer but the longest I’ve been gone out of the country is 12 days. I needed some no nonsense, practical advice on how to live, budget and be in another country.  


Along the Google way, I found an article by John Bermont who assembled a Packing List and Last Call form. It’s from his book titled “How To Europe: What to bring to Europe and what to do before you go.”


His website has a list of recommended “traveler’s supplies,” which includes travel books, clothes, electrical adapters, and the how to of rail travel all in one place. John Bermont is a pretty funny guy. He kept me reading with his sage advice:

Luggage Don’t be a burro. Let it roll.  

Credit card companies and banks: let them know that you will be using their rip-off services while you are gallivanting around Europe. 

          Vinegar, Vodka, and Latex gloves. Yes, those are on the packing list. Read and see why.

           

Each section of advice has a corresponding chapter in his free online 30 Chapter “How to Europe” travel book. If I read a chapter a day I’ll be set-I had better make that three. 


If you have any tips for a month in France, I’d love to hear them.



Normandy, Paris, Planning to Travel, Travel

52 Days to France

Mona Alvarado Frazier
52 days and a wake-up (that’s prison slang for 53 days) until my France adventure.

Have you ever wanted to do something for most of your life and now that something is within reach and you kind of don’t believe it? That’s how I feel about going to France for a month.


Why France? Awe inspiring museums, bookstores, buildings, bridges, food-to name a few. I’ve been there once, for the vacationer’s  8 day fling with my sisters, mom, and daughter five years ago. We visited 7 of the top 10 sites to see in Paris, but didn’t get a chance to ‘feel’ Paris. Time constraints and people one travels with can do that to a vacation. 

After that trip, which was enjoyable, except for a very rude, bi*chy Frenchwoman at the train station (must admit we cursed each other in our own languages (French, me: Spanglish and English), I determined that I must go back to France for a longer period of time. One surly woman don’t stop no show. 

My preparation so far is to buy my airfare and find my passport. 

Musee d’orsay 
The only list I’ve made is the one in my head. It’s the sites I want to see. I missed D’Orsay last time because my mom “got lost” in the Louvre and we were there for 2 hours more than scheduled (but she enjoyed it). Besides D’Orsay:

Rodin Museum , Sorbonne, Petite Palais, Shakespeare’s & Co. Bookshop, the inside of the Paris Opera house, and probably 20  other sites. (I really should make a list).    

This is totally not me. I’m the planner with 2 or 3 guidebooks in hand, maps, itinerary, and reservations 90 days in advance, etc. I think I’m so nonchalant because I’m not organizing the trip for my family. It’s just me and my friend Amada (who lucky for me is fluent in French and has visited France 5 times). Or perhaps I’m not preparing as usual because I don’t believe I’m really going for a month. 
I’ve talked to my kids about my plan for a year. They are all young adults, 19-26, who live with me. They will cover the mortgage for the month of September, buy their own groceries, and water the plants. We’ll see how that goes. 

First place we’re going is to the Normandy region. Again, lucky for me, my friend has an international timeshare and there was an opening. We’ll rent an apartment for the 3 weeks in Paris.

I want to do that now, Amada says lets book a hotel for 4 days and then find an apartment once we’re there. That’s living on the dangerous side of the block so we compromised and will look for a place 30 days before we leave.

I hope we don’t end up in a hostel because there’s no room at the inn. 
via Tripadvisor

Now, where are those French CD’s Amada lent me a month ago?