Planning My Trip to Paris
In just a few hours I’ll be taking off for Paris! Jay and I are visiting our fabulous friends Nicole and Peter who decided to move there for three months “just because.”
I know — they are a bit crazy — but this is why we love them. Oh, and also — they love to eat. And they love to plan! (Ok, Nicole and I love to plan…Jay and Peter love to eat more.) This trip has been months in the making.
Here’s a look at how we organized everything:
1. Plan out must-dos: Nicole and I traded email after email for months with lists about what we wanted to do on this trip.
Here’s what it boiled down to:
- Eat fondue
- Drink fabulous wine
- Visit the Louvre highlights
- Picnic in Luxembourg Gardens
- Eat croissants
- Segway tour of the city
- Boat tour on the Seine
- Eat crepes
- Watch fireworks for Bastille Day
2. Organize: We started with this rough outline and mapped out which activities could be done on which days and for how long. The more planning you do in advance the better. It may seem a big neurotic (I know, I’m neurotic) but it really does save you time and energy once you get to your destination.
3. Research: Anytime I travel to Europe I buy a Rick Steves’ guidebook. He’s amazing! His recommendations are always spot on. I even downloaded his iPhone app to listen to interviews so I could get a feel for the city and ideas of where to go. Then Nicole and I checked out restaurants and events and filled in the blanks on our itinerary. Adds included:
- Eat macaroons at Laduree
- Chopin concert outdoors
For me — having a plan is a much better way to travel. We’ve researched menus and prices and what time museums are open already. So now we can just follow our itinerary and take in all that Paris has to offer! We even scheduled in a nap! 🙂