france itinerary

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Today, I called the country of France.

I have to do this several other times, all for reserving the hotel rooms, but it was probably one of the most stressful things I have done. (Kudos to Vonage for giving us free Europe calls;)

I intended on speaking French and seeing how far I got, and always staying super polite. I made a list and everything, just in case I got nervous and forgot what I needed to say.

Instead, the first words out of my mouth after bonjour was “est-ce que vous parlez anglais?” She put me on hold and handed me off to another. She did speak English, but with a terribly thick accent, and then over the fuzzy phone and all, I just got really tense. BUT after several repetitions on both our parts, we did it! Yay! I would not have been so nervous in person – I managed in Peru with a language I never studied, having a pad of paper always at hand, so that people could write the words down.

Anyway, we decided to book rooms for every night instead of leaving the middle open. Here is the plan:

Night 1: Sleep on Plane

Night 2:
Abbaye de Fontfroide One night here, its in the middle of nowhere, near Narbonne. It will be quiet and quaint and help up adjust to the time difference (we need to be waking up at the exact hour we go to sleep – it wouldnt be such a problem for normal people, but our night schedule doesnt work to our benefit here: 1am is 8am their time).

Night 3 and 4:
Chateau de la Treyne I was very adamant about staying in a castle. Very adamant indeed. While we couldnt possibly afford the specific room I wanted, we did agree to stay here. We will also be doing a hot air balloon if all works out. And near by are places like monkey forest and Rocamadour.

Night 5 and 6:
Hotel des Recollets in the historical section of Sarlat-le-caneda. Near here is Lascaux and Les Eyzies (hey, i am an anthro nerd afterall).

Night 7 and 8:
La Maison Coste in Carcassonne. (Note: We also have the boardgame.)

Night 9, 10, and 11:
Brasilia Luxury Hotel on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. Its near the airport, and within a drive of Nimes and its roman ruins.

I will be calling the hotels tomorrow I think. They are all reserved, but only the last place (did i meantion its on the b e a c h ??) is fully confirmed with a deposit. I have been saving a long time, really sternly. I have obsessed over all the choices. Squaring everything away will now let me have time to look forward to the trip!

 

See more posts related to:

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Looking for more cases of the Crafties?
Update

Update

Just a summary of random things that’s been keeping me from posting.

read more
Stitch Club: Kaur

Stitch Club: Kaur

Saima Kaur led a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club designed to make us smile by stitching brightly bold and whimsical figures, and I was inspired by ancient South African rock art.

read more
Stitch Club: Edwards

Stitch Club: Edwards

Priscilla Edwards led a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club where we learned to make a wire frame and use batik wax to form a sculpture. For whatever reason, I decided I’d make a sailboat!

read more
A new era

A new era

My craft room has two new additions, Toby and Ollie.

read more
Hexie Dreams + Template

Hexie Dreams + Template

My Hexie Dreams quilt, which was carefully fussy cut and hand pieced by me, then hand quilted by my gramma, is finally finished after three+ years of work (and avoidance). The proof is in the stitching – persistence pays off!

read more
Stitch Club: Dias

Stitch Club: Dias

Cassandra Dias lead a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club workshop on embroidered landscapes, and I was inspired to recreate a honeymoon photo of France’s Pont Du Gard.

read more
Hello 2024!

Hello 2024!

For the start of 2024, I’ve been playing with drawing, paint, and watercolor pencils to get a feel for the media.

read more
Ida Andersen Lang’s Tutorial

Ida Andersen Lang’s Tutorial

I followed a water color pencil tutorial by Ida Andersen Lang to work through some techniques to set me up for a successful Mixed Media 2024 journey.

read more
Stitch Club: Boschert

Stitch Club: Boschert

Deborah Boschert lead a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club on creating a mixed media art quilt. I based mine upon a visit to a new town and restaurant.

read more
Finds and Things

Finds and Things

A random post about some art supplies, vintage finds, and an AI-generated experiment for future crafts.

read more
Stitch Club: Stone 3

Stitch Club: Stone 3

Sue Stone’s third workshop with TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club prompted us to use text in our piece, so I recorded a trip to Shawnee National Forest.

read more
Stitch Club: Stone 2

Stitch Club: Stone 2

Sue Stone led a TextileArtist.org’s Stitch Club in her well-known portrait style, and I was inspired to capture a man in a hat in four variations.

read more
Hexie Dreams 19

Hexie Dreams 19

My hand sewn fussy-cut EPP Hexie Dreams quilt is all ready to go to my gramma for hand quilting. Check out a few of my embellished hexies, and come back in the future for the finished product!

read more