Plans - Part 2

47 hours and counting until my flight departs! I'm getting really excited and, admittedly, anxious. Currently, I'm trying not to obsess over the weather (although I've been checking Accuweather.com something like three times a day). The forecast keeps changing. I was a bit in the dumps that there was a prediction of snow upon my arrival and I don't think it has snowed in Paris at all this winter! Then things changed and there appeared to be quite a bit of sun in the mix. Today things are looking more rainy. I certainly can't control the weather and realistically, I shouldn't expect anything other than gray and rain this time of year. I'm just driving myself crazy thinking about it!

I've been to Paris once before and seen some of the "hits." I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We went to the Louvre and the Orsay. We toured Versailles. These things are not on my "To Do" list this time around. When we left Paris, one of my regrets was that we didn't visit the Père Lachaise cemetery so that is high on my list this time around. And although my list keeps getting longer and longer, part of my plan was to not have a plan, at least for a couple of days, and just wander around the city and pretend to live the life of a Parisian.

So, here's what's currently on my agenda:

• Luxembourg Gardens, St. Sulpice and St. Germain des Près churches
• Père Lachaise cemetery, Opera Garnier, Notre Dame and St. Chapelle
• Tour Montparnasse
• Day trip to Chartres
• La Defense
• Musee Rodin
• Grand Palais, Arc du Triomphe
• Musee L'Orangerie
• Paris Walks Tours - Marais and Montmartre
• Hotel de Ville
• Various bridges over the Seine
• St. Denis cathedral
• Rue de la Huchette
• Various scenic squares (Place Saint-Michel, Place Vendome, etc.)
• Day trip to Bruges

There are some other "quickie" types of things on my list as well but really, the only thing I'm locked into with my agenda is my train ticket to Bruges. Everything else is in flux and could change on a whim. I think it will be really interesting to compare this list to what I actually see and do after the fact.

Plans - Part 1

When it comes to travel, I'll admit, I'm a planner. Some people like to "wing it" but that's not me. I don't think I'm too obnoxious about it; I don't plan every minute of the day and I can be fairly flexible and go-with-the-flow if something unexpected comes up. But when you travel a great distance to someplace you may never return (there are just too many places to see in the world), I think it's a bit tragic to miss something that you'd otherwise have seen or done had you made the proper plans. Needless to say, I've been making plans since I booked this trip back in July.

I'm going to Paris in the off-season . . . very off-season. Most consider spring or fall as ideal times for visiting Paris and I've heard the winter holidays can be lovely, too. I show up on January 30th for 10 nights. It will be cold . . . and gray . . . and rainy. But the winter does hold some appeal. There will certainly be less tourists, lines and kids, although this being Paris, I'm sure to encounter some crowds. And unless there is a torrential downpour or blizzard, I don't mind the cold. When I began researching Paris in winter, I ran across this amazing video that continues to inspire me. I've probably watched this over twenty times!

The Quiet City: Winter in Paris from Andrew Julian on Vimeo.

Since I'm spending 10 nights in Paris, I decided to look into an apartment rental vs. a hotel. I'm a TripAdvisor junkie when it comes to travel plans so I spent quite a bit of time researching a reputable agency from which to rent an apartment. I could not find one negative review for Paris Best Lodge (http://www.parisbestlodge.com) so after a quick back-and-forth email exchange with them, I booked their Studio Mazarine in the St. Germain des Près neighborhood on the Left Bank. I'm really excited about the location. I am just two blocks from the Seine and I can walk to Ile de la Citè, among dozens of other historical sites. The hotel where Oscar Wilde died is just around the corner!

As my departure date draws nearer and nearer, my list of "Things To Do" grows longer and longer. Although I originally had planned to spend all 10 days in Paris, I ended up booking a train ticket to Bruges, the "little Venice of the north" for a day. I've never been to Belgium so another country to mark off the list!

Only 4 more days go to. I will share some more specific plans of what I want to see and do in the next post and it will be interesting to see what I am actually able to accomplish when I am over there.