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.
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