Surprise! Going to France!

My sister Mary and her husband Jeff booked a tour to France this summer with their church choir. They’ve travelled to France before, but they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sing in Notre Dame or Sacre Coeur.

Then Jeff found out he couldn’t go due to work issues. “Heartbroken” is not too strong a word.

But then….a surprise. Mary called and asked if I wanted to go.

Surprisingly, I demurred at first. It’s not inexpensive, I’m not working at the moment, and we want to go see our son on the other side of the world in the next year or so. So I didn’t feel I could justify a trip to a place I’ve been before (even though Bruce said it was OK).

But then I started thinking:

• I’ve never been to Normandy/Mont St-Michel before and really want to see it.
• I might have the chance to play my flute with the choir in Notre Dame or Sacre Coeur.
• And this one only works for me and about three other people I know.) The choir tour will be near The Tour de France in Rouen at the start of Stage 5, and Mary said we can play hooky from the choir tour that day (they’re seeing stuff we’ve already seen anyway) and go be cycling fans. I know from previous experience that some on the choir tour will be horrified that we’re heading off on our own. But we’ve travelled here before, the trains are great (and we’ll get tickets ahead of time), and we both speak a little French, so we’ll be fine.

Um. How could I pass that up?

I’m doing a lot of online research to find some good cheese shops, bakeries, charcuteries, and other such places (although I promised Mary that’s not all I want to do). I’ll be ordering a DVD course from The Teaching Company on “Master Works of the Louvre.” (Both Mary and I have been, several times, but you can never see all of it.)

We’ve already seen “the big stuff” (Eiffel Tower, Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, etc), so we’re looking for other things to do/places to go. Suggestions are always welcome. We’ll have time in Rouen, Arromanches, Caen, and Paris.

I’m doubtful that I’ll be able to post (even to FB/Twitter) from there, but I’ll make several posts when I get home. And I’ll take lots of video of The Tour for my friends Shauna and Mike.

Many thanks to Mary and Jeff for the opportunity, and to my wonderful hubby for holding down the fort (and dealing with a demanding beagle) while I’m gone.