Just a Song Before We Go...

We are heading out on Friday for our trip to France, England and Scotland.  Neither of us have been out of the USA except for Mexico, so we are excited for the journey.  My hope is that we've remembered everything and that the ten hours on the plane will go quickly.  You see I've never been a huge fan of planes, so... wish me luck!

Trip Planning
Patrick is a good planner, he has the patience to read books, websites and forums to figure out what needs to be done for the trip.  I wish I was more help, sometimes I think I'm ADD because looking at various options of tours, hotels or websites just grows tedious. Now don't get me wrong I appreciate a good plan for travel I just tend to like the go with the flow feeling, however I think in going to Europe we probably should do a little planning.

The Best Indian Restaurant is in Scotland
We are both looking forward to various tours and sites: Stonehenge, Lourve, etc.  Patrick's friend from work, Desmond, just coincidentally is in Scotland visiting his family during this time and offered to spend a couple days with us showing us around Scotland.  This will likely be the highlight of the trip.  One of Desmond's promised destinations is the "best indian restaurant" -- "better than anything in the states."  Yep, we're heading to Scotland to try the best Indian food...

Update - Well this blog has been sitting in the unfinished posts for the week... so, it's Friday and we're sitting in the Air France Terminal waiting to board.  I thought I'd just tag this on with the previous blog since I haven't posted it yet. As we sit here there is a little girl across from us, my guess is she's about 2 years old, she is watching the Disney movie, Ratatouille, apparently she is getting ready for France. Airports are interesting places and the people watching opportunities are endless.

Speaking the Language...
My greatest anxiety of traveling overseas has always been the language difference..  I know about three words in French: Bonjour, Merci and Oui - likely all of these I mispronounce.  Our daughter, Caitlin took three years of French and our hope was that she would teach us a few words... well, she tried, but quickly seemed to lose patience with our attempts.  So, we're sitting in the terminal listening to many conversations being spoken in French and not understanding a bit.  My goal, is to double my knowledge of the French language - yeah, I know that brings my total to 6 words.

The Stomach Flu is Not Fun...
Patrick came down with a stomach virus yesterday - yeah, great timing.  He seems to be recouping but it was a dreadful illness and hard on someone with ALS.  I guess, on the up side, it's better he got it the day before the trip than during it.  A 10 hour plane trip can feel like an eternity when you're not feeling well.

The Journey... to see the Mouse?
I suspect I'll do a whole blog on our adventures in Europe.  So, yes, I'll bore you with our family photos.  My goal is to get all the tacky tourist photos we can, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Stonehenge etc.  Oh, and if we're lucky we'll get over to see the French Mickey Mouse.  Yes, we are traveling 10 hours on a plane so we can see Disneyland Paris. Just for the record the most popular items that friends asked us to bring them are from Disneyland Paris.  So, perhaps we're part of the in crowd or maybe our friends are just as silly as us.

I'll keep you posted on our travels - hope all is well with you and yours.