Judalu's Blog

Slow moving boat down the canal and got to go through several locks

Had a great time touring Carcassonne castle. It felt like a shopping mall part of the time. So many shops.

We left Narbonne after services on Sunday and drove almost four hours to Barcelona. A family that has a large van drove and Jason jr drove. There were fourteen of us. The other family left their kids here to play games. It was hot on the ride down but quickly cooled off. We bought hop on hop off bus tickets and rode around town. Although we got to see several Gaudi buildings, many of them are under renovation. We left here at 2 p.m. and got back at 2 a.m.  We were all glad we went, since it is a lovely city.

Looking out at the Mediterranean sea in sunny southern France. We played games outside yesterday. Bonjour y’all

Arrived at our resort last night. Wonderful weather, nice warm breezes off the Mediterranean sea. Walking throughout the hotel though is an experience, lights in the hallways are on timers and go out on you. Haha, carry a flashlight.

Well we just finished two busy days in Paris. Yesterday we arrived before we could get into our apartments. There are fourteen of us, so it takes a while to get everyone going in the right direction. We came to our apartments by taxi and had to find all three of our places, get our luggage settled, then head out. It was so cold and rainy, but we ventured out to ride the hop on hop off bus anyway. When the rain got too bad we went to the Louvre and toured it. I didn’t realize the entrance to the Louvre is inside the glass pyramid. The place is huge. We hurried but still didn’t get to see it all. I was more amazed by the architecture than the contents of the museum. I always think I’m taking a lot of pictures but when I look back on them I don’t ever have enough.
We were so cold and wet last night that Jason, Noreen and I stopped by the grocery store, picked up frozen pizzas and went to our apartment rather than going out to eat. We slept well and got up later than we had planned but all the young people did too. So we got a late start going to Versailles. We stopped by Notre Dame first since several of us had never been there before. I hope I got enough pictures of Notre Dame and Versailles too. The opulence is almost unbelievable. At least we had good weather today. Tomorrow we leave Paris for southern France. Later.

Like I said before, I agonized over what to pack for my trip. It seems like I’ve spent more time planning what to take than the whole trip will take. I definitely want to travel with only a carry on bag, especially since the airline charges for checked bags. First of all I need to say that for a whole week of my trip I will be going to church services every day. So, in addition to regular travel clothes for site seeing and such, I will need dress up clothes for eight meetings as well as a formal dance. To accomplish that goal I’ve decided to take one dress and two skirts. I can change up the dress with one of two jackets, or a sweater, and/or a scarf. The same is true for the skirts by also adding different blouses. The blouses can work with the pants I will have, two black pair and one grey pair. So by mixing and matching I hope to have enough outfits for all the activities we will be doing. I originally planned for two dresses and two skirts. Then over time I’ve changed which dresses and which skirts I will take, changing my mind over and over. I hope I’ve chosen a good mix finally. Time will tell.

I’m getting ready for my next adventure. I’m leaving day after tomorrow for a three week trip to Europe!  Traveling with friends is going to be so much fun. We will be going to several countries, but staying in France most of the time. I am so looking forward to seeing new sights and meeting new people. I have agonized over what to pack for weeks. Now the time is here. Hopefully I’ll be able to post things about my trip as soon as I figure this blogging thing out..