My family and friends (and my older girl herself) think I am out of my mind to want to travel with my two teenage girls (13½ and almost 12). It’s not just a teenage thing, “Mom, it’s going to be so booorriiing,” or “Mom, what do you mean we are going to walk a lot
My family and friends (and my older girl herself) think I am out of my mind to want to travel with my two teenage girls (13½ and almost 12). It’s not just a teenage thing, “Mom, it’s going to be so booorriiing,” or “Mom, what do you mean we are going to walk a lot over there?”, or “Exactly how small is the rental car going to be?”
It is a safety thing, “How can you just go, without reservations, without knowing exactly where you are going to go? With two kids!”. Give me a break! We are going to two (and probably more) of the most civilized countries in the world. The French might even say that they are civilization! We will be safe. School does not let out in France until the very end of June. No problem to find hotels and bed and breakfasts until then. And even then, by the time July comes around, we will be going North to my family… while Northern Europe takes over the South of France!
Because of a major career change almost 10 years ago (from accountant to full time translator and interpreter), I haven’t been back to my birth country since then. Either there was not enough time, or enough money, and the idea of traveling with small children was not very appealing to me. Well, this year, there is enough time and money, the girls are old enough and I want this trip to be the adventure of a lifetime, for me and for them.
France in particular is part of their heritage and after a couple of years of French at school, I think (I hope) this trip will open their eyes to the world. I have heard them too often question the need for social studies, “Why do we have to know all that stuff, anyway!”… well, I want them to experience all that “stuff”, give them a sense of history, geography, a sense of different customs and culture, an appreciation of art that comes only from actually being there… As they are fond of saying, “Do you want to expand our minds, Mom?”
So we are going from June 1 through July 18. We have rented a car for the whole time. We will spend 4 or 5 days in Paris, taking in the sights, going to the museums, walking along the Champs-Elysées, having coffee and Orangina in the small cafés that will catch our eyes along the way.
From there we will go to Versailles, then on to the Loire Valley and the châteaux. On to Normandy and the beaches of D-Day – I want to make sure they realize that Saving Private Ryan wasn’t just a movie. Down the Atlantic Coast, slowly, visiting the Pyrénées, the Massif Central, Provence and the Côte d’Azur, then on to Venice where I have dreamt of celebrating my 50th birthday and Kimberley’s 12th. Florence, Sienna, Pisa and Rome if we have the time. Then North, to Alsace-Lorraine where my family lives, probably going through Switzerland and some of Germany.
We intend to stay at bed and breakfasts in the country where we can literally live with the locals, so we are leaving with several B&B guides, and our trusted Accor hotels guide for the times we can’t find a B&B. We will be on a budget, of course, but not that strict, which will be nice.
My husband is also letting us have his super duper portable Dell computer so that we can stay in touch with him, and post our daily stories and travel discoveries to this website. Actually, we are getting the computer because he wants an excuse to get a superer duperer portable… but that’s another story. I understand that France and Italy are really “wired” and it should be really easy to connect from almost anywhere. It will be fun to find out.
Oh, and the girls have decided that they wanted to write, too. I look forward to reading about their experiences from their perspective, and I will edit their pieces only for spelling! Kimberley’s pre-trip piece follows. Tiffany’s will follow a little later (she is having exams!). And she is 13½!
From Kimberley (almost 12)
France… well, I don’t know what to expect. I’ve seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower, all the beautiful châteaux, Notre-Dame, and so many other fascinating things France has to offer. There is also another side to France, its culture. Their food, language and behavior are a lot different than it is for us. Just finishing 6th grade is not always the easiest thing, so just imagine 7 weeks away from it all! It sounds so unreal! With so many things to do. So many places to go. France is overall, beautiful, fun, exciting and adventurous. Being almost 12, going to France would be boring! But the feeling of having the privilege to go is soooo cool! I will learn so much history and other things about the past. I can hardly wait. Bon Voyage to us!