I haven't posted much lately because I've been so busy at work. Long hours and frustrating days are sapping my energy and time. I've missed about 50% of our French lessons lately, so I have no progress to report there, either. Dennis, however, is speaking French with great gusto. It seems pretty certain that he speaks French better than German now. He definitely writes French better. That's exciting! I wish I was doing as well as he is, but I really haven't invested the amount of effort that he has.
Mark was visiting last week, and we went to Marseille together two weekends ago. We chose that location because it was easy to get to via high-speed train (TGV) but it's not really the best location. It's kinda dumpy, in fact. And it rained or misted or was foggy the entire time we were there. It's France's second largest city, behind Paris. Here are a few pics that Mark took:
This island fort (called Chateau d'If) is famous because it's where the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned. Dennis has been compared to the Count by our friend Austin. This gives the fort extra interest...
We have a VERY busy schedule for the next few weeks. Next weekend I go to Prague to visit my cousin Dolly, who is in Europe on business. I like Prague a lot, and I hope it wasn't too damaged from the recent flooding.
Dennis and I head to Stuttgart over Easter weekend, to see D's dad who is visiting his sister there. We're renting a car, so maybe we'll take a drive around and see Heidelberg again, or the Bodensee, both of which are near Stuttgart. The following weekend we're headed to Essen to see Dad and Sigrid again, this time with her relatives instead of his.
Then my mother and her husband are here for 10 days. It's their first time out of the United States! I'm looking forward to showing them around, and I hope they have a fun time while they're here.
Mom leaves on May 4th, and Dennis and I start a *real* vacation on May 6th. We're going for four nights in Athens, and three nights in Istanbul. I can hardly contain my excitement. I had wanted to go on a cruise around the Mediterranean, but the one I really liked (which focused on Ancient Civilizations and visited Cairo, Rome, Athens and two cities in Turkey) was sold out by the time I discovered it. So I'm keeping with the same theme for this trip. Since it's so much cheaper to *not* cruise, I can justify paying a bit more for our hotel rooms. The one in Greece has a terrace that looks out over the Acropolis, Zeus's Temple, and Hadrian's Arch. Not bad, eh? The Istanbul hotel has a rooftop terrace that looks out over the whole crazy and exotic city.
All of these trips are on cheap European airlines that I've never flown before: Smartwings, GermanWings, and Olympic Air. I hope we don't regret our experiences with them. Also, Mom and Ray bought us a gift certificate at Amazon.co.uk, and I used it to buy travel books for me to pore (drool) over.
Oh yeah, last thing, tonight we're hoping to go to the Arc de Triomphe and actually go up inside for the first time. It's the last day of an exhibit about Napoleon. Talk about procrastination...
A.
Mark was visiting last week, and we went to Marseille together two weekends ago. We chose that location because it was easy to get to via high-speed train (TGV) but it's not really the best location. It's kinda dumpy, in fact. And it rained or misted or was foggy the entire time we were there. It's France's second largest city, behind Paris. Here are a few pics that Mark took:
This island fort (called Chateau d'If) is famous because it's where the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned. Dennis has been compared to the Count by our friend Austin. This gives the fort extra interest...
We have a VERY busy schedule for the next few weeks. Next weekend I go to Prague to visit my cousin Dolly, who is in Europe on business. I like Prague a lot, and I hope it wasn't too damaged from the recent flooding.
Dennis and I head to Stuttgart over Easter weekend, to see D's dad who is visiting his sister there. We're renting a car, so maybe we'll take a drive around and see Heidelberg again, or the Bodensee, both of which are near Stuttgart. The following weekend we're headed to Essen to see Dad and Sigrid again, this time with her relatives instead of his.
Then my mother and her husband are here for 10 days. It's their first time out of the United States! I'm looking forward to showing them around, and I hope they have a fun time while they're here.
Mom leaves on May 4th, and Dennis and I start a *real* vacation on May 6th. We're going for four nights in Athens, and three nights in Istanbul. I can hardly contain my excitement. I had wanted to go on a cruise around the Mediterranean, but the one I really liked (which focused on Ancient Civilizations and visited Cairo, Rome, Athens and two cities in Turkey) was sold out by the time I discovered it. So I'm keeping with the same theme for this trip. Since it's so much cheaper to *not* cruise, I can justify paying a bit more for our hotel rooms. The one in Greece has a terrace that looks out over the Acropolis, Zeus's Temple, and Hadrian's Arch. Not bad, eh? The Istanbul hotel has a rooftop terrace that looks out over the whole crazy and exotic city.
All of these trips are on cheap European airlines that I've never flown before: Smartwings, GermanWings, and Olympic Air. I hope we don't regret our experiences with them. Also, Mom and Ray bought us a gift certificate at Amazon.co.uk, and I used it to buy travel books for me to pore (drool) over.
Oh yeah, last thing, tonight we're hoping to go to the Arc de Triomphe and actually go up inside for the first time. It's the last day of an exhibit about Napoleon. Talk about procrastination...
A.
See our photos on Flickr!
About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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