Two Days Left In Paris? Merde!

I have reached the frustrating part of vacation where my brain is at "See All The Things!" while my body is at "Nope! Tired! Gonna ignore the alarm and sleep in!" Sadly, the body is winning. Which yeah, I know, there was no was I was going to be able to do everything I wanted to anyway, and it's a great excuse to come back sooner rather than later, and Paris isn't going anywhere (unlike Venice, which will probably sink completely before I manage to return), but dammit, I feel like I'm wasting so much time!

My museum pass is used up. I still have one day extra on my rail pass. I am a little overwhelmed with trying to prioritize what to do.

Things checked off the list so far, successfully or otherwise:
- Climbed the Eiffel Tower and drank Champagne
- Climbed the bell towers at Nortre-Dame, but did not see Quasimodo
- Visited the Louvre, saw the Big Three (Mona Lisa, Manley's horses, Winged Victory) and plenty of other art
- Visited the Musée de l'Orangerie (Monet's Water Lilies)
- Visited the Musée d'Orsay (Impressionism)
- Took a cruise on the Seine
- Spent a day at Versailles
- Visited Chateau  Fontainebleau
- Drank wine and read books in cafés
- Hung out at Shakespeare & Co, the iconic English-language bookstore in the 5th
- Wandered around the Center Pompidou (modern art)
- Stared at some gorgeous furniture and tapestries at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs
- Took lots of artsy-fartsy color photos with the 35mm SLR

Still on the list for this trip:
- Monet's house and gardens in Giverny (tomorrow)
- Wander around in Pére Lachaise cemetery
- Montmartre and Sacre-Couer
- Street shopping along the Seine
- Drag ass out of bed early and go take pictures of the great neighborhood I am staying in

Potentially still on the list, depending on if I decide to buy another 2-day museum pass:
- Go back to the Orangerie and stare at the Water Lilies some more
- Go back to Musée d'Orsay on the night they are open late and hopefully actually get to see the art, not just glimpses of it from behind other tourists' heads
- Go through the Paris sewers (yeah, I know, I'm weird. Blame it on too much listening to Les Miz as a child!)
- Climb the Arc de Triomphe
- Go to the Musée de l'Armée and Napoleon's Tomb (again, weird, blame it on growing up in a military family!)
- Head over to Chartres to take pictures of the stained glass windows in the cathedral in late afternoon
- Maybe, maybe go to Chateau Vincennes in the Bois de Vincennes, a large park on the southeast corner of Paris

Totally going to have to wait until next time:
- Side trips to either London or Brussels (what was I thinking?!)
- Side trip to Strasbourg (sorry cute Israeli coworker who lives there now, I just can't fit visiting you in!)
- Champagne tours in Reims and Eperney, kind of disappointed on this one, but know that I'd have more fun doing it with a friend
- More chateaux, specifically the Chateau de Chantilly, which was also on my museum pass and I totally should have gone there instead of Fountainebleau
- Taking artsy-fartsy black and white photos of Paris with the 35mm SLR

And with that.... On y va! Let's get going, because it's noon already!

Parisienne ATDL Update

Just over 2 months to go! Merrow and I have plane tickets, a place to stay in Iceland, pretty solid plans for our Icelandic activities, a rough idea of our Parisian activities, days we will be road-tripping to the Alps (is it rail-tripping if you take the train?), a tentative place to stay in the Alps, and no idea yet of where to stay in Paris.

I also have, in my hot little hands, a brand spanking new passport (which will not be "new" by the time I go as I'm heading back to Israel for work next month) and a 5-day France Rail pass.

- Renew passport since it expires less than 3 months after I'll be traveling and it would be great if the countries I'm planning to visit didn't refuse me entry.
- Make sure taking off the Friday before is ok with my boss. Boss is A-OK with me not working the Friday we leave! Which is good, since we need to be at Logan shortly after noon for our flight.
- Research flights with the work travel agent and confer with Merrow that times/dates work for her too.
- Book flights.
- Research places to stay:
        -Iceland  Booked! We are staying here.
        -Paris (one place or two?)
        -Alps
- Book lodgings.
- Research transportation options:
        -Airport transfers in Iceland
        -Airport transfers in France
        -TGV tickets/France rail pass/Paris metro pass
- Plan Iceland activities with Merrow.
- Book any Icelandic adventures that need to be pre-booked.
- Make a list of everything I want to do in Paris.
- Edit list to a realistic length since I will be there for 12 days, not 12 years.
- Determine what on list shall be done with Merrow and what will be done on my own.
- Book any Parisian activities that need to be pre-booked. Wait, do I really need to pre-book "sit in a café for hours on end with wine, crêpes, and a good book"?
- Plan Alps Side Trip activities:
        -Determine what dates to head to the Alps
        -Determine if there is enough time to make a side side trip to Other Alpine Town
- Make any Alpine reservations that are necessary.
- Start packing.
- Oh, and re-learn French.  :)

Ambitious To-Do List - La Version Parisienne

So many things to do in the 4 months before my OMG35 trip. Time for a (very) ATDL again.

- Renew passport since it expires less than 3 months after I'll be traveling and it would be great if the countries I'm planning to visit didn't refuse me entry.
- Make sure taking off the Friday before is ok with my boss.
- Research flights with the work travel agent and confer with Merrow that times/dates work for her too.
- Book flights.
- Research places to stay:
        -Iceland
        -Paris (one place or two?)
        -Alps
- Book lodgings.
- Research transportation options:
        -Airport transfers in Iceland
        -Airport transfers in France
        -TGV tickets/France rail pass/Paris metro pass
- Plan Iceland activities with Merrow.
- Book any Icelandic adventures that need to be pre-booked.
- Make a list of everything I want to do in Paris.
- Edit list to a realistic length since I will be there for 12 days, not 12 years.
- Determine what on list shall be done with Merrow and what will be done on my own.
- Book any Parisian activities that need to be pre-booked. Wait, do I really need to pre-book "sit in a café for hours on end with wine, crêpes, and a good book"?
- Plan Alps Side Trip activities:
        -Determine what dates to head to the Alps
        -Determine if there is enough time to make a side side trip to Other Alpine Town
- Make any Alpine reservations that are necessary.
- Start packing.
- Oh, and re-learn French.  :)

Luckily Merrow and I have plans to hang out and drink wine on Saturday (after running a 5k - this is going to be ugly) so hopefully we can nail down a lot of the plans.

Shiny New

Welcome 2012! May your low points be better than the high points of 2011.

Boo says "Happy New Year from the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail!"

This is going to be a good year. I can feel it. I'm feeling inspired to do big, expansive (and probably expensive), exciting things in the year I turn 35. Stay tuned for what will hopefully be many updates!