France Retrospective #2: Overview of our Trip

Planning for our second trip began shortly after the first one ended. We had an opportunity for a timeshare "bonus week" which had to be used by April 30, 2007. On a whim, we asked if they had anything in France. We were told they had the last week of April, 2007 at Antibes. This was perfect: as far out in time as possible, and as near to Cagnes-sur-mer as any resort in our network; clearly it was meant to be. We immediately booked the week at Les Jardíns d'Ulysse.

We decided to fly an open-jaw itinerary, arriving in Paris and departing from Nice, to give us both regions while cutting down on the travel time within France. Having a full week in Paris opened up opportunities for "vacation rentals" which usually discourage short stays.

After comparing a lot of rentals, we selected a Left Bank studio apartment listed with VacationInParis.com for a 6-night stay. This gave us the opportunity to sneak in an overnight in another part of France before arriving in Antibes. But where?

I was intrigued by the restored medieval town of Carcassone but it was evident that we'd be too rushed if we travelled so far off our main route. Michael suggested Nimes and the more I looked into it the better it sounded. I wanted a sense of ancient history; where better than in a town with 2,000 year old structures still in routine use?

While Nimes is not directly on the route from Paris to Antibes, it looked as if we could have one action-packed day there, arriving around noon and leaving about noon the next day. This led to another dilemma: while there was plenty to see and do within the town, how could we possibly be so near to the ancient Roman bridge, Le Pont du Gard, without spending some time there? While it's possible to get there from Nimes by bus, the thought of all the logistics was getting very daunting. And that got me thinking about rental cars.


Knowing that there was no way I was going to be comfortable driving in the legendary high-speed traffic jam of the French Mediterranean, I knew I had to win Michael over to this notion. It took a lot of earnest thought and investigation, but in the end it made better financial sense to rent a car and drive to Antibes than to take the train. My intrepid driver was willing to take on the challenge, so the basic framework of the trip was complete.

And what about all those details? The famous sights, the museums, the day trips? We expected to spend our time in Antibes visiting my aunt, relaxing, and playing at being French, so there was little to arrange. Nimes is small enough to tackle ad hoc, and we knew we wanted a leisurely picnic at the Pont du Gard before driving to Antibes.

That left Paris, and Paris is certainly a challenge. A week there is really a very short time. We nixed day trips (Versailles, for example) because it made no sense to us to spend hours on trains getting out of Paris and back in again. Our planning came down to deciding what things we most wanted to do, figuring out the hours of the museums we wanted to visit (or re-visit), and prioritizing the top twenty or so other things we hoped to fit in if the opportunity arose.

France Retrospective #1: Why France?

My close friends and family know the answer to this question, but I thought it would give a good context for blogging about my recent trip.

Put simply, France is in my blood. My American grandfather served as a US soldier in France during WWI. He met my grandmother there, and in due course my mother and my aunt were born. My grandparents then separated, and he remarried. In 1929 he returned to the U.S. with his new family and his eldest daughter--my mother. My grandmother and my aunt remained in France. This resulted in the curious situation of having a mother who is American in all respects, but an aunt who is equally French.

I can't tell you when I learned all these details; I can say that I don't remember a time when I did not know my mother's heritage was French. Unfortunately this didn't lead to any practical steps in my youth, such as learning to speak French or developing a correspondence with my French aunt. The real awakening took place for me in recent years, brought about in part because of my interest in genealogy. I began studying French with just enough success to grow bold: I would go to France!

In 2005 my first trip to France took place. After a week in Paris, we took the TGV to Antibes, and met my aunt at her home in the Riviera town of Cagnes-sur-mer. It was a delightful trip and we couldn't wait to go back. In the interim, worrisome things were happening--letters sent to my aunt came back marked undeliverable. Fortunately, I was able to get in touch with a very distant relative in Paris who caught us up on events and let us know that my aunt is now in a nursing home.

The main point of all this is that while we designed our trips as vacations, at the heart of each voyage is a lovely little French lady whose entire remaining family resides in the United States.

Graduate Degree for Michael

At Sunday's Commencement, Michael was awarded his Master of Public Administration degree. A repeat performance occured on Monday night, when the Public Administration graduation ceremony was broadcast.

Doesn't he look proud and happy? Rightfully so! I am only too familiar with the effort that was required to complete the course work. Countless nights and weekends, precious days of vacations, and the better part of several summers went into this degree.

Michael's career has been in the public sector since he was in his teens, when he decided against becoming a professional baker and became a technology professional at the University of Alaska. The applicability of the degree is self-evident. Given his years of experience, I wondered from time to time whether he was really learning anything new, or just getting the credentials to match his existing responsibilities.

In the end I think it was a combination of both things. Most of all, I think he gained from the thoughtful feedback provided by our friend and colleague Dr. Jonathan Anderson, the Director of the PADM program at UAS.

So, hats off to you, Michael, for your hard work and perseverance. I am happy for you, and so proud of you!

Blog, Bag & Jet Lag

Well, that was some exciting travel blogging, don't you think? What? You missed it?

I would have liked to post once or twice, but obviously that didn't happen. In the end, the deciding factors were time and Internet access. We had a high-speed connection in Paris (once Michael figured out how to connect to it on about day 3), but our priority was to stay out doing things until we had to sleep. After Paris we had a little more leisure, but no internet access. I guess I'll be doing a France retrospective.

We were scheduled to arrive home late on Friday night, but we didn't make the connecting flight in Seattle and ended up back in Juneau on Saturday morning. I won't bore you with the full saga of our baggage. I can't honestly identify the genre: mystery, thriller, comedy? I'll cut to the happy ending: our last straggling suitcase came home this morning, wagging its tail behind it.

Despite our general exhaustion, we stayed up all day Saturday so we'd be able to sleep Saturday night. We made it until about 8:30. We got up this morning around 5:30 and were doing spiffy until noon, which was 10 p.m. in France. It's been a struggle to stay conscious ever since. Fortunately we had the University's Commencement ceremony to keep us busy all day. It's after 8 p.m. now, which means we stayed up all night from a French perspective. Can I go to bed now? Please?