Ready, Set...

3:19 am.  No, I'm not up and ready to catch the plane.  I'm awake and can't get back to sleep (so excited)  and so am beginning my blog. Get ready, Europe, I'm on my way for my first European Vacation!

Today was a run around day preparing. Packing, making lists, last minute shopping, a bit of visiting.  Can anyone possibly go away for a month and NOT forget something important? I cleared my credit cards, added APS to my fancy new mini ipad so I can keep all my bills paid, gathered camera cords, found ear plugs... all the important travel prep activities.

I've been to Europe before, to Greece with a gaggle of high school students in the 80's.  I would be stretching it to call that a vacation.  Later, I was in Amsterdam for a short stop on my honeymoon.  Europe is virgin soil for me!  What I have learned about myself and traveling that by the end of a trip, my memory is wiped clean and so I want to blog about the holiday, for my future memories but also for my family and friends to follow as I travel. 

I leave at 8:00 and fly Edmonton - Toronto - Zurich -Lyon.  Paul picks me up tomorrow in Lyon and we are off to his cozy apartment in Grenoble! It will be awesome to visit him in his space, and to get to know my upcoming new daughter-in-law better.

The best thing: Seeing Paul and Lauren
The scariest thing: Testing out my French

Till later,

Ciao
Nancy