Kristin and Gail hiking in Phoenix

Very special day!!

On Friday, I had the privilege of meeting up and spending time with French-Word-A-Day blogger, Kristin Espinasse. Kristin lives in the south of France with her husband & two children.

I began subscribing to Kristin's blog a little over a year ago. At the time, I was just content to receive her blog news and try to pronounce a few words. Then one day.... she mentioned Phoenix. It was then I realized she was from Arizona! Not long after that...she announced she would be in Phoenix and setting up a "meet up & hike"! To say I was excited is really an understatement.

Kristin is just like she is on her blog. Absolutely delightful and genuine! Here we are with her autographing her book for me.

I don't believe in "coincidence"... I believe in God-incidence or as Gillian calls it a "God-wink"!! :-D Because only He could caused this new friendship to come about.

I look forward to being able to see Kristin again when Gillian & I are in France!

Janet's French Onion Soup

Janet's French Onion soup was absolutely incredible! Makes my mouth water all over again just looking at this pic!

Gillian's Vision Board

France Night

Tonight we met at Janet's house for a "France Night".

We ate a Baguette & Brie, while we sipped some French wine.  In retrospect, I should have got the name of it... but I was too busy eating and drinking.

Janet was busy cooking French Onion soup (from scratch), while Gail and I poured over maps, trying to figure out all the places we should go.



To help us make our dream trip a reality... Janet has graciously agreed to let us use her timeshare points. When we looked at the different locations available, Gail and I felt like pinching each other.  Each place looked better than the next.  And, even more importantly, it really made the whole trip seem so very very possible.


The French Onion soup was outrageous.  Yum. Yum.  To go along with the meal, we drank champagne.  For dessert... we had a scrumptious Pear Tart and white chocolate cookies ???.  Awesome.

PLACES WE'D LIKE TO VISIT:

Arles (where Van Gough lived)
- need to go to the "Cafe Terrace" aka the Starry Starry Night Cafe
- go to the visitors center to get a walking map to see 10 of Vincent's reproductions

Cannes / Nice (maybe)

- it's got beaches, shopping, & good restaurants
- pricey

Chartres 
- Chartres Cathedral --- to walk the original labyrinth (only open in the summer)

Monaco (maybe)

- Where Grace Kelley & Cary Grant were in the movie "To Catch a Thief"

Paris (several days will be needed)
- Eiffel Tower
- Louvre
- Notre Dame
- Moulin Rouge
- Arc-de-triumph
- Seine River
- St. Michelle area
- Mont Marte (artist area)
- Shakespeare's Bookstore

Provenance
- Stay overnight at a lavender farm

Vernon
- Monet's Garden


Versailles
- Palace and the gardens




GENERAL TIPS FROM JANET

BANKING
- Before leaving USA, call our banks & credit cards to let them know we are traveling.  Also, ask our banks about the exchange rate for using a ATM abroad.  Is their a transaction fee in addition to the exchange rate.
- At the bank get Euros - don't travel with American money 
- Don't bother with Travelers checks, they are a pain.


BOOKS
- Steve Ritchie --- French Tour Book (it's excellent)
 

BUDGET
- Airfare + 1000 dollars
- Typical meal = 8 Euros (3 course dinner + wine)
- We will need roughly $200 Euros for "spending money"


EATING / DRINKING

- 3 year old bottle of wine will taste just fine (don't need old ones)
- There are no sulphites in their wines (i.e. no hangovers - hurray)
- Shop the Farmers Markets for food - loaf of bread, cheese, fruit
- Have our big meal for lunch (it's cheaper)
- Everything closes at about 2 pm, until about 4-5 pm (what is the French word for "siesta")
- Order the house wine (Vin de pay) --- a 1/2 carafe or whole carafe
- Champagne is a "region" of France where sparkling white wine is made


LODGING
- Timeshare option #1. Diamond Resorts (just timeshare points)
- Timeshare option #2. Interval, which has 13 locations (timeshare points + $100 conversion rate)
- Need to see what is available AND then book our flights.
- When travelling to small towns, look for the i (in a circle).  They will most likely speak English and can set us up with somewhere to sleep that is in our price range


PACKING
- Don't bother lugging laptops or cell phones
- If possible, just take one carry on roller bag.  This makes traveling easier.
- Things to bring: long skirt, sweater, jeans, sneakers, comfy shoes (that are not sneakers), trench coat, umbrella

- Take bubble wrap for wine that we want to bring back to the USA


SAFETY

- Keep passports with us AT ALL TIMES (passport & money should be kept under our shirt)
- Make a copy of passport & credit cards and give it to each other - just in case ours get lost or stolen


TRAVELING
- Fly directly to Paris and then take the train into the city (use the Metro to get around)
- Visit the "Trip Advisers" website
- Book flights in advance (Expedia has some good deals)
- Need at least 2 weeks to do France
- On our first day... try to stay up as late as we can to get on their clock (so drop off luggage at the hotel and try to stay out until 9 pm)

A "God Wink "

Definition:
God wink  n. something taken as evidence that a higher power is at work; a coincidence.

That is exactly what happened tonight.  While I was on vacation in Phoenix, Gail and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum.  Which was one of our old haunts.

Lady Adelaide of France - Phoenix Art Museum

As we stood there pondering at this painting, a security guard came from out of nowhere... to tell us all about the painting.

The woman in the picture was the aunt of King Louis XVI of France.  According to the security guard, the woman was a favored subject of the artist, Adelaide Labille-Guiard.  Apparently, there are two different versions of this painting.  One is on display here and the other is on display in the Palace of Versaille in France.  After he said that, the security guard returned to his post and didn't say another word.  We also noticed that we were the only people he decided to share this art trivia with.  Hmmmm.

Lady Adelaide of France - Palace of Versailles, France

 Then the security guard said, "Now that you've seen this one, you will have to go to France to see the other one."  (or at least... it was something like that)


After we left the museum and went out for coffee, I told Gail that seeing that painting and the security guard talk only to us... was a sign.  A God wink.  The meaning was totally clear... we need to resurrect our plan to go to France.

So to kick off our plan, we are going to ask my sister Janet to host a "France Night" at her house next week, where we can learn about her trips to France, and begin working on our VISION BOARDS.