And here we are!

We got on the TGV at Charles de Gaulle and zipped off for Tours, hoping our car would be there.  I have discovered that I am unable to upload images from my iPad to this blog for some reason.  Disappointing.  I will discontinue this and post on FB.  Sorry.

Day one.....the flight from hell

It all started out so normally.  A three minute ground hold at Redmond before a quick flight to Denver.  When we got there for a tight 45 minute connection our plane still hadn't arrived from Phoenix.  Our one hour forty minute layover in DC began to look iffy.  When we finally pushed back, one hour and ten minutes late it looked tight.  Then as we began out turn from the gate the pilot jammed on the brakes so hard it threw two cabin attendants to the deck, injuring both.  Sooooo back to the gate to get them medical attention and wait for two replacements.   Long story short?  We were three hours and forty minutes late.  So our carefully planned trip is now shot to hell.  We will miss our early train out of the Paris airport.  We sit on standby for a later flight, or we spend the night here and take one out tomorrow evening.  We stand to lose our car reservation, our train payment and our good humor.   United's skies aren't too friendly today.....

Day One.... Part two.

At the last minute we got the last two seats out on the last flight to Paris.  As I write this we are sitting in the TGV station at the airport waiting for the two o'clock train to Tours.  We have had to buy new tickets for this train, but our return tickets will still work.  So we are only 4 hours and a few euros behind schedule.

Exploring the Val de Loire.

Randy and Linda eat and drink their way through the "Garden of France"

Get out of the "Shell"

We've found that by renting an accomodation and staying away from the tourist centers we have a more accurate sense of place when we travel.  On this, our 4th trip to France I'm going to try to detail how anyone can plan their own custom vacation without being trapped in what I call the "Tourism Shell".  By this I mean the all-encapsulating bubble the tour industry wraps you in.  Hotels, organized tours, (no matter how "authentic" an experience they advertise) and most attractions are designed to move money in a smooth flow from your wallet to theirs.  Think about it.  On a tour they stop at the same locations in the same order and the people at those locations are used to dealing with groups of visitors so they tailor their operation to handle groups.  There is no, or very little, chance for one on one inter-personal contact in a situation like that. By going your own way you can really experience the true nature of everyday people. There is nothing stopping you from using the internet to research the data needed to give yourself a quality vacation at a fraction of the packaged tour cost. After all, who knows your budget, interests and time window better than you?

Where we're staying.

We've found VRBO.com a great place to find accomodations.  You can search by price, number of bedrooms, housing type and loaction and even down to the desire for certain amenities.  We filter by location, price, WiFi/internet availability, and non-smoking.  For this trip we are staying in the tiny village of Troo.  Here is a link for the house we rented:

http://www.vrbo.com/180243#location

Planning a trip

There is information in profusion on the web about travel.  We always look for raw information sites rather than ones who profess to "know" the best places.  Do your own research and you avoid having your decision impacted by those with an agenda.  Develop you own vision of what you want then go out and find it.  It's there if you take the time to hunt for it.  For France this site has a wealth of information which seems pretty unbiased. : http://about-france.com/index.htm

Things that come in handy

Travel light:

  We take one carry-on bag each......period.  Linda takes a small purse and I take my camera bag.  We rent places with washer/dryers and take clothes that are multi-purpose.  We don't care if we dress the same over the two weeks, and the mobility and the elimination of lost baggage delays is priceless.  Anything else we might need can be purchased in France.

Learn some French

We have taken two years of private lessons, and carry a phrase book and I have a translation app on my iPad.  While we are both a long way from fluent, we can survive in most common social situations, and beginning any interaction in the native tongue and going as far as you can makes a HUGE difference to those you are dealing with.

Study ahead of time

Get an idea of the history and geography of the region you are visiting.  You will get more out of the experience and may learn of some overlooked gem that will make your day.

Throw away your schedule

You are on vacation.  Get a general idea of what you want to see and work through at a pace which allows quality enjoyment over quantity.  I have often seen a tour group arrive at a location and heard the guide detail how many minutes the group has to "enjoy" the site.  No thanks.