Off to Merida

Tomorrow we fly to Cancun and then the lovely (not) four hour bus ride to Merida. Hope the movie is a good one or two. I'm packed and ready to go and hoping that Hurricane Gustave doesn't get in our way. We've been trying to decide if the plane will fly over it or around it since it's scheduled to be smack dab in our path.

Here's another statistic to fill space until next I post.

Found this on youtube. Annie and I drove past their estate and vinyard when we were there. The map we used spelled it Caix but they spell it Cayx. We didn't know that you could just stop in to see a gift shop. Next time I will.

Luzech, whose mayor was saying that they liked having Danish Royalty for neighbors was the next town over from Albas, where we stayed. We went through it almost everytime we went to Cahors and most other places. Annie rode a bike along the river to Luzech on the day I drove to the market at Montcuq. It is such a beautiful part of France. I'm not going there this trip but it's where I would love to live.

Not Just Christmas in Paris!!

I changed the date of my flight home from France to January 2nd... I'll be in Paris watching the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve.. instead of here on the couch watching it on TV!!! What a way to end this year and start the next. I am so over the moon about this.

I am spending money that I should probably use to fix things around the house but I'm thinking it's more important to throw caution to the wind and just spread my wings and fly. I haven't shared this with my family yet since it's four months away and I think they will get their Christmas gifts very late since I intend to shop the markets in Paris for their gifts.

My Brother-in-Law's Take on my Trip

"For Paris France in the Winter time It is generally very cold,
damp and gloomy. Paris sits on the earth up where Boston is located.
So the weather is close to that. See the following for a realistic
description as it agrees with my memory.

Provence and Nice are not quite as bad. Temperatures in the 40-50F
range with lots of rain. Probably about half of a month is rain,
sometimes heavy. It is more like Ocean City or Virginia Beach in the
winter. Beautiful and friendly but brisk and wet.

Of course it is in the Holiday Month so that everything takes on a
dramatic aire of festival with lights and decorations. I would not "not
go because of the weather." In Paris you will spend most of the time in
Museums and cafe's and sightseeing. You go everywhere by the
underground Metro so you are only exposed to the "weather" for short
periods. A summer or spring day on the "ponts" /bridges of Paris looking
down the Seine is a fabulous experience. A Winter overcast day standing
on the "ponts" / bridges of Paris looking down the Seine is unforgetable
romantic experience for the soul. In other words, there are no "bad"
days in Paris.

Bundled in a heavy coat under your umbrella you will
dream of Toulouse Latrek and Matisse and Gaugin and then view their
works in the new Modern Art museum. Or roam the halls of the Louve, not
in a rush because it is cold and dreary outside, but nice and warm
inside the museum. Sitting outside in a cafe on the "Left Bank" with a
hot coffee or cappuccino warming your hands with a fresh pastry or
"Croque Monsieur" (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) will banish all the
cold and damp. The Christmas lights down the Champs Elysee and
Montmarte districts will blaze away any clouds in the skies. A city
that is over 2,500 years old has an engine of warmth in its heart and
cold, damp, and clouds cannot diminish the charm and experience.

The Cote d'Azur - Nice / Provence is like the wine country of
California. In any weather it is dreamy and full of life. - - except
between noon and 3 pm when all the stores close and every has lunch.
The "old city" of Nice is unmatched in charm and fabulouse sights and
restaurants."

His descriptions just fill my head with wonderful images and the anticipation for this trip is going to keep me floating just a bit off the floor.

CHRISTMAS IN PARIS!!

I'm floating 3 inches off the floor. I just threw caution to the wind and booked a trip to Provence and Nice with Gutsy Women Travel and added a week or more so that I can take the train to Paris and spend Christmas and maybe New Year's Eve there.

My friend, Connie, who moved back to London says she'll meet me in Paris. Should be cold but great fun. My brother-in-law spent lots of time there and sent me an e-mail this morning telling me to go for it. I had already committed to it so it was nice to get confirmation that I'm not totally mad. I will try to copy and post some of his e-mail in another post. His descriptions brought tears to my eyes.

I'm off to lunch with neighbor and to Belk's to spend $50 in free credits. This has been a lovely week and I have much to do.

Going to Mexico!!

Haven't posted for a bit because I've been making plans to go to Merida. My neighbor wants to go down to do some research for their future B & B and since only one of them was able to get time off from work, they asked me to go along. Should be fun. We are leaving on August 30th and returning on September 7th. This time we are flying Jet Blue into Cancun and will do the four hour bus ride to Merida. It's better than driving four hours to Miami and it should be better than our last trip down on Spirit.

It had been my idea to fly Spirit because we could depart from Orlando and the price was low. Stopping in Fort Lauderdale on the way down wasn't bad but coming back and having to go through customs in Ft. Lauderdale and then rechecking their baggage (mine was lost) and then having to go about a mile to another terminal was horrid. More so because my knee had given out on me the last day there and I was dragging around a pair of crutches. We borrowed a wheel chair and they piled all of our carry-ons on me and off we went. We were late because of long lines for boarding passes but luckily the TSA misplaced all the luggage so the flight was delayed. Wish we had known that before racing to our terminal and gate.

I'm working on dropping at least a few pounds before the trip and need to get out and walk or ride my bike a bit to get my knees in shape. There will be lots of walking because we want to check out the neighborhood around the B & B as well as the open air market to price flowers and fruit. Our hotel, The Hotel Colon has a pool and other nice amenities so we plan to do our exploration of the city in the morning then head back to spend time in the pool and then a siesta before heading out into the city to enjoy the night life.

I plan to take lots of photos this trip. Yucatan Today is a great way to get familiar with Merida and the region. So much to do in the delightful city.