150 Days And Counting

In 150 days, we will boarding our plane to Paris to begin our 2012 European adventure. What started out as a trip to "let the children try skiing" and "visit Disneyland Paris" has turned into a 7 week journey involving multiple family members!

We managed to get flights at a great price flying into Paris and out of Rome for $1923 with Emirates. There has been some minor dramas along the way, such as Club Med changing its opening dates to one week later, but our itinerary has pretty much sorted itself out. Dreams of wild adventures to Lapland, Sound of Music pilgrimages in Austria, ancestral visits to the UK, and taking the children to see the weihnachtsmarkt in Germany will have to wait for another time as we made the decision to be sensible and travel in a smooth arc  in an effort to reduce precious travelling time. Unfortunately, we will also miss out on visiting Milan and Turin. Our time in Venice will also be cut short all because of Club Med...Have I already mentioned that Club Med changed dates on us?!?!?

This does mean however, that we will have a chance to see more of France. After our time in Paris, we will be spending one week in the south, visiting Carcassonne, the town that inspired a much-loved boardgame, and then driving west through Provence before making our way up north to the French Alps. There, we will

channel our inner ski bunnies for 6 days and enjoy a definite white Christmas before a drive to Geneva for our flight to Venice. We will be joined by Malcolm's parents to bring in 2013 when we will then make our way down south through Italy. At Florence, we will be joined by my parents, my brother, my cousin and my aunt! This equates to a happy minibus ride to Rome, a stop made necessary by our 12 night Holy Land cruise aboard the NCL Jade. We have the privilege of stopping at Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel before returning to Rome (Civitavecchia) for our flights home.

Let the countdown begin!