The Traveling Circus gets a New Member
Countdown to the next trip has begun. Today is Sunday, and Friday we’re driving to Cape May, New Jersey to pick up the newest member of the Greene travel team. It’s always fun to bring along an extra person, especially to places where we have been before. You get in a rut, you know, and it really helps to have some new eyes on a place. In fact, I think it makes our experience better. Besides the confidence-enhancing factor of knowing a place that’s not home well enough to navigate, we get a fresh look through the perspective of our travel companions, often doing things or visiting places where we might not usually go.
So, it is with great anticipation that we will welcome George’s granddaughter, Annabeth, to our traveling circus. This trip to France is her sixteenth birthday wish and, as you might imagine, we are happy to accommodate. A couple of firsts for this trip: first time for Anna to inaugurate her new passport and first time for us to travel with another teen (and a girl to boot, this seriously dilutes the testosterone that I usually end up swimming in). I think it will be fun for Morgan to have someone closer to his own age. Or, let’s just say, I’m curious to see how this all pans out.
Mont Saint Michel
Here’s the plan: drive to Cape May on Friday to pick up Anna. On Saturday, George’s daughter Julie will drive us to the Philly airport, where we’ll wait in the lovely lounge until it’s time to fly to Toulouse. The first five nights are in Toulouse, where George has meetings. We go to Toulouse quite a bit, so we have big plans for this town and visiting some cool places in the surrounding area. When George finishes with meetings on Friday, we head north, eventually visiting the gorgeous chateau Chenonceau on Saturday. The evening will find us at Morgan’s favorite spot on earth, Mont Saint Michel. We’ll end up in Paris for three nights before heading back to Philly, then drive home.
Paris
We’ll have great food (yes, Carmen, it IS all about the food), see medieval villages, experience world-class art, a romantic palace, and an even more romantic abbey-island. And Paris. I found some awesome places to stay, too. Hopefully we’ll hear some live music, walk our socks off (Anna, bring your best walking shoes!), and laugh, a lot. Might even learn something, too (shhhh, it’s still homeschool!!)
All in all, we’ll have great fun breaking in a brand-new traveler! (Anna, I mean that in the most gentle way.) Stay tuned for more…
Practicing Travel 
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