Europe!

On Monday, June 7, I will arrive in Paris with my husband and 2 girls. We are spending a week in Paris, where I hope to do a bit of Wardrobe Wisdom shopping research in between going to museums and seeing the sights. Then we will visit my mom's cousins in the north and in central France before spending 2 weeks in Provence, where I've never been. Our last stops will be to visit family in the Swiss Alps and in northern Germany.

It took a lot of persistence to convince my husband that this trip was a good idea. His arguments were valid and logical, but I persevered with romantic and somewhat illogical arguments. In the end, he could see I was not going to give up, and that I would take the girls and go without him if he continued to be a stinker. Since he cannot bear to be left out, I soon heard him say, with a heavy sigh, that he would go too. You would think I was asking him to tour a prison!

I am most looking forward to eating delicious food, seeing my family, and relishing all the richness of European culture. I fantasize about spending days in the Paris shops, but realize I will be lucky to dart in and out of a few. I do know we will have crepes with Nutella on the streets, and will check out the Rodin museum. I hope we can go to Versailles. My husband and I will drink champagne with our champagne-making family in Bouzy (I am not making that name up), and we will feel like we're in a Ricola commercial in Switzerland.

Seeing the looks of wonder and joy on my girls' faces will be the very best part of this adventure. Those looks and their memories of the trip will be priceless.

I'll be blogging from our various stops, so stay tuned for posts from Europe!