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D-Day Déjà

Tuesday, September 13th, 2005

Fabien has done a fantastic job of updating everyone on the events of the last few weeks…I, on the other hand, have been neglecting my blogging duties. So here it is, we have finally arrived at D-Day. Fabien and I are leaving Paris tonight on a 14-hour bus trip to Prague. My short visit here in France has been a whirlwind of activity, hellos and good-byes.

I arrived here in Paris last Wednesday to a warm welcome from Fabien and Myriam at the airport. The weather was amazing, sunny and warm, so we had a nice little picnic on our island complete with baguette, saucisson and a bottle of rosé. The sun, the wine, the jet lag…put me straight to sleep. No time to spare, I woke up early Thursday morning, it was my turn to get the trip vaccinations. A long, crammed bus ride to the hospital, 3 jabs and an aching arm later and I was protected from every rare and tropical disease known to man. The rest of Thursday was designated packing (as in our apartment) day. On Friday, while Fabien was finishing his last day of work, I met up with Beth at the Parc Monceau for another picnic and afternoon of relaxing and catching up. (It’s really a hard life.) We then met a bunch of friends at the Frog and Rosbif to say our farewells before leaving Paris. Thank you to those who were able to come, it was so nice to see you again.

Paris Farewell Fabien and Jenny Jenny with Estelle and Florence (her English students)

Arianna and Mohamed

Saturday and Sunday: Packing,moving and cleaning…who could have imagined we had so many things in that little apartment? We live on the 3rd Floor (4th in American terms.) There is no elevator/lift/ascenseur. My legs still hurt…our move (and storage space) would not have been possible without the help of Fabien’s parents and Pierre. (Jocelyn, Phillipe, Pierre et Julien: je vous remercie mille fois.)

Picnic while packing Fabien and Pierre

Then Sunday evening we had a true French feast with Fabien’s family to celebrate my birthday and to see everyone before we leave. The last couple of days have been filled with last minute errands, shopping and seeing friends.

Joyeaux Anniversaire Jenny Fabien's Family

I think we are ready…this week will be quite busy, but easy and fun. We can’t wait to see all of the Praguers..and to attend our first Czech/Swiss wedding. CONGRATULATIONS EDDY AND MARKETA!

Thank you again to everyone in Florida (Mom,Ken,Pete, Melissa, SunCruz), to Fabien’s family and to our friends in Paris who have made these last few weeks in our home lands so wonderful.

5 days before D-DAY – Almost ready !

Thursday, September 8th, 2005

I have really good news : Jenny is back in France ! This is the start of her trip : she finished her job, her bank account is full of money and her backpack is ready.
Unfortunatelly this is not my case. My backpack is definitely not ready, and I haven’t finished my job yet. It’s true that I only have one more day. That’s not a lot. But as I have a lot of things to finish at work before leaving, these last days were not easy. And for the first time of my career in Paris, I had to bring some work home… Who says that the last days of work are the easiest ones ?
I remind everyone that tomorrow evening is our goodbye party in Paris. Pictures are coming for the ones zho will miss that.
What else ? The beginning of the trip is starting to be organized: we know where we are going to sleep our first night and even the second one (well we still need to have the exact adress). We think that we are going to stay in Prague until September 20th but it’s not totally determined.
Concerning the move, most of our stuff is packed now. We still have to finish all our bottles of strong alcohol and wines : it would be a pity to have to move them. This is our mission for Saturday. Somebody want to help ?
To be continued…

Let’s move…

Sunday, September 4th, 2005
It's Sunday, 10 days before departure. I spent the week end to order everything in the flat and clean. Big MessThe real move is in exactly one week. It's getting close ! Almost all the ... [Continue reading this entry]

2 weeks before D-Day

Monday, August 29th, 2005
Two weeks before departure day. Are we ready ? Well let's see the checklist : Plane tickets : BOUGHT, that was quite expensive but we are ready. We are leaving September 13th by bus (only 14 hours, just a starter to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where are we going?

Monday, August 22nd, 2005
As it is a common question, here is a clear answer. As you can see on the next map, our trip will be in two parts Destination The first part in Eastern Europe is specially to visit our friends ... [Continue reading this entry]