PINAY FRANCOPHILE

I have just this week started to try to study elementary French.  It hit me that the trip is just two weeks away!  I want to at least be able to say “I’m from New York and I hardly speak any French..” 

Meanwhile, I’m trying to see if I can meet up with some fellow Pinoys in Paris.. I’m keeping my fingers crossed I can.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), although I have relatives in Europe, they’re everywhere but Paris.  I once had an uncle who was actually living there but he passed on a decade ago or so.  The nearest cousins I have are in Austria, Switzerland and the former Yugoslavia.  (I don’t even know where..)  The one in Switzerland, I hope to visit some day — Alan has two hotels there, too..

I’m also starting to get my EQUAL stash ready.  (Yes, the sweetener)  And I’m trying to find a small plastic bottle of ketchup to take.  (Remembering the French eat their French Fries with mayonnaise.)  I must remember to bring an adaptor, too, because although their electric outlets are 220V, their sockets are different.

Time to sleep now as Paris is yet beginning another day…

As a Marian devotee, one of my life-long dreams is a pilgrimage to Lourdes.  The next one related to Lourdes is to be able to bring my Mom there someday.

But first thing’s first.  My first dilemma is that Lourdes is apparently several hours from Paris by train.  I tried a second point of origin, Lyon, where Alan’s other hotels are, but the results were the same.  If I decided to take the train to Paris, a round trip would’ve cost us close to $400 for two.  While I finally figured out a way to use my mileage to get to Paris (so that means I’m just paying $60 in tax), I had to weigh out spending this much to get us to Lourdes.

In the end, Alan and I decided to postpone for another trip when I can be in Paris longer than the current 6 days I will be there.  We could’ve taken an overnight trip from Paris to Lourdes and spent the day there, returning on another evening trip by rail.  That would’ve meant, however that we would be giving up two nights and a full day, and this would be on the weekend when we could go around together.  Alan starts working Monday which would’ve given us only one day to spend together.

If we go as planned, we will arrive there Friday morning.  Alan will stay the whole week but I will return to New York Wednesday afternoon so I’m in before 9PM.  Next day, I go back to work.

We would one day want to spend a real vacation there without Alan working at all, and he is very excited to take me to Lyon.  Perhaps a week and a half would be sufficient.  Right now I’m still piggy-backing on his business trip, but sometime in the future, we’ll go there simply for pleasure.  So we’re saving Lourdes for another trip.

Earlier this afternoon I was thinking I ought to finally begin my Paris scrapbook layouts.  Then in the afternoon, Alan confirmed that he will need to go to Paris for a week, right after Thanksgiving.

We had earlier discussed the possibility of taking the trip then, leaving the evening of Thanksgiving and me staying two days beyond the weekend.  I don’t have all that many days left in my vacation bank — and I am all excited now that it has been confirmed that the trip is practically confirmed.

I’m all excited and I’d like to get that scrapbook going before I go and take more pictures this time around.  Finally going back!

We were driving to pick up Mom at JFK last Saturday evening when Alan told me he might have to go to Europe again end-September or sometime October.  Perhap  s we can plan to go to Switzerland this time, or meet up in Paris, go to Lyon, and of course I interjected I wanted to go to Lourdes.  Anybody with suggestions on whether or not it should be Paris-Lyon-Lourdes or Paris-Lourdes-Lyon?

Of course the prospect of returning to Paris is truly exciting for me.  This is one destination I dream of for my own joy — not to make another person happy, such as going home essentially is, because it means reuniting with family.

No harm in planning if I keep my expectations reasonable.  I might yet return to Paris soon.