The Countdown Begins!

The day we never thought would come is getting closer and closer. It is always a little surreal when our dream trip of a lifetime is finally becoming a reality. Eric and I always said we wanted to travel to Europe before having kids but now we are so excited to finally go on that trip and also be able to share the experience with Ally. She just turned 10 last month and has been saving for this trip since she was 6. When she was 6 she said she wanted to go to Paris so I laughed and said, "start saving babe!" So she did! She was so diligent, saving every birthday check and any loose change she could find or earn. If there was ever a toy she wanted I asked if she wanted to get money out of savings to buy it and she always refused and would refocus on her goal of going to Paris! After 4 years, she earned enough money to pay for her own airfare and we are so proud of her!

Last summer, Eric's mom exchanged her home with a family in France for 3 weeks, just like in the movie The Holiday. She invited us to join her but we were not in a place to afford to go. We were so bummed but then we realized that we were not going to be missing out after all. The family who came to stay in her house were so wonderful. They had 2 teenage sons and an 8 year old daughter. Initially they called us one evening to help with their internet connection but we ended up staying for hours. Ally and Gabrielle played all evening without even speaking the same language, it was so interesting to watch. The 14 year old son Armand spoke English the most fluently and would translate much of the conversation that first night. It was then that I realized that learning a year of French in high school was not going to cut it with having actual conversations =) Over the next couple weeks we went to Sunsplash waterslides, Lake Tahoe, went swimming, and they cooked us an authentic french meal and we made them an American meal. It was a 3 weeks we will never forget. At the end of the 3 weeks, we felt like they were part of our family and we were amazed that communication was no longer an issue. Their English improved greatly and we would giggle together about mispronounced words. At the end of their stay they invited us to come visit them in France and that was the first time that traveling abroad didnt feel like scary uncharted territory and we may be able to make it a reality. Let the planning begin!!!

After looking at airline prices we decided that if we are going to go, we not only want to go for as long as I can get off work but also visit as many places as possible. After working with my schedule creatively I found I was able to take 30 days off! Yay! Now, what to do and where to stay??? We knew we wanted to stay with our new friends in the Loire Valley in France for atleast a week, so Paris would be a must! Eric has always dreamed of going to Interlaken, Switzerland and it is only a couple hours away so we knew we wanted to try and fit that in. After checking with our landlord we decided to sign up at http://www.intervac.com/ to see if we could find a match to Home Exchange in France or Switzerland. We had a lot of people interested but not until summer when airfares would be higher. So then we thought we would start searching in England too and then come across the chunnel to Paris. After emailing 18 different possible matches we finally received the answer we were waiting for. A retired couple 40 minutes north of London would love to do a switch and the schedule worked perfectly.

I expected to feel nervous, but after countless emails and skyping, we have no reservations and will be switching our cars and homes. We will stay at their home for the first 13 days and then take the chunnel across to Paris. Through the exchange we found a woman in the suburbs of Paris who can take us in like a bed & breakfast for a 5 night stay close to Paris. Then we won't have to take an 90 minute train ride into Paris each day from the Loire Valley. Her name is Gill and she has been so wonderful. She has sent us metro maps and even metro tickets to get from the main train station to her house. Then we will stay with our new French family for a week then take a train to Switzerland and stay in Interlaken for 5 days before flying home from Zurich. We are so excited with our itinerary and are so happy the way it has all come together!

We are bringing our laptop and want to allow everyone to live vicariously through us, so please check back to our blog often to find out more about our exciting adventures. Only 9 days left until the adventure begins!!