It's "Bon Voyage" for Me!

    Every once in a while a person is given an irresistable opporunity, Destiny saying something like, "Here. Take what I offer. No obligation. No expense. Deserved or undeserved is immaterial. It's what you are given." 

                                                       Photo from spiritsbusiness.com

     In 2020 a friend from my college days at Vanderbilt was supposed to go on a river cruise in Europe — it's obvious what happened to that trip! The cruise company gave him a rain check, which he decided to take advantage of in the summer of 2022 and invite me to join him. 

    I thought, "How can you ignore what Destiny presents?" 

    I said, "What a great opportunity! Thanks, Will!" 

    In addition to the eleven-day cruise on the rivers in the south of France, we will have four or five days in Paris, followed by several days in Lyon, from where the boat sails. We'll take on-shore excursions such as walking around Arles and drinking wine at Chateau Neuf du Pape and kayaking under the Pont du Gard. The eating on the cruise, of course, should be fantastic. 

    After the cruise we'll go to Switzerland for a week of hiking in the Alps, at the peak, I hope, of wildflower season. 

                                                    Photo from Murren Tourism                    

    I have been making lists and lists: Things to do before I leave home. What to wear. What not to forget (passport! COVID tests). What to put in a checked bag; what to bring in a carry-on day pack.

    I have been packing and repacking: clothes for a concert at La Sainte Chapelle, for dinner at a two-star Michelin restaurant, for bicycling and kayaking and walking, for strenuous hikes in the Alps. Hiking boots, dress shoes, comfortable touristing shoes. I bought a bathing suit. What if it rains? What if it's hot? What if it's cold? COVID masks. A travel sheet and a towel for those hotels that don't launder linens in fragrance-free detergents. Hiking poles. Yoga clothes for yoga class on the ship. It's a good thing the cruise company pays for a checked bag. Mine is going to be well over carry-on size.

    Will has reservations for us at several Michelin-starred restaurants. We are staying in nice hotels in Pairs and Lyon and in Switzerland. I want to see Paris from the Arc de Triomphe. I want to walk along the Seine. I want to have coffee in the Jewish quarters. I want to see the Impressionist paintings in the Musée d'Orsay. I want to do all the things my friends have recommended as things to do in Paris. 

    I have been working on my years-ago-fluent French. 

    I want to fall to my knees in worship of the wildflowers in the Alps. I want to wear myself out hiking the mountains of Switzerland. I want to view those awesome peaks. 

    An irresistable opportunity. All expenses paid. Am I not lucky to have such a friend? And doesn't it sound exciting?