It’s hard to believe how fast the year is going. Just a short while and we’ll be on our way.

Once we had the itinerary firmed up, we were able to purchase tickets and plan tours. Besides just enjoying ourselves in Paris, we will be attending an art exhibit and a chamber music concert.

The art exhibit will be at the Grand Palais Immersif and is called “Eternal Mucha”. It will feature the artwork of Alphonse Mucha, who was a key figure in the Art Nouvelle Movement.

The concert will be held at the Church of Saint-Germain Des Pres. A beautiful church that was originally built in the 11th century and happens to be about a block away from our hotel. The concert will be a String Quartet playing selections from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”, Caccini’s Ave Maria, Debussy, Mozart, Bizet and Puccini. I love concerts like this, especially when played in a beautiful location.

After making arrangements for an automobile, we have our driving plans laid out too. We tried to optimize our driving directions to be able to see some additional small towns and sights as we make our way between locations. Our main routes will be navigating from Èpernay to Chablis, and then from Chablis to Beaune. We’ll also be driving around to visit some wineries, check out some historic locations and seek out fabulous meals.

In Èpernay, we’ll be visiting a few different champagne houses. Small, medium and large houses are located in and around the city, so we’ll have many places to choose from.

Chablis, located in the Yvonne region, offers up a chance to not only visit wineries, but also a couple of nearby towns.

Once we arrive in Beaune, there are so many interesting places to visit. The area has everything you could want and we want to experience as much as possible – while keeping it relaxed.

While we don’t know the exact model of our vehicle, we do know that it will be comfortable enough for four. That’s good, as we’ll definitely be driving the “Route des Grand Crus”. The “Route des Grands Crus” passes through the most prestigious part of Burgundy’s vineyards, and runs from Dijon through Beaune and then on to Santenay. That means we’ll have the opportunity to visit any of the 37 wine villages and the many wineries – both prestigious and the more humble.

I won’t spill the beans on specifics now, as that’s the fun of the blog for me. I will say that my travel mates and I are all looking forward to a wonderful holiday.

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So here are a couple newsworthy items for future planning:

It looks like Americans will need to get an E-Visa to travel to Europe beginning in 2024. The ETIAS program is currently scheduled to go into effect in November 2023, though there is talk of a 6 month grace period. You can check out the requirements at the ETIAS website, where you can also sign-up online and pay your fee using the link on the site. It will cost about $8 and will be good for three years or until your passport expires.

Bad behavior by throngs of tourists are causing many towns to take actions. Popular tourist towns such as Portofino, Sorrento, Venice and Rome are fining people for their behaviors. Not just little fines either, 50 – 500 Euro are shocking tourists into changing their ways. Penalizing stupidity and entitlement is not a bad thing, in my opinion – especially when it makes travel better for everyone else.

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So that’s all for now. The next update will be to say we’re on our way.

Et pour une certaine personne: Pour répondre à ta question. Oui, j’étudie mon français et ça se passe bien.