🎶 “Time Passages”, “Time in a Bottle”, “Time of the Season” – Al Stewart, Jim Croce and The Zombies, along with so many others, knew that time just marches on and waits for nobody. We’re just about four months away from leaving and the closer we get, the more excited we get.

In the previous post we had just made our decision and now we’re finalizing details. Yep, with four months until we go, we are ready with the flights, the house, the transportation, and the car. We just have a few details that have to be acted upon when we’re closer to the time we leave. So that is the update. Now here are a few more details:

We have rented a house in the town of Chablis, France. Rather than hopping from place to place, we will be staying in one location and venturing out for day trips. Mind you, just relaxing and staying around Chablis would be fine with us. However, a little exploration is always good for the soul and there are many interesting things to see and do nearby.

While we will be there for the month, we have friends that will be joining us for the first ten days. As has been well established, that is right about the point where my jokes and puns push people close to insanity, so I think they have planned wisely. Pourquoi le poulet a-t-il traversé la rue?

The house is centrally located and conveniently in walking distance to everything. There are shops and stores nearby to purchase supplies and food items. There are restaurants and wineries for nourishment and hydration purposes. There are vineyards and a river for scenic enjoyment and there are a couple of historic locations to explore. That should keep us occupied while in town and there are plenty of other places to visit that are located nearby.

For those little journeys, we have secured a vehicle rental. We’ll be renting our vehicle from Enterprise Rental. They are located just outside of the train station in the town of Auxerre. Gare Auxerre-Saint-Gervais is the station that we will use to return to Paris when our stay in Chablis is complete. Even the big guy can rumble, bumble and stumble the 150m from the vehicle drop-off to the station.

We’ll be flying into Paris – CDG airport, so we had to decide how to get to the Gare in Auxerre to pick up the car to drive to Chablis to park in the driveway of the rental house – inspiration by Dr. Seuss!

Cue the folks from Daytrip. After some mapping out of the route and considering some other factors, we decided that it was going to be too much of a hassle to get from CDG to Gare de Lyon in Paris to get a train down to Auxerre. Instead, we will be picked up at CDG by our Daytrip driver and taken directly to the car rental in Auxerre – it will save some time and be much easier logistically.

We’ll be flying in on Air Canada from Toronto. The airfares have been crazy and the plane booked up quickly. Come to find out, we’ll be arriving just as Fashion Week begins in Paris. I will be sure to bring along my best stretchy blue pants with the stripe down the leg, along with sunglasses to keep the paparazzi guessing as we pass through the airport.

Among the remaining “to-do” items is arranging our transport from home to Toronto and that will just take a phone call. We’ll also try to make reservations for one or two wine tasting visits around town and maybe first night dinner reservations. Nothing too stressful!

Our next update will likely be just before it’s time to leave. That will give us a little more time to brush up on our “Bonjour”,”Merci” and “Parlez vous anglais?”.

À Bientôt!

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Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking with friends who are also making 2025 a traveling kind of year. Disney World has been left behind for places like Malta, Sicily, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Amsterdam and Dollywood. There are upcoming ocean cruises, river cruises, train trips and tours. I can’t wait to hear all the details and maybe even add one of those locations to future plans. Bon voyage everyone!