Summer Vacation in November

We didn't have a summer vacay this year, at least not one that counted. We had to attend a family wedding in July. It was in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the week, required putting all six of us on an airplane, and significant time away from work and home. But, trust me, it was no vacation.

We were lucky and blessed to send our kids to camp during June, and some moron decreed that school begins in early August here in Georgia, so we never got a summer week away. This isn't whining, just a way of explaining that our trip isn't special, just extremely postponed. The fun thing is, now we get to plan our vacation!

More background: my husband does his business in China, and we've been planning all year for the six of us to head over there. We both believe it's terribly important for the kids to see what their daddy does and we thought, "Why not? We have great, easy-going kids, so let's just try it."

Now, have you ever tried to do something but had a roadblock in front of you at every turn? That was this trip. Nothing seemed to go right. We had all but decided to cancel it, and one day my DH emailed me an announcement from a trade show in Lyon, France. In November. Leading up to Thanksgiving. This one fell into our laps--we immediately gave up our China plans and turned to France!

Some history: I have for some inexplicable reason been obsessed with all things French for as long as I can remember. I took three years in high school, saving most of my money from my part-time jobs to pay for a trip to France my senior year. My distinct recollection of my first visit to Paris was of "coming home" because I had studied the city and the culture so much. I minored in French in college, taking classes all four years and always getting an "A." My Georgia Tech engineer's GPA owes a lot to my humanities in French, and M. Brown!! I was lucky enough to study under a professor who got me an internship in France between my junior and senior years of high school (Thanks, Dr. Antolovich!!), three months when I got to actually pretend I was "francoise." My sweet husband proposed to me on the Eiffel Tower--yes, ladies, there really ARE men who plan such things! Hold out for one.

Unfortunately, after the proposal, life got in the way. We've had four kids, two houses, two dogs, a cat, a pool, a pony and countless cars since then. If someone had told me fifteen years ago that I'd just now be going back to Paris, I would have been convinced they were lying!!

Anyway, we've bought our plane tickets and are just starting our itinerary. Lyon, naturally, to meet my sweet DH and take in the sights in France's "second city." Then, south to Nimes or possibly Montpellier, then a leisurely drive back north to Paris to spend a few days. My biggest concern right now is where to get turkey in Paris on Thursday! I'll post more as we plan our vacation. Meanwhile, if you've been recently, espeically with the kids, please let me know what you loved! My boys are obsessed with all things Roman, but what else can we do? Thanks!