So close!

In less than a month Angela and I will be in Paris. And then in London. And then in Paris again. It's so exciting it's hard to even comprehend. But then again, it's kind of sad too because in just over a month our trip will be over. I can't even think about that right now.

We've been doing a lot more planning lately. Almost every day we discuss things we've read or people have told us (shout out to Heather G for her awesome blog post just for Ang and I the day after getting back from Europe!). Several of Angela's co-workers are going to be in France the same time as us so while we're not meeting up, we're discussing plans and sharing tips and purchases. I know it seems like all we do it plan, and how much can there really be? But let me tell you...

A couple of weekends ago we hunkered down in our Corner Bakery and did some major work on London. We get in on Sunday morning and we leave Tuesday night so we need to pack a lot in to a short amount of time. And we have to leave some free time just in case we can sneak in a last-minute play date with George.

So that weekend we figured out our plans for London. We ordered Oyster cards to ride the Tube with which are conveniently delivered to your house for free. We bought tickets for one of those big red double decker sightseeing buses you hop on and off of so we could get the full-on tourist experience. We reserved a table for high tea at Fordum & Mason where it looks like we'll not only have tea but a full on meal and then belly up to a dessert cart. We bought tickets for the London Eye and for the Tower of London. We planned routes to get from our hotel to each of these places and planned to visit not only Baker Street but the famed Hamley's toy store (it's a good thing we'll be seeing the grandneighbors six days after we land stateside!).

We've also done a few things to make our lives easier over there. We've opened our beloved Rick Steves' travel guides and snapped pics of each page on the historic walks and made Evernote files so that we can look at our directions and maps on our phones (for free, meaning no data charges, with Evernote Premium) and not call too much attention to our touristy selves. We've also Mapquested our walks and our train rides all around both London and Paris, taken screenshots and saved those too. We're probably over prepared but it feels right, and it's fun to trace the routes on the maps and dream about where we'll be.

Oh, and we've also secured earlier dates for our Global Entry interviews! In just two weeks! So hopefully we'll be able to breeze through customs with an eye scan and a song.

We have a bit more day-to-day planning to do in the upcoming weeks. We bought two more suitcase locks this week to secure our backpacks on the Chunnel as well as our roller bags. We've gotten directions on how to navigate the Montreal airport for our Air Canada connection (shout out to amazing cousin Doris!). Oh, and we've got a pant situation.

We've realized, thanks to several friends, that jeans might be too casual at some places in Europe. Yes, we're dressing up our top but our bottoms will still need to be in pants that look decent with Nikes. So...we're on a pants hunt. When you're our size, that's difficult to say the least. If you're wide you shouldn't also be tall is the mantra of most designers in America. So...that will be our next few weeks. And a skirt or pair of crop pants might get tossed in the duffel as well. Such first world problems, I know.

So, lunch at the Eiffel Tower booked. Tea in London booked. Shuttles from the airport arranged. And each night, I still close my eyes and see those twinkly lights of Paris. I cannot wait.