I love Paris in the Springtime...

But not so much for a work trip in the winter? I'm headed to Paris-- and no, the time is not an illusion. With a 6:45 a.m. flight, I need to be up and out of my house by 4:00. Of course I'm not blogging right now; I've scheduled this post to launch at the time of my departure to the airport. Clever, huh?

I've actually not been to Paris in the Springtime... just in the Summer. But I'm sure if I had, I'd have loved it (particularly because more would be open as opposed to in August when the city pretty much goes on holiday). This blink-or-you'll-miss-it trip is quick overnighter-- sounds romantic, but really, it's not. It's for a two day meeting, where I'll be locked in a corporate compound with techies and then hotel room scurrying to meet a crazy deadline that quite frankly, I do not think we'll meet. But, whine, whine, whine, right? At least I'll be in Paris? The hotel is also next to the Louvre-- so I'll get to look at it longingly and hate the trip even more since I won't be able to actually GO IN. Booooo.

But at least I'm wayfaring at last and 2010 won't be a total wash for lack of travel.

Getting back to wayfaring

I think that now that things have calmed down, it's time to get back to some wayfaring. Not that 2009 was quiet by any means-- I may need to drop the "wannabe." There was lots of travel, mostly in England for work, but there were fun trips as well (even in England!):

• California (Los Angeles, Solvang, San Francisco, Benecia, Napa)
• Chicago
  
• Birmingham (Birmingham, Birmingham... again, again and again...)
• Brussels, Belgium
  
• Nottingham, England
  
• London (and London, and London...)
• Hartford, Connecticut
• New York City
  
• Edinburgh, Scotland
  
• York, England
  
• Italy (Pisa and Florence)
• The Lake District, England
• Amsterdam, Holland
  
• Paris, France
  
• Haworth, England
  
• California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Benecia, Napa)

Travel has decidedly slowed down in 2010-- although we have had one trip to the US already (the wedding) but to the same locations as we always go to in CA. I'm pushing for two new countries (Greece, perhaps?) in this calendar year... and we're planning for Hawaii for Christmas with my family... new for MRN but not for me. Greece is new for me, but not for him. So that leaves one place that neither of us have gone to.

Any votes?

Alms for the Poor

Today I ventured to a new part of England-- the East Midlands. To Nottingham I went, home of Robin Hood, Sherwood Forrest and the like. There's even a statue (of which I unfortunately did not get a photo of). Alas, I was there on official business-- work-related with the UK arm of Experian-- yes, the credit reporting giant is omnipresent. I actually drove past Sherwood Forrest in February when my beloved Aunt Anne was visiting (and we drove her to her family friends, The Harrisons, in West Markham, just outside of Nottingham). It's certainly a place that I feel like I need to visit again to properly see it, rather than the industrial park I was privy to today. The word on the street was that Nottingham is not a great place to be-- dangerous, high chance of being robbed, especially in / around Sherwood Forrest (well, duh!) and in all, a little city wanting to be a bigger one. From what I saw, it was perfectly nice-- young professionals, good town center, basically loads better than where I live (granted, not that hard). I'm determined to see all of England before I move (not that there are plans to move... but eventually I'll move, as it's what I do...)... so Nottingham is another check on my long list of things to see in England.

Next up: Football match this weekend. Green Street Hooligans? Hope not... but you never know...

New York, New York

It was too short of a trip to my beloved NYC. I was so glad that MRN was able to find a last minute fare from England to join me for the weekend-- but the day and a half trip was a bit overwhelming for his first-ever trip to NYC. All the same, I had a wonderful time being "home" even though I only got to share about 1% of my favorite parts of the city with him. I DID however, get to cross one thing off of my "things to do before you move from NYC" list-- emmm... yes, there are still things that I never got to do (even after living there for nearly 8 years). And, I do still have the list. On it includes row-boating in Central Park. It was probably the only time that MRN felt "at peace" in the crazy, busy, noisy city that I love.