The countdown begins ...

Four years ago, I went to Paris. It was a totally novel trip for me, since I was going to spend an entire month in one place, instead of doing the typical American touring mode of stopping in a city every two days until boarding a plane for home utterly exhausted. Instead, I rented an apartment a block south of Notre Dame, took French lessons in the mornings, and explored the city at my leisure in the afternoons and evenings. My mother and aunt spent a week with me, as did my friend Alex from London. The rest of the time I spent pal-ing around with a few other French language students at Lutece Langue, and some wonderful friends I made through WCS dancing.

Well, it's 2012, and in a week, I will return to Paris for an encore. I've rented the same apartment, Alex is coming again for some more hijinx, and I'm attending the same language school. Things that will be different this time around:

- iPad. Karen convinced me to get one, and I think it will be instrumental this trip. Both for getting around, and recording what I do.
- I'm going to pack really lightly. This may be a relief to Alex, since he had to emergently pack all my things for me while I was at class, due to one of my mix-ups.
- I'm going to take some cooking and fooding lessons (maybe through this place)
- I'll go to Sunday dinner at Jim's earlier, and not just the last week.
- I'm going to make more lunch and dinner reservations. I'm also going to explore the markets.
- I'll be more polite. I may even try being more strategic about who I smile at.

At the end of the month, I'm attending an international ECMO conference in Paris. It's the icing on the cake.

So, I'm off in a little bit. If you want to hear about my adventures, stay tuned. If you have recommendations, please share. In the meantime, let's all have a wonderful summer, and get together later, over a good dinner, and talk it all to pieces!