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Post by htmb on Oct 29, 2014 9:13:01 GMT
There are so many places like this I would love to visit! I plan to do more traveling after my stay in Paris next summer, but I can see that, once again, I'm going to have a difficult time deciding as to where I'll go. I'm currently reading a historical fiction that takes place mostly to the south of where you live, Bjd, and it brings back good memories of a trip I took to the area several years ago.
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Post by bjd on Oct 29, 2014 9:16:27 GMT
You mean you read historical fiction instead of sleeping?
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Post by htmb on Oct 29, 2014 9:44:19 GMT
I actually slept from about 23:00 until 4:45. That's pretty good for me.
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Post by htmb on Jan 14, 2015 21:56:33 GMT
My youngest daughter has been talking about a trip to London, followed by a few days in Paris with me. This same idea had been under discussion a few years ago, but she had to change plans due to work responsibilities. I'd half expected her to bail again for the same reasons, but last week she made her plane reservations. It looks like I'd better get busy and make mine. We will meet up in London and eventually take the Eurostar to Paris.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2015 22:01:54 GMT
Well, goody. If the world has not ended by then, I'm sure you'll have a great time.
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Post by htmb on Jan 14, 2015 22:03:09 GMT
You just never know.
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Post by htmb on Feb 16, 2015 16:28:48 GMT
I'm feeling quite pleased with myself. I've now booked a hotel near St. Pancras in London, critical tickets to a venue outside London, and have purchased our Eurostar tickets for the London-to-Paris leg of the trip my daughter and I are planning for this summer. Really, all the hard stuff is out of the way and the rest of the planning should be of the fun type, rather than the arduous kind.
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Post by htmb on Dec 10, 2015 22:53:21 GMT
I really need to get back to southern France. Today I spent time with my friend who was in Toulouse last month. She adored Toulouse and also could not stop talking about the side trips she took, especially to Carcassonne and Albi. I've seen some of her photos, but need to go back and look at them more closely.
Thus inspired, it finally dawned on me what I could get another friend for Christmas. This is the friend with whom I traveled to southern France in 2008, and I'd been in a quandary about what to give her. I stopped off at the local liquor store and now I have a nice bottle of chateauneuf du pape.
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Post by bjd on Dec 11, 2015 7:33:29 GMT
Chateauneuf-du-pape is from the wrong part of southern France! It's the Rhone valley. Just kidding. There are some old threads here by Imec about a trip he and his family made to the area near Toulouse in 2010. There is a whole series of posts called Imec goes to France and here is the one about Albi: Albi
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Post by htmb on Dec 11, 2015 11:18:11 GMT
Chateauneuf-du-pape is from the wrong part of southern France! It's the Rhone valley. Just kidding. There are some old threads here by Imec about a trip he and his family made to the area near Toulouse in 2010. There is a whole series of posts called Imec goes to France and here is the one about Albi: AlbiI forgot to mention the Rhone Valley was also a part of my 2008 trip with that friend, Bjd, and Chateauneuf-du-pape is her preferred wine. I'll look up Imec's posts. Thanks for the tip!
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Post by htmb on Dec 15, 2015 20:43:51 GMT
Chateauneuf-du-pape is from the wrong part of southern France! It's the Rhone valley. Just kidding. There are some old threads here by Imec about a trip he and his family made to the area near Toulouse in 2010. There is a whole series of posts called Imec goes to France and here is the one about Albi: AlbiThanks for the tips, Bjd. I enjoyed reading all of his posts, but found Imec's Albi and Toulouse threads most interesting.
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Post by breeze on Dec 15, 2015 22:21:25 GMT
htmb, will you have the whole summer to travel in? If so, you can go all over the place.
E and I talked today about a May-June trip and a September trip in 2016. Crazy talk, but I've already started planning for a possible spring trip.
First of all, we need a cheese plan. It's time to get systematic about our cheese tasting.
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Post by htmb on Dec 15, 2015 22:55:13 GMT
Starting in mid-June, I'll have at least six weeks, Breeze. Maybe more. I'm still exploring retirement dates. I'm thinking it will happen summer 2016, but my boss has asked me to consider delaying a year. I already have an apartment booked for the first part of my stay in Paris, thanks to the help of a friend. Though I haven't stayed in this particular apartment before, I'm very familiar with the area and I'm looking forward to getting back to Paris. The rest of the trip will fall into place, I'm sure. There are so many towns I'd love to visit that I could just about head into any direction. Your recent photos have certainly been inspirational!
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Post by bjd on Dec 16, 2015 7:07:24 GMT
Breeze's photos of the Perche area are definitely inspiring but I think you really need to rent a car in order to see the small towns and villages. Many train lines to small places have disappeared and the local inter-town/city bus routes are for the locals going to work, so rare during the day and not always very numerous.
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Post by mossie on Dec 16, 2015 8:34:14 GMT
Go for it htmb. Do not listen to your boss, get out as soon as you can. And never look back!
I don't know France very well, but would encourage you to visit Aix en Provence, and La Ciotat in Provence. Also Honfleur and Dinard in the north.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2015 15:07:11 GMT
I agree with Mossie -- do not listen to your boss! Even when a boss seems nice, the whole point is to manipulate employees for his own personal benefit, not theirs.
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Post by htmb on Dec 16, 2015 15:20:31 GMT
Yes, I do understand that's what my boss is trying to do. That's his job. I'll make what I think is the best decision for me personally, but also feel a sense of loyalty to my program. I'll decide in January.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2015 18:01:50 GMT
Best of both worlds (since you love your job) -- propose your services as a freelance consultant next year with appropriate fees. That will make it very clear if you are really needed or if there was just an attempt to exploit you.
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Post by htmb on Dec 16, 2015 18:07:40 GMT
That's a very good idea, Kerouac. I could be a paid consultant outside of Florida, but would have to wait six months to work as a consultant here due to state retirement laws for government employees.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2015 18:12:45 GMT
So just tell him that you will be available as a consultant in six months. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or in six months, he will realise that you were not indispensable. After all, nobody is indispensable, even when they think they are.
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Post by htmb on Dec 16, 2015 18:22:25 GMT
I know I'm not indispensable. No one is. I'm actually in the process of training a close friend to take over my position, but that will involve a "power" shift in a department that will be thin on experienced personnel for awhile. I'll do what I can and the rest will be their problem. Meanwhile, I'm counting up all my pennies to make sure this is the most advantageous time for me to retire financially. Any good accountant should understand that strategy.
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Post by htmb on Dec 16, 2015 20:32:35 GMT
htmb, will you have the whole summer to travel in? If so, you can go all over the place. E and I talked today about a May-June trip and a September trip in 2016. Crazy talk, but I've already started planning for a possible spring trip. First of all, we need a cheese plan. It's time to get systematic about our cheese tasting. Breeze, I've just read a write up in France Today about the book A Year in Cheese. It's rather pricey, but might make an interesting gift.
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Post by breeze on Dec 16, 2015 23:55:39 GMT
Looks good, htmb. I've put it on my library want list. It's not on the Access PA database, which means no library in Penna has it, but it may turn up later in one of the wealthier libraries. If there is such a thing anymore in PA.
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