Planning our next trip
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325793)
Rockingham, Australia
February 11, 2019 7:25am CST
Many of you would know we have a married son in Ireland. We have been lucky enough to visit him on several occasions and later this year we will be going over again.
But before we get to Ireland we are going to France with six friends. We’ll be hiring a house-boat on the Loire Canal south of France for about 11 nights. We’ll each have a bedroom and ensuite on the boat. The bedrooms are tiny but the living space looks quite spacious and we can also go up on top of the boat to sit and read or sunbake. A pushbike is supplied so we can go off and buy fresh baguettes each morning. At least that is the plan. There are also a number of locks on the canal.
We will all go our separate ways after we leave France. Vin and I will go to Ireland for nearly a month then fly to Austria for about four nights to catch up with our couch-surfer friend. From Vienna we’ll fly home via Doha in Qatar.
We are hoping that the trouble in Paris will have calmed down by the time we arrive. We only spend one full day in Paris at each end of our stay in France so hopefully we can keep out of trouble.
The photo is of Monet’s garden which we visited on a former trip.
41 people like this
41 responses
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
11 Feb 19
@LadyDuck you paint, don't you? will we ever see one of your artworks?
3 people like this
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
11 Feb 19
when the picture unfolded, i said, 'oh, what a beautiful spot.' then when i got the last line of her post, my jaw dropped. so that was the inspiration for it!
4 people like this
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
11 Feb 19
@hereandthere I would also be inspired by those gardens.
4 people like this
@snowy22315 (169966)
• United States
11 Feb 19
That sounds fantabulous! I am envious of all your travel plans. I love to travel too, but probably won't be doing much until my retirement money kicks in, sometime towards the end of this year. By next year, I should be off to Florida at least. My friend wants to go to Canada with me, but I have to get my passport renewed.
6 people like this
@snowy22315 (169966)
• United States
12 Feb 19
@JudyEv Yes, it came in handy, and you're still young enough to enjoy it!
2 people like this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
11 Feb 19
Make hay while the sun shines. Have a blast.
4 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (79731)
• United States
11 Feb 19
That sounds like a wonderful trip. Being on the houseboat will be quite an adventure and lots of fun with your friends.
It's nice you can get to Ireland to see your son too.
6 people like this
@HazySue (39264)
• Gouverneur, New York
11 Feb 19
That is a beautiful picture. What lovely scenery. How wonderful that you will be taking such a fabulous trip. I like the way you place you visit with your son in the middle. It sounds like a wonderful, enjoyable trip for you. Enjoy.
5 people like this
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
11 Feb 19
will you be able to meet @topffer again?
3 people like this
.@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Feb 19
@topffer @hereandthere We will only have a day in Paris at each end of the boat trip so I think it might be difficult to meet this time. And we are with others so it all gets tricky. But who knows what might happen? 
3 people like this
@FourWalls (62147)
• United States
11 Feb 19
Around the world in 80 days, part 2! Sounds so wonderful! I hope you have a great time and it's everything you imagine it'll be!!!
(PS -- don't forget to stop in America one day and see your friends...oh, wait, you can't do that because the flat earthers say Australia doesn't exist....)
3 people like this
@FourWalls (62147)
• United States
12 Feb 19
@JudyEv -- reminds me of that episode of Night Court where the guy realized he was invisible!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Feb 19
And even if I turned up, they couldn't acknowledge me. They'd have to pretend I didn't exist. That might be fun. I could pull faces at them, pull their pigtails, undo their shoelaces and they wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. 
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (48958)
• United States
11 Feb 19
The garden looks like such a peaceful place
3 people like this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Feb 19
We'll be away about six weeks. It's a long way to go for just a short time.
That sounds such a wonderful travel plan. I hope you enjoy the journey.
@topffer (42156)
• France
11 Feb 19
There are troubles in Paris only each Saturday ; if they have not ended, just avoid to go to Paris on a Saturday and it will be fine.
I had a look on this canal. It is deep France, I guess that not a crow goes there without a full basket of food. Only a small town on your way, Decize. You should better do all your shopping there for the end of the trip, I do not think that you will find a supermarket elsewhere.
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I had a look on this canal. It is deep France, I guess that not a crow goes there without a full basket of food. Only a small town on your way, Decize. You should better do all your shopping there for the end of the trip, I do not think that you will find a supermarket elsewhere.1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
12 Feb 19
@JudyEv You may find a baker and little grocery shops in any village with more than 700 inhabitants, but not a priest. In these countries there is a church in any village, but a priest for 7 or 8 villages, and a Sunday mass every two months, you will be lucky if you are in the right village on Sunday. Dompierre and Briare are larger, and they have Sunday masses.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Feb 19
Yes and I don't think we'll get to Melbourne in April after all. Our son wants us to wait till he has accumulated a few more days holiday so we'll probably postpone that trip till after June. I'll have to start working on a NZ vacation.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
11 Feb 19
What a fantastic adventure you have planned. There will be plenty of posts about your experiences.
2 people like this
