Little sounds better to me then spending the summer in France, so that is exactly what we are doing. In just a weeks times, Lance and I will start our adventure in the the City of Lights. While meandering through cobble stone streets and picnicing in the park is the kind of adventure I live for, lets face it, it is an adventure in a of itself planning for said adventure.

  • BOOKING A FLIGHT

When planning a summer aboard we first had to decide on a place. Okay now this one was simple for me. Next was the ever confusing world of booking a flight. Its tricky because Ive found the price of a flight is always fluctuating and since Im not really into spending more then necessary. I spent endless hours browsing through the different travel sites trying to find the best rate. By the time it was all said and done, my countless hours paid off. I saved over $1000 on both of our flights. How? Persistence and Priceline.com. We’ve all seen the commercials telling us to give it a go and name our own price. Now while the price that I named wasn’t accepted, they countered with a reasonable offer that I took. At the time of booking, flights were a little over $2100 per person and I ultimately paid $1491 per person. I summited a low ball price and and usually got countered with a much higher price. I started to see a pattern of how low companies were willing to go and I adjusted my bid accordingly and after days of doing this I finally got the lowest offer Ive seen and booked it immediately. Id say saving over a thousand bucks was worth those hours of negotiating.

  • FINDING A PLACE TO STAY

Next was finding a place to stay. We wanted to get an authentic experience out of this trip so we decided to rent an apartment from airbnb.com for our time in Paris. We used this site before when we visited New York City and loved coming back to an apartment instead of a hotel. That way we got to pretend to be locals and assume a whole new identity altogether. There were numerous places available for rent ranging from renting a single room to an entire flat. We opted for the latter. What we ultimately decided on was a one bedroom flat in the heart of Saint German Des Pres. Best way is to decide on what arrondissement you would want to stay, then set your price range to see the selections. Otherwise you will be completely overwhelmed by all the “charming” flats offered. Another thing to note is many buildings in Paris do not have elevators so be sure to check if you aren’t willing to walk up a few flight of stairs.

A little while ago an old grade school friend had told me about wwoof.org and I had always been intrigued with the idea so the majority of our stay will be on farms in various regions of the France.  WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: Linking volunteers with organic farms and growers. So essentially in exchange for a full days food and accommodation you help out on the farm and learn how to farm organically. Im not going to get into how it all works but if you are interested here is a link. For a fee of $35 we set up an account and were linked to a list of host. From the list we picked out three different farms that seemed like were a good fit. There were literally over a hundred farms eager to host so we sorted through the listing and looked through the pictures. We sent out dozens of emails and got back dozens of responses and just judging by the response, we could kinda get a feel for the host. And since much of this experience is cultural exchange the host is extremely important. Its is best to decide what you are interested in, whether it be picking fruits or tending to the animals. There are plenty of options so pick what type of experience you want. Me being a city girl my entire life, have no idea what to expect from this whole experience but either way Im sure it’ll be an adventure to remember.

  • KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

These seem obvious but just to cover the bases. You need a passport. It is good to carry copies and email one to yourself in case yours is lost or stolen you’ll at least have some type of proof. Know the currency. The currency is France is euro. While most places except credits cards it is still good to have a little bit of cash on you for tipping and small street venders. You’ll most likely be able to get the best exchange rate at an ATM. Do not exchange your money at the airport or train station if you don’t feel like getting ripped off. In a world where identity theft is so common, credit card companies try their best to monitor and protect us from this. With that being said, it can definitely be a drag if you are overseas and your account has been flagged so be sure to call your credit card company before you leave and let them know you are going out of town. It is also wise to have more then one card just in case. Cute is key but by the love of God, pack comfortable shoes! It can make or break a trip. You want to be walking on cobble stone streets and taking in the sites and aroma, not hobbling along uneven ground dying to get off your feet.

  • WHAT TO PACK
  1. a good travel camera. I will be bring my Sony Nex-6
  2. sensible but cute shoes that go with everything. Repetto flats are perfect.
  3. a light raincoat. pack-a-mac are great to throw in your purse. llbean and asos.com has great ones
  4. black and white separates that can easily be mixed and matched
  5. dresses for an easy outfit
  6. pack for layering. the weather can change on a dime and often times fluctuate 20 degrees from day to night.
  7. only your beauty essentials. most everything can be bought there and it’ll be an adventure to navigate buying things in a different language.
  8. a great book or maybe a few
  9. a journal to write down memories
  10. most importantly, your sense of adventure.