Books and Travel, travel and books...

Last year at this time I was researching travelling in London and the Channel island of Jersey in what would be the biggest trip our family of four had taken together.  I think it is safe to say the trip was a success.  We had planned a more modest road trip down the west coast to California this year but life stepped in as it tends to do.  So I am now in the midst of planning a 5 week extended holiday/work experience in France.

We plan to live in the south of France for a month and travel for ten days afterwards in June & July.  I can not believe it really. In the span of two years I will have been in two of the cities I have dreamed of visiting for most of my life.  London and now, Paris!  Each time I realize this I am overcome.  And so besides brushing up on my French I am reading, reading, and researching.  Pouring over the map of France and tracing train routes, working out dates and looking for rental apartments.

I was hoping to find some kids books about Paris like the London ones I found last year but so far I've had no luck.  Once I have read some more I'll do a book post similar to the London book one.  There are so many memoirs about living in Paris and fiction about France.  I will have to be very selective about what to read before and during the trip.

Speaking of reading I have dusted off my Goodreads account.  I found it tedious years ago when I began recording what I was reading.  But recently I have been trying to recall certain books that I have read and at times it is a struggle because I can remember a feeling about a book rather than a title.  So my Goodreads account will take care of this, along with my completed book shelf at my local library's website.  If you are interested in following me there my account is: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2556852-jen.

Dave plans to write a blog about our summer experience in France which I will be sure to write about once he gets it going.  I will write here as much as I can, as travel blogs are really handy and interesting for anyone planning a trip. À la prochane.

London Calling

The countdown to our summer holiday is officially on.  We leave in about 2 months for London England, and Jersey Channel Islands.  To say I'm excited is a huge understatement and in my true fashion I'm doing some fun research on my own and with the boys.  Luckily Kyan developed an interest in knights and castles recently, and Elliott's obsession with shields and swords is playing into our prep as well.  Here are some books that we have checked out from the library to give us some background on our travels. 

 

This is an interesting read so far, debunking the myths surrounding the ravens living at the Tower of London.  I happened upon it while looking for books on ravens for a future art project.

 

Edward Rutherford has written many novels specific to cities.  I have read Dublin: Foundation  (Also named The Princes of Ireland) and really enjoyed it.  Historical fiction helps me to grasp a place much better than too much non-fiction.  Much less dry.

 

Let's Take the Kids to London: A Family Travel Guide, and Frommer's London with Kids (Frommers With Your Family Series) are the guide books I have been looking at.  So far I've just been glancing through but I plan to look more extensively in early June.

And for kid's books we have been reading:

  

Which is really fun and engaging. 
Although the overall perspective gets harder to grasp as the city grows over time.

 

 We pick and choose from this one covering the areas we will be going to and the aspects that we can engage a 4 and 7 year old in.

That's it for now.  I'll try and share more about our prep and the trip itself soon.