BTW, the challenge doesn’t include accessories or underthings. Still, I wonder what the guys on the OBOW would think of this as a packing technique! Although, they’ve been hung up on men’s trench coats as a packing technique lately, I think they would still be impressed.

Lessons learned for trying to rent a car in France & Germany:

1. Its cheaper to rent from avis.de or avis.fr (hertz.de or hertz.fr, etc.) than it is to rent from avis.com. Why? I don’t know.
2. You really should call your car insurance company before you leave to see if they cover your European rental. I have USAA (a really good insurance company usually), but they don’t cover you in Europe
3. Call the credit card company you plan on using for the reservation and see what protections they offer you. My American Express had TOTALLY different coverage than our Visa.
4. Renting for Sunday pickup is hard. In France it seemed impossible to pick up on a Sunday except at the airport.
5. Check Europecar, Sixt and other non North-American rental car agencies, they often have better deals.
6. Learn to drive manual, its saves tons of money. We’re talking $50/day in France savings.
7. Pack light, these cars are small!

Wish me luck, and German/French drivers I apologize in advance for my manual skills.

NoWhere from Daniele Ciccone on Vimeo.

Rain, rain, go away, mmm…but good excuse to hold my teacup with both hands. This time next week I’ll be on the plane to Europe!

Who needs matchy matchy China when you can have tons of cut tea cups that go with anything?

Tomorrow, le 14 juillet, is Bastille Day. This year marks the 50th anniversary of France’s farewell to its empire so troops from 13 of its former colonies will controversally march down the Champs Elysées alongside their French military counterparts in the annual parade. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/13/france-sarkozy-bastille-africa-colonialism) You can attend the parade or go in for some less controversial fun by celebrating things we love about France:

1. The impressionist collection at the Museé d’Orsay
2. The view of the Eiffel Tower and fireworks. Good places to watch the fireworks are:
   • Breteuil Square:  This square is close to the Duroc tube station and perfectly aligned with the Eiffel Tower. Mostly unknown by tourists (or so we hear, so that might not be true) so this may be less crowded.
   • The Buttes Chaumont Park: This beautiful park on top of a hill offers an outstanding view over Paris.
   • Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre: A very social spot to watch, surrounded by tons of tourists, but elevated so the nice panoramic views make up for it!
   • Passerelle Debilly: This bridge is on the Quai Branly and quite close to the Eiffel Tower. It provides a cool reflection of the fireworks in the water.
3. French antiques
4. Champagne at lunch
5. Boulangeries and the smell of fresh baked baguette
6. Fromage, fromage, fromage!
7. Celebrate summer like a real French person and get out of Paris. Go to the Normandy beaches – Honfleur & Deauville.

This list was inspired by La Mom, the French expat Mommy-blogger we’d all secretly like to be for a day (or more!).

Et vous, why do you love France? How are you celebrating Bastille Day?

Backsplash, tea cup cozy, utensils, love love love. Via Heath Ceramics

Of course here in Alaska we can’t really do fireworks in 24-hrs of daylight, but we find our own ways of celebrating. This year we went and played 18 holes of frisbee golf, caught a summer movie and had little BBQ. Due to the rain that seems to only fall on my days off our BBQ consisted of the two of us making a little picnic in the living room, but it was special to spend time together none-the-less.

For now its back to work and planning future adventures.

Vagabonding had a recent post on travel journal peeping which pointed me to this link to moleskinerie. It is a pretty cool blog where people open up their own Moleskines and show whats inside, how they use them. I’ll never be a sktechbook artist doing amazing watercolors in mine, but its inspirational none the less.