So we're in the final planning stages of the big trip. We fly direct from Cincinnati to Paris on 10/8/11. We're still sorting out small details like train tickets and such, but the major things have already been planned and booked. The plan is to only take 2 backpacks. One for electronic goodies and the other for day to day essentials. Scott's big on the minimalistic approach to packing, and I'm willing to give it a shot.

I'm mostly worried about the plane ride. I should have enough Klonopin and Ativan to kill a huge grizzly bear, and I'm hopeful I will just sleep most of the way. We leave Cincinnati at 5:50 PM and arrive in France (6 hours ahead) around 7:30 AM their time. I'm hoping that sleeping the whole way and waking up on Paris time will limit my jet-lag, which is also a major concern of mine.

Second worry...language barrier. I've heard several differing descriptions of English speaking people in France. I've heard that in big cities like Paris, most people can speak English basics at least, but then I've also been told that Parisians frown on English speaking and are rude to you if you don't at least attempt to speak in French first. So Scott and I have been practicing some French. We will also be in rural parts of Western and Southern Ireland in a rental car, and I'm worried we're going to run into some Gaelic speaking people. Probably won't..but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't worrying about something.

We spent the better part of the day today at Barnes and Noble deciding locations we would like to visit, etc. This is what we came up with:

Paris (and other areas of France)

• St Germain area (where our hotel is)
  • This area has the oldest church in Paris, St. Germain-des-Prés, built in 542.
    
• The Louvre
• Notre Dame Cathedral
• Eiffel Tower
• Catacombs
• boat tour of the Seine River
• Versailles
• Montmatre area
• Champs Elysees area
• Sainte Chapelle
• Cimetière du Père-Lachaise

• • Famous cemetery. Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, etc are buried here.

• Musée d'Orsay
• Musée Marmottan Monet

London (and surrounding areas) - train from Paris to London

• Westminster Abbey
  • our hotel is very close to this area
• Buckingham Palace
• Hyde Park
• Piccadilly Circus
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Thames
• National Gallery
• Camden Markets
• Houses of Parliament
• London Dungeons
• Windsor Castle
• Stonehenge
• Roman Baths
• Charles Dickens museum

Dublin (and the rest of Ireland) - train from London to Holyhead, ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, rent car outside of Dublin and drive around the coast of Ireland)

• We are staying here
  
• St. Patricks Cathedral
• Dublin Castle
• Temple Bar
• Kilmainham Gaol
• Dublin Ghost bus tour (hokey, I know)
• George Street Arcade
• Kilkenny
• Blarney Castle and Stone
• Famine Statues of Dublin
• Ring of Kerry
• Skelligs
• Cliffs of Moher
• Mizen Head
• Mossy Wood Nature Trail
• Lots of castles (we will probably stay a night in this one)
• County Cork

Back to France - Cherbourg and Bayeux (travel via overnight ferry from Rosslare, Ireland to Cherbourg, France

• Scott mostly wants to see the D-Day beaches
• The next morning we take a train from Cherbourg to Paris.

Back in Paris

• We fly out of Paris to Cincinnati around 10:30 Paris time, so we are staying in a hotel attached to Charles De Gaulle airport

Cincinnati, OH

• Sleep and cuddle with fat, spotted dog.

So that's it in a nutshell. I've made sure that all hotels we are staying at have English speaking staff and wi-fi so that we can stay in touch.

The breakdown is 5 days in Paris, 5 days in London, 3 days in Dublin, 3 days driving around Ireland coast, 1 overnight trip on a ferry, 1 overnight in Cherbourg or Bayeux. 1 overnight in Paris before flying out.