Destination France: The Plan

Our tickets are purchased for our trip to France. It was a spur of the moment purchase but I got the tickets and hotel at a very inexpensive cost. I could not believe how affordably I found these tickets with only a six day advance notice. So here is the plan.... We depart Denver on Wednesday August 5 at 1:48PM on United Flight 940 to Chicago. Our flight to Paris - Charles De Gaulle is United Flight 942 and departs Chicago at 6:48PM. We arrive in Paris on Thursday August 6 at 9:25AM CEST (Central European Standard Time). Our hotel for the duration of our trip is the Villa Pantheon which is located in the Latin Quarter about 1/3 miles from the Seine and Notre Dame. It is an area of Paris that I am pretty familar with and feel comfortable getting around. We return to the US on Thursday August 13th, departing Paris - CDG on United flight 915 at 12:25PM CEST and arriving in Washington, DC at 2:51PM EDT. We leave Washington on United flight 903 at 4:13 and arrive back in Denver at 6:16PM MDT that same day. That is going to be a long day!! During our vacation I am planning a day trip to Brussels and depending upon how Zack is feeling about Paris we might take a trip to Luxembourg. Given that we are only spending a week in France, I don't see the possibility of doing a ton of traveling outside of Paris. But for us, this is a good introduction to France, Europe and international traveling for Zack. This first trip is really meant to be the beginning of our international wanderings. As long as Zack is into it I want us to explore this world. I hope for us to see the wild and the exotic. I hope for us to see the unique and the prosaic. I just want for him to have experiences that allow his mind to grow and see things in a worldly manner. Speaking of travel... Yesterday evening (Saturday) we had a number of people over for a BBQ. One of our guests is the husband of a long-time friend. Peter a writer and is currently in the process of writing two books on issues that are plaguing Africa today. As research for these books Peter is leaving in two weeks for some of the really exotic (and dangerous) places of the world - the eastern Congo, Somalia, etc. I am not saying I would want to take Zack at this age to this places, but they are certainly places I would love to visit! Best of luck to Peter as he will be gone for a while and traveling through some dangerous places. Well - it is getting late and I am tired as it has been a long and busy day. I will write more about our trip tomorrow. Thanks and peace to all! - J.