Long-term travel: Starting a 75-day journey

In honour of the Rugby World Cup 2007, we're doing a blow-out itinerary that will last 75 days, and not sure if we'll kill each other or enjoy it thoroughly. We will be travelling from September 1 to November 15, 2007 and visiting 13 countries and countless cities along the way. Pray to god we're not divorced by the end of our travels!


Life's short - what would it be without adventures?

The plan/itinerary is to visit:
FRANCE: Paris, Marseilles, Lille, Bordeaux
NETHERLANDS: Amsterdam
ITALY: Rome, Naples, Amalfi Coast
SICILY: Catania, Mt. Etna
MALTA: Gozo and Comino also
TUNISIA: Tunis
SPAIN: San Sebastian
GREECE & TURKEY Cruise (including Istanbul)
ISRAEL: Tel AViv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem
JORDAN: Amman, Petra, Madaba
EGYPT: Cairo, Aswan, Luxor, and more (including Nile cruise)

Yep! That constitutes a lot of travel over the next 75 days starting in Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada.
This trip started with me 'mis-placing' my passport before boarding the Iceland Air flight from Halifax to Paris. Nice start to a 75-day International trip!!

Iceland Air was a great way to quickly get to Paris. The service was efficient and courteous with a quick stop in Iceland for customs formalities and then onwards to Paris.

Iceland Air and the attendants with their neat little hats!

Arrival in Paris:
I`ve heard people comment that New Orleans was fashioned after Paris, and in the furthest stretch of my mind, I could see where they could come up with that similarity.

However - Paris is SO MUCH more, and we only had opportunity to visit the highlights of the city in our short stay. Beautiful old buildings, winding (and sometimes crazy to maneuvre) streets, much wrought iron and on every corner, something historical and/or fantastic to see. We`ll have to come back (there's still Versailles, Montmartre, and so much more...) our time is short here, and there is wayyyy too much to see in just a few days.


Our hotel, Hotel Eiffel Seine on Rue Grenelle is in an excellent location for walking to the Eiffel Tower (maybe just 10 minutes walk) and also located close to a Paris city Hop-on Hop-off bus stop. Hotel itself is quite nice, and reception was wonderful on arrival (didn`t force me to speak TOO much francaise, Mon Dieu! (Fatigue, International flights and functioning 2nd language don't always go hand in hand).

At this hotel, they make the absolute most of 'available space', and the lift is quite tiny (see above) :) Interior decorating/design to hide or dramatize the hotels good and bad points is critical with smaller spaces, and this property does that with finesse. It is very close walking distance to Eiffel Tower & the Seine (hence the name).

Oh the Eiffel Tower is even more magnificent to see at Night! People drinking wine underneath the Eiffel and all kinds of people & activity around the area. I would HIGHLY recommend viewing at night if you get the opportunity, as well as in daytime, due to the wonderful Eiffel Tower light show.

We were very excited to see Rugby flags and banners and everything Rugby World Cup everywhere you look around in Paris. Here's to Rugby World Cup 2007!!





Tomorrow we will tour around Paris some, visiting the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and other places. Vive la Paris!