April in Paris

Only three more sleeps til I get on that plane! It's been a busy week, both at work and with other peripheral things that need doing. I have been making videos for our end of year conference (there are two up on youtube if you want to watch them (the first two - SPRTE strand groups and SPRTE sponsorship)) - that's been a reasonably enjoyable, absorbing experience. I'm also just trying to tidy up loose ends and make sure anything that needed doing is set in train while I'm away.

It's a little hard because you don't want to be too excited about going away for three weeks when your poor colleagues have to stay at work. But...well...three weeks off! That's pretty exciting!

I suppose I really should plan all the things I definitely want to see while I'm over there. Oxford and Belfast I'm hoping to take at a pretty relaxed pace and just let the agenda be set by/in consultation with the friends I'm going to see. In Paris I think I'll be on my own a lot more, so should have a clearer plan of what to do.

I've got a Paris Visite card and a Museum Pass which will let me skip most of the queues. I want to go to the Musee d'Orsay, even though I've been there before. I also want to see the Musee de l'Orangerie (I do love that impressionist art!). I'm ambivalent about things like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, which will be swamped with other tourists. I quite like the idea of just meandering a bit and sitting in parks, cafes and bookshops. And I can!

When you travel, do you prefer to go to brand new places every time, or revisit places you've already seen? I think I need to do a combination of the two, just so I can feel like I'm getting my bearings, and whether my memories of a place are accurate or not.