Wednesday, June 16, 2010

What to read in Paris?

Every time I travel, I spend an inordinate amount of time choosing books to take with me.  Normally, I read books from the library but don't like to travel with them, so I choose things from my home library.  A few years ago, I cleared out all fiction that I had already read and would not likely want to read again, so pickings are good.  As with our recent trip to Italy, I plan to read these books and release them "into the wild" as BookCrossers call it.

  1. I've been reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods for "One Book, One Twitter" (1b1t) and I'm almost through, so it's going with me on the plane.  I also downloaded an audiobook of Anansi Boys by Gaiman onto my iPhone.
  2. Two Inspector Banks' novels (Peter Robinson):  Final Account and Innocent Graves.  I'm reading these in order, and got through two in Italy, so two more in Paris seems about right.
  3. Madame Bovary by Flaubert.  I was looking for something that might feel right to read in France and I guess this hits it.

I've also downloaded some of Rick Steve's excellent tour guide apps and podcasts for my iPhone. Plus a free etour of the Louvre.  I'm going to hunt for one for Versailles as it's a must see for the boys. (Z and I were there when we were young and childless.)  I also found a couple of short audiobooks at the library website, one on the French Revolution and the other a look at some of the artwork in the Louvre.  With boys aged 15 and 18, we hope to do some sighseeing as well as family visits while we're there....when the lads were small, our trips to France tended to focus on family and child activities, so this feels different.

Bills are paid, hair is coloured, dog is booked into the kennel, laundry is in progress, and we have until 5 pm tomorrow to get packed.  Including one emergency orthodontist appointment tomorrow afternoon for Michael and his final exam (French) in the morning.

Au revoir!

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