Introduction To My Journey

So, this is it! I'm sitting alone in my room, my bags are packed and ready to go, and I'm practically trembling with excitement. I have been waiting for nearly a year for this trip, and I can hardly bear waiting another few hours. But in the midst of my excitement, here I am, starting a blog on my journey. This will probably be more convenient than sending out lots of email updates to everyone I know. I took my Tante Jeanine's advice, and I'm going to do my best to keep this blog up to date as much as possible while I am overseas this summer. I'm no poet or journalist, just a student keeping record of her adventures!

Let me start by stating my purpose of this trip. Of course I will be one of the millions of Americans who travel to France every year to support the French tourism economy. I'm spending my first five days of this trip in Paris just to sight-see. Afterwards, however, I am going to spend roughly two months in Périgueux to sing in an opera, "Orphée aux enfers" by Jacques Offenbach, and I am singing the role of Orpheus. The sponsor of this opera is the Franco-American Vocal Academy, headed by Professor William Lewis and his wife Frederique Added.

I will be leaving my home in Austin at 1 pm and land in Houston at 1:50. From Houston, I will leave at 3:40 and land at the Charles de Gaulle airport at 8:15 am, Paris time. I will be flying Continental airlines, and no matter what happens, I will be asleep through the entire flight (isn't Benadryl an amazing invention?).

I expect this experience will be a positive life-changing one, and goodness knows, I need it! It's been a difficult past few years for me. My immune system is, well, practically non-existent at this point, and therefore susceptible to a lot of unpleasantness. It'll be a challenge to get through this time overseas in one piece, but I'm not going to let my weakened body hold me back. Even now, I will be traveling with the after-effects of a nasty bout of bronchitis. A trick I learned is to take Affrin nasal spray before your flight so your sinuses don't explode. We'll see if that trick can pull me through again. I will be on the lookout for any French homemade remedies for various ailments. If you know of any, send them my way. I really don't care to know what's in it.

So with a bit of money, a moderate amount of luggage, a huge amount of medicine, and an open mind, I bid you all bonsoir as I await my arrival to the land of butter and wine. So long, USA! Paris, à bientôt!