How do you prepare for a long trip to a location new to you?...some people just go...they trust that they will see what they will see...immerse themselves in whatever they find...figure out what to do...and where to go...when they get there...
I prefer to research the location I'll be visiting in advance...maybe it's the influence of my Project Management Professional certification...maybe I'm just a planner at heart...maybe I love the anticipation...when I'm planning a visit, I always feel like my trip has already begun...
When I knew I was getting to make my first trip to Paris, I began scouring the Internet months in advance...read hundred of blogs feeds, culling my daily list into only the best content...jotted down ideas of things I wanted to see and do...then pulled it all together into a list of places organized by arrondissement...that was when I also discovered Google maps...I created a map of the places I wanted to see...and also created this map of places I could buy and bring back uniquely Paris gifts for my friends...
Hey, you're thinking, what about the serendipity of coming across the unexpected?...there was plenty of that too...I believe there was more time for that because I had planned...
I knew I wanted to got to Un Dimanche À Paris...a chocolatier and pâtisserie in the 6th arrondissement...where a demonstration kitchen enclosed in glass provides a peek into chocolate making...there are images here...
And across the way?...the unexpected Relais Odeon...a bistro that turned out to be the perfect place to people-watch...enjoy a glass of wine...and get this shot of our waiter...who unexpectedly struck this pose...you can tell he really loves attention...
I think it was Seneca who said "luck is what happens with preparedness meets opportunity"...my Paris trip was full of all three...
Our waiter at a bistro across from Un Dimanche À Paris in Saint-Germain-des-Prés - Odéon, a Paris neighborhood on the Left Bank...