Complex Numbers

Surprise Me

A brief travel planning update:

I met with the travel agent on Wednesday. As a reminder, I'm using a travel agent this time because a) I'm entirely too lazy to coordinate my own itinerary; b) I don't know exactly what I want; and c) I've never done it before, so it'll be a new experience for me.

I told her basically what I wanted to do (wine and beer tourism in France and Belgium), so she suggested three locations in France: Loire, Burgundy, and Paris.

"So you'll fly into Paris and spend... how long there? Five days?" (I'd told her maybe three weeks for the entire trip.)

I'm like, "I'm not exceptionally interested in Paris. The city is dirty, and the people are rude and will be tired of foreign tourists after the Olympics."

I mean, I get flying into Paris. There's a big international airport there, and the other places I want to visit are generally in the northern part of the country. But thinking I want to spend time there is a big assumption.

Then I remembered that I'd heard the Paris craft beer scene had developed nicely in the past few years. Plus, she dangled "reservations at a Michelin-starred restaurant" in my hungry face. (I think they make most of their money from kickbacks, which is fine.) So okay, sure, Paris. Just not a lot of the touristy places. And maybe three days, not five. I know it's an enormous city and you can spend years there without running out of new things to do, but I'd rather focus on other locations.

The rest of the trip is countryside and small towns. Well, mostly. Nothing's detailed yet, but Belgium might involve staying in Brussels, for which I don't have any objection.

The problem with France, I've found, is that there's pretty much nowhere in the entire country that I don't want to spend time in. Well, maybe some of the freezing cold snow-peaked mountain parts. I wouldn't mind visiting them briefly, or seeing them from a warm, comfortable distance, but, as with every other high mountain range, the combination of colder temperatures and lack of air pressure is anathema to me. Plus, I might be expected to "ski," or "hike," or do any number of disgusting outdoor activities.

Yes, I've done it, like when I spent a week at a science camp in the Colorado Rockies. That's how I know it's not for me.

So, now I'm waiting for them to stitch together a draft of a travel plan. I'll get to look at it and change things if I want. I told her, "Don't worry; I like surprises... but only if they're pleasant ones."

She didn't find that nearly as amusing as I did.