GUYON's VirtualTourist Home Page

Fond of travels and old enough to have done some.

My wife and I live in Nanterre, in the Paris suburbs. We are both insurers : she is a Human Ressources responsible and I am a specialist of automobile insurance.
We have 3 adult children who have left home: a boy (1975) who is a computer technician and sport coach, a girl (1980) who is a nurse, and an other daughter (1984) who is assistant mnger of the clothing shop in Paris.
They travel on their own for several years but they can appear on the pictures brought from some trips.
It is difficult to gather them on the same picture.

We had 3 periods in our travels :
- until we were 34 : camping in France and in Italy
- from 34 to 45 : guest house (Gites ruraux) in France. The children were young and we need a bit of comfort without a long trip. During this period I made my generalogy and I traveled in the Time (the furthest travels I never make... 500 years).
- since 45 : hotels, rented appartments generally abroad. The children were more independent and it was easier to make long travels.

We have yearly 4 types of travels :
- a family travel in France (1 week) to meet family members
- a long travel abroad (3/4/ weeks) in Summer.
- one or several Week ends (3/4 days) in European capitals (especially in June for our wedding anniversary)
- a Saturday in London by Eurostar yearly.
Previously, we (or I) had, when I was lucky, a professional invitation to an incentive travel of 4 days. By this way, we went to Lapland and to Sevilla.

After several concerns with tour operators or travel agencies, we make the conclusion : the professionals have not the best prices, they cannot guarranty the availability of the services they sell, they become mute when we put a claim after the trip.
Brief, they have no added value for a personal trip but they bring a surcharge.
We use them only for an organized tour with a guide (but we recently conclude we are not adapted to this sort of trip) or for some countries accessible only through professionals.
So, I organize now our travels (flight, accomodations, car, itinerary) directly with internet. So the accomodations are clean, at the appropriate place and cheap.
See our "North America travelogue", I explain the method I use.

A VT member who is very kind for me, told me I have a Swedish accent.
Swedish or French, my accent is strong.
When I was at school I learned English (6 years) and Italian (4 years) as they were Martian languages. I mean I had no practical use of these languages : my universe was entirely French and my parents did not travel abroad.
So I was a dunce in English and an average pupil in Italian only because the teacher was "simpatico".
I really learn English at work (English Insurance companies & US broker) and mainly in chating on VT. This way of learning is a trap because my errors are never corrected and I finish to think I am right.
For the Italian language, I followed adult courses for 2 years and I used it during the vacation.
But it was too late to get a good accent.
The attached picture was shot at the college with our English teacher in 1964.

I propose you a game : where I am ?
I help you : at this age, I had no bear.

Summer vacation is decided and reserved : 3 weeks in Italy at Lignano Sabbiadoro, on the Friulan coast.

A short visit in Spring to Bruge in Belgium.

I would like to spend a week in New York in Spring but I do not know exactly when.

Finally, we will go in a sunny place in November or December but we have not decided and we wish to see some thing new.

- April 2007 : a short week end in Baie de Somme and some days in Amsterdam

- 30 June to 14 July 2007 : in Lignano Sabbiadoro (provincia di Udine) with a short ride to Venice and an other to the Friul .

- 2 to 16 November 2007 : we will go back to South Florida for the 4th time : Miami Beach, Nassau (Bahamas), Florida City (to visit an Everglades area we never went), Key West (we like) and Fort Lauderdale (with our traditional visit to the Sawgrass Mills)

- 24 November 2007 : a Saturday in London which is at 2:15 from Paris by Eurostar (the suburb of Paris I say)

2008 :
I must take into consideration my part time job to choose the dates of vacation.
I planned a trip to Hawai but the best season to go there is November and I am now busy this month. So we are thinking to other vacations :
- May : 5 days in Stockholm
- June : our annual trip to London (2:20 from Paris)
- August : 2 weeks in Italy +1 week in south of France at our secondary home
- December : 10 days in South Florida : Miami Beach, Keys, Key West and Sunrise for a long visit to the Sawgras Mills with my wife and my daughter and their Visa Cards.

At last. Retired.
Yes, I know, it is a bit early to retire. In France, we are lucky (see the film SICKO by Michael MOORE) and I may quit my job with a full pension when I am 59.
Now is it time to travel ? Yes, but not much more than before.
First of all, because I keep some jobs to top up my pension and to pay the trips : write books and articles, consulting, training courses and insurance brokerage.
But also because I live near Paris and after almost 60 years of visit I have still a lot to see.

I re-discover the public transportation because during the recent years, I was a Centaur and I used to go to Paris by car. It is a real pleasure to stroll by the streets to see the new things : buildings, shops, statues, gardens, museums.
Now, I can mix within the Paris crowd. So I know at least one person who can be there without doing anything.

With my wife and some retired friends we have formed a small group and monthly we choose a visit : museum, garden, etc. The one who has proposed the destination prepares the visit and I have the very sensitive mission to find the restaurant nearby.