Going on a walkabout

Except I’m not Australian, or male or in adolescence.  But we are taking a walking trip……..in FRANCE.

I am mildly, hyper excited.  We will pack up our seven and five year old for a 16 day trip, we will have several days in the city of Paris and 10 days walking through the Northwest region of Normandy.  We will be walking on well established trails winding through countryside, small villages and, of course, in the city too.  My husband and I have vowed that this will be a backpack only trip, my own pack will be no more and no less than 16 liters (that is SMALL folks).  Our reasoning is: 1.  Once we are in Normandy, we will have to carry everything on our backs anyway…..for about 10 miles a day.  2.  This will force us to keep things simple for the kids, and for us.  3.  A test to free ourselves from some of our usual “comforts”.

I fear I might have to break one of my own travel rules and leave the bathing suit at home this time.

For advice and tips on undertaking this packing challenge, I’ve turned to Miss Minimalist:

This post as well as this one I found pretty inspiring and helpful….packing cubes – was I the last to know?

Also, we are trying out Air BnB for the first time, renting two different apartments during our trip, I’ll be sure to let you know our experience with them.

In the meantime, I’m watching “Finding Nemo” in French a lot…..think that’ll help??