This is a first for me. Not my first solo travel, but the first time I am serious about sharing the journey. I spent a week on my own in Paris in 2018, made big promises to friends and family to send pictures, and then did NOT do it. But now it is so easy to snap a pic with a phone and send it to Instagram, that I have no excuse not to share the experience.
Where to? Montpellier, France.
Why Montpellier? That will require a post of its own. But for now, Montpellier has 90 miles of dedicated bike routes in the city, and for me, that is reason enough.
When? Also, a little complicated. I’m leaving the U.S. on April 29, flying from Raleigh, NC, to Paris. “Mon petit amie” (my boyfriend) is meeting me there and we will have 10 days in the city of light. This is his first trip, and I just know he will enjoy it. Then on May I, he will return to Western North Carolina, and I will continue on to Montpellier.
The big deal about this trip is that I will be on my own in Montpellier for a month! So indulgent. Why you say? The excuse I have been using with friends is that once you pass 28 nights in an AirBnb, the rates get heavily discounted. And it seems to me that European stays discount more heavily than US stays. As an example, I will be in this little modern studio in a great location, for $41 per night including all costs. Not bad.
But really, I think all the time about actually moving to France. I have no idea why I feel this way, except that my political views are more and more divergent from many of my fellow citizens, and I feel less like I belong in the new American culture. At the same time, I’m pretty sure that I don’t want to be completely without my family and friends. Expats often move to foreign countries and into flats and houses with room for their American friends to visit, but I know what a big deal it is in time, energy, and money to make these trips. Lately, I’ve been thinking maybe I could have a flat in France that I live in part of the year, and that is rented short term the rest of the year. Sweet, huh? I have no idea how I would finance that, but it costs nothing to dream.
