After doing a little research and listening to Leigh say things like "you do realize how expensive Europe is, right?" I have made some revisions to my side trip travel plans.
Toussaints: I think I am going to center this holiday around attending Taize Worship near Tours for a long weekend, maybe even a week. It's simple living, usually in tents, and the days are filled with workshops and singing in different languages. The whole experience costs about 7 euros per day, which is really just a donation to the monastery, and it includes most meals. Since my train trip will take me through Paris in both directions I think I will stop off for a day to take a free/cheap walking tour of the major sights in Paris with a new volunteer based tourism organization. I'll get a small dose of culture and a big dose of spirituality within my budget.
Christmas: Leigh and I have hashed out the basic details of this already and have decided to start in Amsterdam, make a side trip to Maastricht, then hit Brussels and Paris before spending the majority of the trip relaxing in Nice. While in BeNeLux and Paris we'll either couchsurf or rent apartments from Craigslist and will take free walking tours available in those cities. We also want to see the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris (if it's not closed due to strike).
L'hivre (February):
Tunisia is still a possibility for February, but depending on my secondary income may not be an option. Plus, traveling to northern Africa would be a pretty big undertaking.
So I've come up with a few possible "Plan B" trips that are certain to be just as fun and might fit the bill a little better. One idea would be to go to Toulous and Carcassonne to visit a really cool woman I met in Costa Rica who has recently relocated to the area. Carcassonne is a "fortified" city, meaning it's basically surrounded like a fortress by medieval castle structures. Then I realized that Carcassonne is only 2 hours from Barcelona by car, so that could turn out to be a really fun trip all around and it doesn't require a flight to Africa. Another option would be to visit Prague, which is a very affordable part of Europe from what I understand.
Spring break: I will take my Italy tour or die trying!
I also did a little more research on Monaco and found out I could probably see most of it in a day or a few evening trips. It's basically casinos, fancy hotels, and night clubs. A lot like Vegas (but I've never been to Vegas either). I have a slightly perverse fantasy about taking the bus to Monaco for the evening, hitting the clubs, then cabbing it back to the Nice area. I'm so not a party girl, but it does sound fun, right?
For now I should probably study more and plan trips less. I mean, it would really suck to be having a great time in France only to have it ruined because I find out I failed the bar exam!
OK, class is about to start.
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