Vive le Tourisme!

I have taken on a new job - that of travel agent. This isn't how I make my living, but a labor of love. You see, my husband and I are finally taking the trip of our dreams. One of the trips of our dreams, at any rate, as we like to dream far and wide. And big.

It's hard to believe, but in two weeks, we will be boarding a trans-Atlantic plane for Europe, where we will spend two weeks traveling from London, through France, until we finally end our trip in Barcelona.

While exciting, being the armchair travel agent is not without its challenges. Much like the washing machine and dishwasher in the 1950s, the advent of the Internet has created a plethora of new work, under the guise of making our lives easier. Whereas before we would have simply consulted a professional, we now believe (OK, I believe) that given some computer know-how, we are capable of planning the same trip - no, a far superior trip - as the travel agent. With enough time. And patience. And knowledge of the area we are visiting.

But what I lack in actual skill, I more than make up for in bravado. So what if I haven't been to London in twelve years, and lived in a flat my whole time there? Hand me a map of the Underground, and I'll find a good area for a hotel... Barcelona - a mysterious place overrun with homeless pickpockets, if one is to take Trip Advisor seriously, is no challenge for me - even if the English version of the tourist site isn't quite in English (or Spanish, for that matter). And how hard could driving through Provence possibly be? It's not like you're driving on the wrong of the road...

So Vive Le Tourisme! And Bon Chance to my husband and me. May our hotels live up to their online photos, our downloaded maps accurately depict the areas we are in, and our train connections not be too far apart.

Need more proof? Today, after three days of obsessive searching, I've finally found the path from one of Avignon's rail depots to the other. I think.

A travel agent probably could have done it in two minutes. But who cares? I have my MacBook!