Two and a half months and counting!

Here we are mid-May already. The excitement around our house can be classified as "high energy" and we still have another couple of months to wait!

We're all set. Our home exchangers, the Blondeau family of Dijon, have now purchased their airline tickets and they are ready to go as well. They'll be in San Francisco for the month before arriving in Honolulu to occupy our place, so they have less time to wait than we do. Luckily for us, the euro has made its way down and our dollar is beginning to gain some momentum. We're definitely in the buying mode and watching the index daily.

We bought our TGV tickets on line at raileurope.com and they arrived within two days--even way out here in the middle of the Pacific ocean! It's nice to purchase ahead because August is a busy month abroad and also the Rail Europe people put a terrific bargain online, so we couldn't resist!

Our friends in Dijon tell us that the weather during August, the hottest time of year, is 75 fahrenheit on the average. So, we'll pack layers: shirts, sweaters, scarves and perhaps carry a light weight jacket for those cool evenings. Last year we needed to sport a leather jacket by 4 p.m. in June, so it's not surprising that it can be cool in August.

We leave July 30, arriving in Paris on July 31. We'll stay at the Sofatel at Gare de Lyon and take the TGV the next day around noon. It's only an hour and 45 minutes, so will be arriving early afternoon. The Sofatel is so convenient for taking the train south and they have a nice typical french continental breakfast of pastries, fruit, cereals and juices in the a.m. Our friends will greet us in Dijon and deliver us to our exchange home. We'll meet relatives of our exchange couple, too, so that if we need anything we'll know who to contact. Besides, our exchange couple both work at the university and want their fathers to learn more English--they'll practice on us!

Please come back July 31st! Aloha, Lennie

NEXT POST: PARIS, JULY 31, 2010