On March 7th/08 my wife Jane and I flew from Stanfield International in Halifax to Heathrow Airport in London for what was to be 7 full days of travel, including transportation of every manner, museums of all types, galleries of multiple genres and movement, attractions grand and modest, performances on stage and street, and even churches of different denominations. The trip, planned by ourselves, reflected our diverse personal interests and desire to learn and see as much as possible about areas we'd studied/taught about all our lives. The dates, which coincide with our March Break, were what we had to work with.

The "red eye" from Halifax to Heathrow departed near midnight and touched down 9:30 am GMT Saturday, March8th/08. The chosen itinerary, in general, was to spend three days in London and three days in Paris, returning to London for the last day activities and accommodations close to Heathrow for the return flight. We began creation of an itinerary in October and worked diligently, using mainly internet information, in the development of our own schedule. The upfront research and time spent paid huge dividends in "on the ground" knowledge by using planned transportation routes, pre-purchased tickets and making the best use of attraction / museum / performance / travel times.

The days were planned in physical travel loops, with the selections hinged on anchor attractions and ticket availability. Each day held three to four "must see/do" items which were scheduled into circuits which started and ended at pre-reserved accommodations. A drab of time was taken each evening to cement our next day plans by preparing tickets, making sure funds were available and looking for potential travel and/or weather disruptions. We made careful use of most transportation options available, but also spent plenty of time traipsing theses cities, which we found to be very comfortable on foot.

Jane had been to France prior to our meeting, but this was my first trip across the Atlantic. Although undoubtedly more expensive than southern resort or Disneyland options, we saved and planned an enviable edu-vacation which very much suited our own personal tastes and created an amazing "learning opportunity". With the help of family and friends, who graciously opened their home to our two children and offered to caretake the "villa" in Antigonish, we embarked on a worry-free seven days to enjoy each others company in two of the world's most famous cities. I've broken this site out into day by day descriptions of the itinerary to share with you some of what we learned and experienced. It's by no means everything, but details some of our trip highlights.