Except for the fact that I have five research papers to work on. And all of Jane Austen's letters known to man to read (Cassandra, her sister, burned a rather large fraction of their correspondence after Jane's death, so this is not an impossible task, reading her letters-- daunting, yes, but not impossible.)
So... Maybe I'm free as a penguin, or a chicken-- an ostrich-- the land-bound bird varieties.
The lawyer I work for suggested that I skip Versailles since my trip is short, and go to the Musee d'Orsay instead of the Louvre (long lines). Eat there, he said. They have a very good dining area, he said. He also suggested a Picasso museum, and a coffee place nearby.
The day I go to France, as I'm leaving Brasenose at 3:30am-- to catch a 4am train to London-- to catch a 6am Eurostar-- which will land me in France around 8-- I will be in serious need of coffee by 10am. Perhaps I'll go in search of that coffee place.
Michelle, his wife, smiled at me and said that she loved France-- I worried about my non-existent French-- she said I would be fine--
Here's hoping. Call me naive, but I hope to hit up the Musee d'Orsay-- AND the Picasso museum-- AND the Louvre-- AND Versailles-- It'll be fun. And insane. A time out of time.
But that's what this entire trip is going to be for me: time out of time. I still have trouble believing this is happening to me, that I will be in England a week from today.
