Trip to France Feb 13 to Apr 13 2011

The Plan:
The decision to take this trip was made quickly but it had been "planned" for many years. When I saw the very cheap air fares and the good euro exchange rate I though that it was an opportunity not to be missed.

I managed to get a very cheap flight on Korean Airlines direct to Paris (thankfully avoiding Heathrow). I also bought a 2 month 15 day Eurail pass.

Basically I will head off on Sunday, February 13th, arriving in Paris on Feb 14 where I will stay at a friends place in the city centre. After a few days settling in we will head off south (by train) to do 4 days or so back-country skiing from hut to hut in the mountains near Grenoble. We will then return to Paris.

I will spend the next 10 days or so doing walking trips around the city centre following the path of the Impressionist painters. Visiting the site and haunts where they painted their famous paintings. I'll follow Monet and visit Giverny.

Following this another back-country ski trip is planned. We will again head south to Nice and on to the mountains on the Italian border. We will base at a remote hotel out from the town of Tende and ski for four days.

At this point I may take advantage of the geography and head off on my to Barcelona for 4 days. Here I will follow the early surrealist and their haunts. Picaso, Miro, Dali + Gaudi of course.

From Barcelona I will train to Chamonix were I will meet my friends from Paris and head off back-country skiing (yet to be planned).

Returning to Paris I will continue to slowly and methodically work through the Art Galleries and Museums till late March.

I will then embark on a major railway excursion to go specifically to cities to which I unable to visit in previous trips to Europe (Iron curtain problems etc). I will head first to Amsterdam for a few days. Then I will take a long over night train trip direct to Prague where I will spend 5 days working through the city. I've long desires to visit Prague. On the way to Berlin I will spend only one day in Dresden. In Berlin I am planning to stay 4 days exploring the city and soaking up its history.

From Berlin I will take a direct over night trip back to Paris where I will have about 5 day before I return to Sydney on April 13, 2011.

This sounds all very definite but I'll probably change my mind and decide to include other place as well.