Answers to Your Queries

Myra asked if she should consider purchasing a 4 day pass to the Louvre to avoid potentially long lineups.

While this is definitely a good idea, I would say that it is probably not necessary (unless you want to spend that much time exploring the galleries! I know I will!).

I have been to the gallery many times (and, in fact, I have a one year pass myself) but I have never noticed lines that were too terrible. They have plenty of self serve kiosks in the building so if you have a credit card you can use those (as a side note, you can't just swipe and sign in France. In most cases you must have a PIN set on your credit card in order to use it in a shop or at an ATM so you might want to set that up with your bank if you haven't got that feature already.)

If you are worried, I would suggest that you should just buy a single ticket online in advance. It takes a bit of advanced planning (I'm not sure if they mail you your ticket or if you just print it out) but you could save yourself some cash.

You can find the information here: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/pratique/billetterie.jsp


Karin (the debit queen) asked for advice about how to handle the money situation while in Europe as she is concerned about not being able to use a debit card and having to carry around large sums of money.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS JUST AN OPINION BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. PLEASE TALK TO YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION TO GET THE REAL SCOOP.

Your debit card WILL work in Europe as long as your card has a "Cross" trademark symbol on the back of the card somewhere. 95% of cards will have this. The only issue with debit is that there are relatively heavy surcharges for using ATMs that require a currency exchange (around 10 euros per transaction in Paris I believe).

My advice would be to bring enough cash to do you for at least half the trip. Keep as much cash as you think you will need for the day in your wallet and all of your extras in a traveler's money pouch that you wear under your clothes (you can get them at most luggage stores-I find soft canvas ones that go around your waist to be the most convenient and comfortable but there are lots of fancy types). This will stop any pickpocketing issues but keep your cash handy.

You can then hit an ATM part way through the trip if you need to. I don't know what the banking situation will be like in the country, but it is obviously not going to be a problem in the city. If you have a bank card you will not be stuck for cash (unless you don't have any money in your account!).

I personally wouldn't deal with traveler's cheques. Nobody in a small French village is going to want to take them off your hands. You will have to cash them in a bank and not in stores. Its up to you, of course, but I wouldn't bother.

Hello Gang! Greetings from Jamie.

Ron asks "How do I leave a comment? Do I need to sign up to do this?"

Thanks for your question Ron - to leave a comment find the line at the end of each section that
says something like: "Posted by Linda Kemp at Sunday, March 23, 2008 1 million Comments"

Click on Comments - that will bring up a new page. You will be able to read the comments others have left and add your own in the box to the right. You will need to fill in the silly jumble of letters that appear in red in the box to the left of WORD VERIFICATION. This is to prove the comment is not made by a robot or some other mechanical being (honest!).

Next click in the small circle beside Anonymous so you will not need to sign up for any accounts etc. but please be sure to sign your name after your comment so we know who has written.

Now click on the orange PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT

That should do it! (OK so I exaggerated on the number of 1 million comments we expect to receive, but you get the idea.) Please email me if it doesn't work.
Linda

Our Gang

Pat Sutton
Judy Thompson and Wayne Thompson
Karin Schneider
Myra Kennedy
Susan and Ronald Maffett
Ingrid Solesvik
Brit Norheim-Larsen
Patricia Van Wagner
Beverly Wood
Jamie Kemp
Linda Kemp

Southern France Civilized Painting Adventure

Welcome to our very own painting adventure blog! Jamie and I thought it would be a great way for us all to keep in touch and post information about our trip.

The plan is to keep a trip diary of our daily travels so be sure to pass along the url www.francepaintingadventure.blogspot.com to your friends and family.

This is my first attempt at setting up a blog, so there is sure to be some trial and error.
You will find a directory of related web sites and archived posts on the right. If you have a web site of your own, please send it to me and I will add it to the list.


This is your blog too, so feel free to post your questions, comments or just say hello! You can do this by clicking just below on "comment".

For your information - some of the stuff you might be wondering about.

Meeting and getting to Le Monastere
Our gang will all meet at the Toulouse Airport on Saturday May 17, by noon. Le Monastère will be providing our transportation from the airport to our home base. Once you have your luggage you will locate Chris (our host) who will have a sign "Le Monastere Adventures".


Meals
All our meals are provided, with the exception of one dinner per week and all of our lunches. In the past the group contributed to a lunch fund and we shared in picnic delights.


Painting equipment
I will be posting a list of recommended art supplies. Le Monastere will provide us with stools or folding chairs, easels, and jugs of water.


Internet
There is a computer with Internet available for you to use to check daily emails and keep in touch with home.

Special days
Wednesday is usually our day off (we do our own thing for dinner). This is the perfect time for taking a side trip to Carcassonne by train.
Friday is market day in the village!
By special request - Jamie and Myra - we will visit the caves to see 15,000 yr old cave paintings!