Initial Details

Our preparations for the trip:

• Home rental

We found a beautiful home for rent in the tiny village of Villelongue del Monts, just south of Perpignon and west of Mediterranean Sea and Argeles sur Mer. Check out the website at www.roussillonfarmhouse.com. We'll be there in the low season but are counting on the normally mild winters.

• Car rental

We're arranging a mini-lease of a Renault Espace at http://www.renaultusa.com/TravelPartners.asp Renting a car, especially a mini-van, in Europe is more expensive than the US, but mini-leasing a new car is much cheaper than a typical rental.

• Air tickets

We found a great deal on our tickets at www.faremax.com, a site that specializes in 'consolidated' tickets. We saved about 800.00 on our tickets over the cheapest fares from British Airways on other sites, including www.ba.com.

• Language learning

We're busy learning more French, though this will be an on-going process.

• Lesson planning

Karl and Johann will be having lessons from their parents during the trip. More on specifics in later posts.