June 17, 2017. Saturday. We are zipping across the French countryside at 200 miles per hour. After 20 minutes in the Chunnel, the vast expanse and beauty of northern France with its rolling fields, small towns, and cathedrals in the distance was breathtaking. We are taking a little hiatus from the archives and parks of London to see the sights and sounds of continental Europe. Jo and I have been here several times over the years, but this is the first time for the kids. Elliot is so excited he is…glued to his phone. Jo, on the other hand, is in her happy space (and is the only fluent French speaker in our family).

Our plan is to rent a car in Paris and work our way counter-clockwise through Spain, the south of France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and then back to Paris (see map below). In classic Fisher road trip style, we’ll be only staying a night or two in most places in order to cover a lot of ground. We’ll also get to see some friends and family members along the way as an added bonus.

In usual nerdy Linford style, I created a travel book for the kids (as I had done last year for our cross country trip): 200 pages of maps, info on each country, kid-friendly facts of each stop, basic conversational phrases for each French, Spanish, Italian, and German, and other fun little tidbits. Something to make their little backs stronger as they lug it around in their backpacks, if nothing else.

As always, we’ll be posting more pics than you’ll care to see. We are also maintaining the @thosecrazyfishers Instagram account for those who prefer that.

Thanks for reading, and more soon!