With the start of 2019, I am going to be traveling more, and a bit differently than in the past. I have rented out my house and am off on some longer journeys than I have undertaken before. My first stop: three months in France!

To start, yes, I am skipping Paris. I have already been – it is, in fact, the only place I’ve been in France – and my goal is to really experience life in France outside of just tourism. I have rented one bedroom apartments for a month in each of three cities, and will also do some excursions from those bases.

I will be truly living in France. I will be grocery shopping and cooking, trying to meet people and make friends, and working to integrate myself into a French way of life. (I realize it also means probably drinking considerably more wine than I currently consume, but the bread and cheese will make that tolerable.)

This is new for me. I have typically been a hotel guy when traveling, and have moved around regularly. This will be longer, more in-depth, and will give me a better insight into the expat life, to see if perhaps this is something I might want to pursue long-term.

I will get into more specifics with each of my stops, and provide basic itineraries as I always do, but for now here is the basic overview.

January – Marseille

I have wanted to visit Marseille, the second-largest city in France, ever since reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It is a thriving port and a melting pot of North African cultures. I will also be taking some day trips, and spending a couple of days in Monaco.

February – Bordeaux

After a few days in the tiny country of Andorra in the Pyrenees, I will reach the wine capital of France, and the city routinely voted as France’s most livable. My stay here will be interrupted in the middle for a four day hiatus in Oslo, Norway.

March – Lyon

Arguably the best food city in France, I am excited to visit Lyon and the nearby regions. I am also looking at a couple day jaunt into Luxembourg!

If you have been to any of these places, I would love your suggestions of things not to miss, of restaurants needing to be experienced, or of anything else you think might better my time and understanding of the country. I will still be writing here on TRT at least once or twice a week, but my Instagram account will become significantly more active, so be sure to follow there as well.