Day 0: Another trip, a different duo

For those of you who may have read along on a previous journey of mine, this trip has a significant difference: I will be without Trish. My lovely and cat-enthused friend will not be joining me on this trip, as I'm travelling with another friend, Ian. While Trish and I tend to have a devil-may-care approach to where we go, Ian and I started our plans with a specific mission: attend our friend Joyce's wedding in Paris, France. 

Ian, Joyce, and I have been part of a larger group of delightful friends for many years now. Along the way we formed a book club trio in 2020 that meets weekly to check-in, socialize, and discuss whatever wonderful or dreadful book we're in the middle of reading together. We read a portion of the book each week, creating delightful artificial cliff hangers and opportunities to theorize what we think will happen next. 

I've been asked many times if Joyce's wedding in Paris is a destination wedding, as it's a pretty epic place to tie the knot. It's not quite though, as Joyce's fiancé Gilles is from Paris, so it is a return home for him. For me (it's my blog, it's about me, you'll get your day Joyce and Gilles), in addition to getting to attend my friend's wedding, it's a first chance to explore anywhere in Europe. We're not counting the time I had a layover in Amsterdam and snuck out of the airport for a couple hours.

Since we're heading over that way anyways, Ian and I decided to spend a week in Paris leading up to the wedding, and then take the train north to Scotland for some time in Edinburgh, Inverness, and Glasgow. Ian is a big fan of Scotland - it's part of his heritage, he's been there many years ago, and owns multiple kilts (more to come on that later). I'd previously had a trip planned to Scotland with my Dad, which unraveled in cancellations and requests for refunds when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. So when Ian asked if I'd consider adding Scotland to our trip, the interest was already there. Plus Trish has always fostered a "Why wouldn't I want to travel there?" attitude in me. 

And so, Ian and I will depart on an overnight flight on Saturday evening and arrive the following morning to begin or Parisian adventure.