Oh The Places You Go!

Both M's graduating preschooler (see here) and I (see here) were recently given a copy of Dr. Seuss' Oh the Places You'll Go! (I noted that the subtitle was "Party Edition" and wondered if they were all Party Editions? And then I thought:  Hey!  I am a Party Edition!)  And so of course I had to add a new box to the right because that's how my mind works...

Anyway, I reread the book this afternoon, because, well it was day 6 of the driving rain and I needed to cheer myself up!  What helped me turn the corner was this verse:

Somehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing.

And that got me to thinking about places I have been and loved and some places I need to get to, pronto...

So today, we are going on a little side trip to divert me from the rain!  There are two categories: places I have been and ESPECIALLY loved  and places I have not been yet but think I WILL ESPECIALLY love:

Places I have been and especially loved:

Little gite in Normandy called L'Etre Bidault.  This place was divine, from the cows in the adjoining field, the house up the lane that sold champagne out of the kitchen, the little town 5 minutes away with the chocolatier that sold chocolates in Kama Sutra shapes.  I could live here from May to the end of October, when I would have to go South!

Mont St. Michel.  Like a little fairy world, but with tacky shops.  One of those AH..... moments...

Monet's Garden.  Like a pilgrimage to me.  Almost pitched a tent to stay for the duration.

And I'll always have Paris.

The Tower of London.  I am a history geek and I just kept touching the walls and thinking "Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I might have touched these walls..."

Quebec City.  Why go to France when you can have the same experience so close to home?  So divine!

My brother lives in Jasper, Alberta, and you would have to go a long way to find something so beautiful.

and of course, I cannot forget New Brunswick

A little je ne sais quoi by the ocean in St. Andrew-by-the-Sea...

I could go on and on...

places I have not been yet but think I WILL ESPECIALLY love:

Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye in Scotland, home of Clan MacLeod.  I think they have been waiting for me "Ohhh - she's back."  Much frivolity all around then!

Bruges Belgium.  Ever since I saw "In Bruges" I have been desperate to get here.  Am willing to dodge hitmen and movie sets if need be!

Giethoorn in the Netherlands.  What is about a town with a lot of canals?  Oh yeah - it's boats and lush greenery and the promise of living like Snow White...(I will see Tabs there for sure).

Mai Tai just did an amazing series of posts about her recent visit to Venice, which has made me desperate to go there, and while there, I will have to pop up to Florence:

Only downside is that Barry will be constantly impersonating Denholm Elliott in A Room with a View - "I don't care what I see outside. My vision is within! Here is where the birds sing! Here is where the sky is blue!"

And California must be visited!

Oh gosh, then I am going to do some hiking in El Camino...

And I want to see the hill country of Texas..

And my grandmother was born 99 years ago this year in Invercargill, New Zealand, so need to go there as well..

Once you just start dreaming, it is hard to stop.....

It is still raining outside, but that's okay.  I'm too busy travelling and dreaming to pay that never-no-mind.

What about you?  Would love to know some of your favourite haunts and what's left on YOUR bucket list!

Have a happy, and hopefully for me at least, dry Monday!  Stay Safe out there!