I've started this blog to chronicle my extended trip to France, Italy and Germany summer of 2013. I fly to Paris on July 16, leave some of my things with a friend and then on Sat. July 20 leave for southwestern France. I'll be spending two weeks at Thich Nhat Hanh's Summer Retreat in Plum Village some 50 miles from Bordeaux, then travel to Carcassonne, Avignon, Albi and Toulouse before heading back to Paris to do some day trips with my friend Sylvie who I met through Couchsurfing in 2008 (couchsurfing.org). Near the end of August I head for Italy to visit Milan, Cremona, Florence, Siena, Assisi and Cortona. Then on Sept. 9 I fly to Frankfurt to join Spiritual Directors International's Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Hildegard of Bingen and then return to Tucson by way of Dusseldorf and Miami on September 21st. Many adventures for this little monk!