Lessons learned

I learned a lot from the experience of planning a three-phase trip that involved planes, trains, and automobiles, had a duration of ten days, and was aborted by a natural disaster.

First, in the immortal words of Robbie Burns in To a mouse: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley", which is why I try to minimize timetables to the extent possible.

Second, the trip was overly complicated because I despise Air Canada. If I had used Air Canada I could have eliminated one leg of the trip and a plane change. I chose BA because I could fly direct from London to Toronto going home, but going to Europe on BA involves changing planes in London. Hence the London to Lyon. It was the same for Air France, but in reverse. I can fly direct from Toronto to Paris, but coming home from London involves changing planes in Paris. We all know that adding a change of planes to a trip often results in luggage going in a different direction from its traveller.

Air Canada, on the other hand, has direct flights to and from both London and Paris. So, when I re-do the trip, I will either hold my nose and fly Air Canada or do one-way trips on other airlines, whichever makes more financial sense.

Third, almost half of the trip would have been spent getting from one place to another. If this was a road trip I would have a totally different take on that. For me, a road trip is about the journey rather than the destination. On this type of trip, however, the destination is the important thing, and the less time I spend getting there the better I like it.

So, here is what I am going to change for the September attempt:

- Eliminate the London portion. Do that next year.
- Use Air Canada or Air France, whichever is a better deal.
- Spend four or five days in Paris rather than two and a half.
- Shorten trip to eight days.