How I’m Preparing for a Month in France

We're still months away from our month in France, but this trip already feels very real.

I've been spending a LOT of time relearning French.

I studied it years ago, and it's been surprisingly cool to discover that some of the vocabulary and verb conjugations are still buried somewhere deep in my brain.

I've been watching some fantastic French-learning TikTok accounts and listening to “slow French” podcasts, and I'm focusing less on studying French and more on actually getting used to hearing and speaking conversational French.

I'm nowhere near ready to have a conversation with a French person. I still can't understand a word when someone speaks at full speed. But I've already started dreaming in French, so clearly something is happening.

I'm hoping all of this is laying the groundwork for eventually getting there.

I'm not pushing the kids to start learning yet though. I just want French to start feeling normal to them before we go, so I've started using little French phrases with them when they naturally fit into our day. Usually if I’m being goofy. 

And I bought my 8-year-old a French workbook to do before school since he starts so late. We're doing about 10 minutes each morning—one page, basic vocabulary like numbers, colors and months.

That's it.

No pressure. Just a little exposure.

I've also started locking down some of the logistics.

Our home base is booked, which was important to me because where we stay is going to make a huge difference in how easy everyday life feels. I wanted somewhere well-located, convenient and comfortable enough that we can handle walking out the front door without gripping our cell phones and bags.

Our Paris Airbnb is booked too. Since our dates there are set, I could book a place I really liked at a good price, knowing it’s not charging my card until it’s time to go.

And then I did something that felt slightly overboard this early in the planning process:

I bought our month-long train passes.

There happened to be a 50% off sale when two major train companies merged in September, and the timing worked out perfectly. It wasn't something I'd planned to buy (or knew about), but the sale made financial sense and opens us up to a lot of other opportunities!

It was a LOT of money to commit this early. But now it's done and one less thing to think about and pay later.  Don’t worry, I do have trip insurance already.

And between the train pass, the Airbnbs and a few other non-refundable plans, I've officially put enough money into this trip that there's no casually backing out now.

It’s probably exactly what I need. Planning a trip like this is exciting when it's an idea, but it's a little scary when you're putting real money behind it and it’s actually running full steam ahead.

Piece by piece, this is becoming real. No backing out now.

If you’re just finding this series, we’re taking our 3 kids to France for a month next summer, and I’m documenting the whole process—from why we’re doing it to choosing where we’ll stay, figuring out the budget, and eventually getting on that plane. Start with Why We’re Taking Our Three Kids to France for the Summer to get the full story behind the trip.