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It shouldn't need saying of course that one can find good enjoyment visiting places close to home, or easily accessed.  I suspect many folks may overlook this option because of the apparent allure of traveling to "Paris".  The latter sounds good, anyway, versus "We went to state park 50 miles away and had a great time."  

I suspect some folks book trips to "Paris" to have something to say to others at parties etc.

This reminds me of some lady I barely knew who had a son the same age as mine who just graduated HS.  She asked me what Chris would be doing this summer after telling me about her son (which was fine).  I told her he was going to some French beach resort in South Carolina where they had camp counselors, a great exercise program, swimming, camping out, even shooting rifles.  AND, they got paid for it!

We have zero desire to go to Paris. The South would be more for us and our likings. Nice looks nice.

We have zero desire to go to Paris. The South would be more for us and our likings. Nice looks nice.

Paris Texas serves a nice med rare T-bone with a baked tater and either corn or green beans
Iced tea

yup, when I travel I shy away from major cities and tourist attractions

daughters and I are planning a trip to the Bay area the first week of 2025

we will do a day in San Fran - the wharf and possibly a cable car ride, whatever they chose
Lodging across the bay in Tiburon

the rest of the trip will be spent north in Sonoma or Napa wine country and Redwoods 
and south along the coast and the Monterey Peninsula

Napa, for me, is overly commercialized (and expensive), and crowded often as not.  Parts of Sonoma are getting that way. 

Yep. I think parts of Paso Robles are getting that way too. 

I liked Nice, not overly snooty, not like St. Tropez anyway.  Between the Riviera and Provence, the South of France is pretty great.  Definitely my favorite part.

Throw in Bordeaux which is lovely, people are nice, and they make the best wine on the planet.  I visited a lot of the Chateaus while I was there but at the time they weren't really doing the wine tour thing the way California does, which was wonderful and pleasant.  I haven't been to Bordeaux in over a decade though so have no idea what the wine tours might be like, now.

I also enjoyed my time in Nantes along the Loire River valley, nice people and also a good wine region for whites, Sauvignon Blanc specifically.

We drank a ton of wine in Tuscany but sadly didn't make time for any wine tours.  I'd definitely be down for some when we go back.

Next summer 2025 is our target for re-attempting the Euro trip we had planned for 2020 that we had to scuttle for obvious reasons.  Since then we've had the pandemic with its random openings/closings in Europe for a couple of years, then just life and whatnot since the kids got older and have WAY more activities on their plates.

The plan in 2020 was Budapest, Croatia, and then Greece.  But in the current climate there's not a chance I'd go to Hungary so now I'm thinking Italy, Croatia, Greece.  Maybe a bit of France before Italy too, we'll see.