Summer (and beyond) plans

Bonne soirée, mes chéris!

Graduation is fast approaching - no, perhaps not graduation, but the end of my degree. So, technically graduation is approaching too.

And I am trying to make plans for what to do beyond.

Beyond the threshold of - it is rather scary, isn't it? The great beyond of finalising a degree? The vast emptiness of infinite possibility.

Anyway, I've thought long and hard about what to do next year. I could potentially go on and do another degree, but this is not something I am currently in the mood for.

Jack says I should try and find a job, but I'm not particularly in the mood for that either. I mean, imagine having to do the whole nine to five thing, stuck with people in a dreary grey office, people who are so boring because they've already been there for years and years. It's not for me. I mean, I do understand that for some it's of course a way of life, like in the sense that they haven't a choice, but I simply cannot see myself in such an environment.

I'd much rather spend some time doing something exciting. Seeing the great wonders, meeting brilliant people. That stuff.

Then yesterday it struck me.

You know how they used to do this sort of traveling of Europe before entry into society? A grand tour. Of course they don't do entries into society anymore, not really - although Daddy would've liked to see me do that, I think - and very few still do a Grand Tour.

But it strikes me as entirely romantic. Visiting all major European cities, seeing all the beautiful architecture and art, meeting wonderful people, eating brilliant food? In any sense it'd be a perfect alternative to all my other plans. Infinitely less boring than a job, more interesting than another degree, and certainly better than staying idle.

I may even convince Ernest to join me.

There's a lovely article from the New York Times from 2008 which sort of outlines what a Grand Tour is. Me, I'd just be interested in the art side of things - literature isn't really my thing, studying whatever language I'm studying at the time always bores me. But doesn't it sound romantic? Travelling from city to city, learning to appreciate what has been taught, sowing wild oats before grown-up life starts?

Of course the article only talks of young men but the feminist in me says that nowadays it should be perfectly acceptable for women too. Right?

I'd love to start in Paris, because I love Paris. Spend forever in the Louvre, nibbling on macarons, spending nights drinking fabulous French wines and eating baguettes and escargots and speaking French. I love France. Barcelona. And then Milan and Florence and Rome and Naples. Athens. Vienna. Prague. Berlin. Amsterdam.

Doesn't it sound wonderful?

I think it does.

And certainly I'm sure it should be possible.

I'm off to see whether Ernest would want to join.