Halfway between here and Paris is where exactly?

Hello....
This is my first post in a blog I promised myself I would start this year. I also promised my mentee Lizette (shout out!), so I am gonna have to pony up! Not sure what to call you all exactly...feels a bit like when you pray. Sometimes you catch yourself audibly singing out to the silence, waiting for a shout in return. So, hey there....
Here I am, tomorrow I leave on a long awaited trip to Paris...and it feels strange. Probably because my brain is somewhere between here and there and still trying to get things done!
My family will remember the year I turned 21, how I had applied for a foreign exchange program to France, and 3 weeks before I was supposed to leave, I was told I didn't have enough funds. I was crushed, because up until then I was convinced that if you work hard enough, anything is possible. I took it so hard, that I just stopped trying for anything...did it seem possible? Nope. Okay, leave well enough alone then. Needless to say, that is a downhill slope of crazy that I really don't want to illuminate..
Cut to many years later and a bit wiser. I have saved enough to go to Paris on my own. Most of it by hook or by crook. My friends and family and even total strangers, have helped and urged me on my way. I guess that is where I am going with this. Although many people have expressed interest in the fact that I am going alone, I am not doing this alone. You all are going with me, in my heart and in my mind. Thank you for encouraging me and working me through all this. Thanks for making me laugh and listening to me talk...and talk. :)
Pictures and musings will follow, if you want to be updated on my ongoing journey.

Don't worry, I will eat a pain du chocolat for each and every one of you! :)