I’ve shared my packing plans with you before, so for our Viking River cruise to France, I thought you’d enjoy seeing what all I’m taking this time. I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the last few years about packing lighter and I’m happy to say, we are both packing in carryon rolling suitcases plus our underseat bag and taking everything we need in there for 10 nights plus two travel days. We flew into Nice for a pre-trip excursion for 3 nights, then caught the long boat in Avignon for our 7 night river cruise. Of course, I’ll be sharing the whole trip when we return. I looked back at our Viking cruise from 5 years ago to see what I took and it was colder when we went so I had to take heavier things. The temps in France will be mostly 70’s in the daytime, so should be ideal and I can layer if needed. Here’s what I took this time.
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My rolling carryon suitcase ready to go. It has an expandable zipper, so I did need to leave it open all the way, but I got everything in and it only weighs 25 lbs. Score!
Here’s what I took for dinners: 4 maxi dresses, a black jumpsuit with kimono over it and one more print blouse pictured that I just bought from Chico’s. It’s very light weight and perfect for packing and long sleeves too. It’s the one next to the leopard kimono. All of these dresses are older, so I can’t link them. The kimono is Johnny Was brand and I found it on Thred Up. The black jumpsuit is from Clara Sun Woo. You can get a 10% discount on Clara Sun Woo by using my code: RHODA10. I’ve enjoyed this jumpsuit. It can dress up or down.
Black ponte pants with Chico’s top from last year and brown jeans with leopard Chico’s top from last year.
Chico’s jeans, with white T and a jacket I’ve had for years. I can wear this to dinner or for a daytime excursion.
Black yoga pants with long black/white striped tunic top as well as a striped black/lime top and athletic top with jacket for daytime excursions. I’ll wear all these tops with the yoga pants and sneakers.
Camo pants found at consignment store earlier this year, with a navy T and long sleeve top for a cooler day excursion.
I was looking for a cream sweater and this one popped up so I ordered it and it will be great for layering over dresses or pants. I don’t order from this company very often, so some things are fine.
I also got a set of new compression packing cubes from an Amazon seller to try out and they worked great. I’ll link those for you and you can get 50% off through the end of September. I got everything in these packing cubes and in my suitcase. I did pack one cube with a change of clothes, PJ’s and underwear in my underseat carryon in case anything happens to our luggage. Fingers crossed, since 5 years ago Mark’s luggage was lost in Paris and he didn’t get it until late on Day 2 of our cruise.
I’m taking 2 pairs of shoes for the ship and 2 pairs for excursions. This wedge pair will be nice with my dresses and I’m packing the leopard Tieks flats which I can also wear with pants and dresses. See pic below. One side of my suitcase holds two packing cubes plus one pair of shoes and our voltage set of plugs that we will take for our stay in Nice. That smaller bag fits on top of my shoes and everything zipped up. If you’re interested in these set of 4 compression packing cubes, try them out. I really like them since they have 2 zippers that really compress things down.
The other side holds the largest packing cube with all my dresses inside, plus sweater (see pic above). My Adidas sneakers fit in here too. I will have to carefully pack all of this back just like I did here to get it all back home!
The Tieks flats in a shoe bag that comes with the backpack I’m sharing.
This backpack from Amazon has lots of compartments, a small clear bag, plus the shoe bag. I’m taking this one on this trip and I think it will be great for holding everything. Plus is has a loop on the back which fits over my suitcase handle or it can be carried like a backpack. Here’s the backpack link.
Edit: I ended up taking my duffle bag instead of the backpack, since I was able to get everything into the duffle. The backpack was a little too small for everything I wanted to take, but I still love it and will use it on other trips. The duffle held everything you see above: Compression bag with extra clothes, jewelry pouch, crossbody bag, brush, water bottle, shoes in bag, toiletries, makeup and vitamins/supplements. It’s full, but I got it all in! Whew! The compartment in the bottom is perfect for shoes or flat things. Here’s the link to the bag, but unfortunately it says it’s not available right now. Here’s a link to my crossbody bag, which I take on every long trip now. It’s perfect for just my essentials and comes in lots of colors. Mine is Camel Brown.
Here’s what I wore on the plane to France. All this is old too, Chico’s athletic pants in that silky comfy fabric, top and jacket also old Chico’s. Shoes are Rockport. That’s what all I packed, hoped it helps with your plans as well.
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