Rep. Dan Burton might have announced his impending retirement, but the 15-term Republican is taking a victory lap around the European Union before hanging it up and heading back to sweet home Indiana.

Burton, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, is leading a weeklong Congressional delegation to France, Slovakia, Belgium and Hungary that is scheduled to coincide with the February recess.

“Rep. Burton will continue his role as the chair of the Europe and Eurasia Subcommittee, including participating in oversight travel abroad,” a Burton spokesman tells HOH.

According to a tentative itinerary circulated to travelers, the CODEL will spend its first three nights in Paris — a slightly belated valentine for the spouses slated to attend. They will get to spend quality time in the city of love and lights while their better halves meet with ambassadors and foreign officials.

The purpose of the trip is to understand the financial problems facing countries that use the euro, such as a stagnant European economy and Hungary’s ongoing negotiations to work out the terms of a loan from the International Monetary Fund that could be worth up to 20 billion euros.

The Burton spokesman estimated the delegation “will have 25 to 30 meetings with European officials to this regard.”

A subcommittee hearing on job creation and economic opportunity in the euro zone initially slated for today will be rescheduled for some time after the delegation returns.