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France, the country of love and romance. This country is perhaps one of the most laid back and carefree throughout all of Western Europe. Considered by many to be home of the fashion capital of the world, Paris, this country is very modern built upon history.

Quick Facts

Cities

Nice

Nice was a very pretty city, and I don't think that I'll ever forget the view of Nice overlooking the Mediterranean. Nice to me was one of the most beautiful cities that we visited. Unfortunately, we only stayed one day there, but it was still absolutely gorgeous.

St. Paul de Vence

St. Paul de Vence is one of the many small, midievil towns that we visited on our trip. It's rather quaint, but there's a lot of history that accompanies this town. It has a cannon that the city was very proud of during the Midievil ages. It served as a form of extra protection, and many times other surrounding cities tried to capture the cannon. It is also here that the famous Russian painter Marc Chagall is buried.

Cannes

Cannes was another city that we only got to visit for one day. However, this city offered a glitzy welcome to everyone. This entire city was just abundant in touristy things, but also refined events for those that live here, such as Johnny Depp. And unfortunately, no one from my delegation saw any stars.

Toulon

Toulon is where I stayed with my Homestay family. If you would like to learn more about my Homestay Experience, please click here. (My Homestay actually lived in la Seyne sur Mer.)

Nimes

Nimes is a rather famous town in the world, though not really recognized. Nimes is where denim was first created (de meaning of, thus Denim meaning "Of Nimes). There is quite a lot of history, but unfortunately, I could only stay there for a couple of hours.

Carcassonne

Carcassonne was one of my favorite cities on the entire trip. Just walking through the gates of city suddenly immerses one within the Medieval era. The name of this city came from the reign of Charlemagne. Evidently, this city was very independent, and Charlemagne thought nothing less than to have this city be a part of his empire. During his siege against the city, the King died. Under those circumstances, the queen took over the control of the town, her name being Carcass. During the last few days of the seige, Carcass took the last pig that they had in the entire city, and fed it the last corn, and then threw it over the city walls, and it exploded. When Charlemagne saw that the siege was evidently doing nothing because the city could still feed their pigs corn, he abandoned the city. After he left the city, the trumpets of the city began to play, and his soldiers said "Carcass sounds, Carcass sounds." Thus the name, Carcassonne.

Canet-en-Roussillon

Canet-en-Roussillon was one of the last French cities in which I stayed. Here we biked on the Canal du Midi., but after that we really didn't do much here.

Tautavel

This was our last French city. Tautavel is famous for the discovery of the skull of a man that lived over 450,000 years ago. Here we actually got to see the process of uncovering discoveries, and luckily, I got to go up close to the actual excavation site. My group got to walk on to the scaffolding, so that was a lot of fun!

 

My Homestay Experience

This was one of the highlights of my trip. For three days, I got to stay with a French Family, the Essirards. Luckily, I had my friend Tara as my roommate. The first day was interesting, because it felt really awkward. I mean, I was living in someone's home, and I really didn't know them. I also didn't want to be too polite, but also at the same time I didn't want to be impolite. However, the next day, all of my worries ceased. I couldn't have asked for a better experience than this one, because I know that I have friends in France that I will always keep in contact with. It also kind of helps that both Tara and I speak French, so that kind of eased the awkwardness too. These people did absolutely everything to ensure that my stay in France was enjoyable, and I appreciate their generosity so much because they really made my trip a lot more interesting and fun. And it also really helped that one of their daughters, Juliette, speaks nearly perfect English, so Tara and I would often use her as a translater. Juliette also knew what we were going through the first day, as she herself did something similar when she went over to Canada for three months. This was the part that I was most looking forward to, and I believe that this part of my trip was the most rewarding. I will always remember the Essirard family, and I will always keep in contact with them as well.