Spring Break Part Three: France

Although Italy was the highlight of the tour I went on, I also really liked the parts of France that I saw. 

Since the trip left from Paris, and I am currently living in Seville, I flew in the night before we were scheduled to leave for the week.  I have to say, traveling to Paris alone would not be my first suggestion.  Getting through the airport was okay, and the flight went fine as well.  It was more my lack of experience with traveling alone in a foreign country that was intimidating.  After getting on the plane I had to figure out how to get to the train station and buy a ticket to get to the City Center (basically right near the Eiffel Tower).  Public transportation in North Carolina is limited, so I've only been on a subway a couple of times, and it was always on a trip with either my family or school.  Needless to say, not speaking a word of French didn't help much either.  Despite that though, once I figured out how to get on the train, it was a really pretty ride towards the center of Paris.  Plus, immediately after getting off I got to see the Eiffel Tower, which I later went to visit.  

At the end of the trip we got to go back through Monaco, Cannes, and Nice.  These are some of the prettiest places I have been in! 

We stopped in a perfume factory on the way back as well, and got a tour of the factory.  We got to see some of the handmade and handpainted soaps, as well as see all of the machines used to make perfume.  I'm not sure if anything like this is open to the public, but, if there is an opportunity to take a tour like this, do so!  And while you are there, visit the beaches as well!

My last suggestion?  Be a stereotypical tourist and visit the Louvre.  I never spend a lot of time in museums, but I spent well over two and a half hours walking around.  There are four levels (if I remember correctly) and multiple rooms and sections of each.  They give you a map, but I ended up getting lost regardless and just wandered around.  Even so, it was super interesting to see all the different artwork.  There were paintings, carvings, statues, metalworkings, and lots of others.  There is even a section where you can see how the Louvre would have been set up when it still had people living in it! 

Although Spring Break was a little while ago now, it was still very fun!