Normandy & Mont St Michel

I also had the opportunity to visit Normandy with my program and couldn't say no! It's full of history and loads of good food (what part of France isn't?). We left Paris early in the morning and headed to the Mémorial de Caen - which is a museum that goes through the history of WWII and also has detailed information about what happened on the d-day beaches on June 6, 1944.

Afterwards we headed to the American Cemetery and Omaha Beach. Visiting the cemetery and the beach was a solemn experience, but both are so beautiful. It made me reflect on my own family, especially my grandfather who was a POW during WWII. 

After visiting the cemetery we walked along Omaha beach, which is one of the many d-day beaches along the coast in Normandy, France.

Then we headed to this cute little walled town named Saint Malo for the night and had this wonderful view from our hotel room.

We ventured outside the walls to this little "island" (becomes an island at high tide) and watched the sunset. France never ceases to amaze me with how beautiful it is.

The next day we headed over to the abbey Mont St Michel

The abbey is built on this island that can be an island or not be an island depending on the tide - confusing enough?

There are still some monks who live here and it is huge! There is a town below with lots of little shops and restaurants. 

Un Château

Bonjour! Hello! It's been a while and I've been quite a few places so let's catch up!

First off: Château de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley

I took a trip to the Loire Valley a few weekends ago with my program. I didn't know much about it except that it's known for wine and chateaux. Sounds like a perfect weekend to me and it was!

This is one of the most beautiful châteaux I have ever seen in my life and it's now one of my favorites. If you ever have the chance to go see it - GO! It spans over a river (the River Cher to be exact) and the gardens surrounding it are stunning. Also, it's privately owned and decorated with fresh flowers, which gives it that extra touch of ambiance, and also makes it feel more "homey" than most of the other places. 

The kitchen was my favorite part - decorated for fall and an impressive copper pot collection. 

 The vegetable gardens were gorgeous! Even in October. 

When we were walking back towards the bus we went on this path and saw these flowers popping up from the grass - it was so beautiful I had never seen anything like it. It all looks like a painting. 

Here's a cheesy picture of me - I am horrible about having photos of myself taken, I actually hate it, but I'm trying to get better to document my adventures.

After touring the chateau we headed over to a local winery for a tasting. They showed us around the wine caves - the stones that were taken out of this cave were used to build some of the chateaus in the Loire - and then we got to 'taste' (aka drink) the wine.

Another great weekend in France!

à Bientôt!

Une Journée à Giverny

A few weekends ago my friends and I took a trip to Giverny to visit Monet's house and gardens. Meeting up with friends here is quite the experience every time. None of us have French phones, and I don't have an international plan, so unless we have wi-fi it's impossible to communicate. It's funny how reliable we all are on technology and it's kind of like a game to not have access to it. We learned pretty quickly that if we haven't been somewhere before, we meet at a place we all know and then travel together. Much easier that way. We are slowly getting the hang of this! It's funny to think that our parents, grandparents, etc. didn't have cell phones and they did just fine. Pathetic.

Anyways, we found each other, got to the train station, barely made our train and ended up standing the whole time (insiders tip: get there early!!) but made it to Vernon in one piece. From Vernon we took the bus to Giverny and spent a lot of time walking around the little town. It's so nice to get out of Paris on the weekends. I never thought I would say that but it's true!

 I am obsessed with these Dahlia's. They sell them in the flower markets here in Paris too and there is nothing like them. 

 Don't I look French?? Oh the joys of not having your luggage.

Monet's house and gardens were stunning. These pictures don't even do it justice. If you are in Paris: GO! The pond was my favorite part. I felt like I was in one of his paintings and I think I could sit there for hours and never get sick of it. Giverny is truly beautiful. 

Exploring France

These are my last photos from my trip to France. I really enjoyed travelling around the villages and admiring all the old architecture, plus most of the villages are very cutesy. France is so different than the United States in so many ways, especially the way they preserve things. I'm sure many of these buildings are hundreds of years old but they take care of what they already have instead of just building new like we do here. I also love the fact that they have markets most days of the week. I don't know if it's just because I live in Salt Lake but I would love to be able to go to a market more than just on the weekends! 

 

These photos were taken in Montpellier- the closest large city to where my Grandparents live. My grandpa calls it mini Paris and some of the main streets really do look like Paris. 

Another day we took a trip to see the Millau Viaduct and it was breathtaking. Apparently it's the tallest bridge in the world (fact of the day!) and if you are ever in the South of France you should definitely go see it :) - but here are a few photos

 

So worth the trip. Can't wait to go back!

xo