Bonjour

Dr Benson would be so unimpressed. (for those who dont know he was my year 8 French teacher). Turns out my French is a disaster. I did try, I always said "Bonjour" and explained that I speak very little French in French, which was often enough to get help either in English or to work through the French language with me. It turns out since being in Italy, where my primary school Italian means I count and know a few colours, not particularly useful really, since being here I realise that even the little bit of French I have was a HUGE benefit. So thanks Dr. Benson, you're a legend and next time you want me to march around the oval makign french sounds I'll be up for it.

Basically my French took me from Paris to Avignon. Then from there to Nimes, Pont Du Gard, Marsielle, Nice, Eze and out of the country on a day trip to Monaco!
What a week! Actually 10 days! And it was fantastic. Paris was full of great tourist attractions (and tourists ofcourse). I climbed the Eiffel Tower, which by the way is not at all over rated (Maddie), the view from the top is AMAZING!
And ofcourse the Louvre, the Arc de triumphe and a heap of other great famous sites including the Moulin Rouge.

Although sadly I could not see a show as tickets ranged from about 100 euros to 200! The only downfall to Paris was the Parisian men. Within the first hour of arriving in France I had been asked out by a local for drinks. In the following 4 hours I was asked out/chatted too/just grabbed numerous times. Including one scary man who spoke no english and still keep making advances. So untill I met some people in my hostel the evenings were not so much fun.

Avignon was much smaller then Paris still touristy but gorgeous. The Pont d'Avignon (famous from the song) was great and the ville de avignon was even more gorgeous then avignon and had great views of the city. Ofcourse the still intact city walls made for a great walk around as well.
View of the Pont d'Avignon (on the left of the photo)

Nimes was lots of fun. Again a smaller town but with a HUGE amphitheatre which was once used for gladiator matches and bull fighting (sometimes still done to this day).
The old town hall was really interesting. This building has had numerous functions over its many years of existence. It is currently used for viewing a 3D movie about the history of Nimes.

I took a bus out to yet another famous bridge the Pont du Gard. Which is quite an amazing structure built to transport water into Nimes. It is even more amazing as it was built prior to cement or any other form of fixative so each stone has to be perfectly positioned and shaped in order for the arches to not collapse!

Then I headed down along the French Riviera. Stopped off in Marsielle on the way to Nice.
About Marsielle I really can't describe it better then the lonely planet- "Gritty, grimy and gloriously real" Marsielle was ...interesting. I guess Im finding I know almost from the minute I arrive in a place how I fell about it. Marsielle was just plain grotty.
So instead of a close up of Marsielle. Here it is from a distance. From the top of Notre Dame (my favourite attraction of my short visit) Marsielle looks lovely.

Nice=beauty
Cote d'Azur=gorgeous
Beaches=pebbles=great to look at from a distance, but not really ideal for someone who loves a sandy beach with at least a little surf.
Really had fun in Nice. Partly the awsome hostel. Partly the markets. Partly the views. Mostly the chilling out I hadnt done for a while.
Check out the gorgeous view of the PEBBLED beach

Then took a day trip to Monaco (via Eze village-very cute). Monaco was great. Ofcourse went to the Casino and the Port (WOW to the boats) and the Princes Palace. But best of all was just walking down the streets and checking out the richness(sorry cant think of a better word) of the place. Most of all it even made me think for a while of becoming a cardiologist and moving to Monaco. The cardiology rooms are located on the main avenue which overlooks the Port and the wonderful parks and Palace across the port. The buildings are gorgeous, old (not sure how old but for any Aussie they are ancient- not so much compared to Rome) 3 story rooms with huge glass fronts for the views. Hmm cardiology...

So France was great. Travelling alone was heaps of fun and I got to meet lots of really interesting people. But the Parisian men just made me all that much more cautious. Thanks to high school French at least I knew when they were after something I wasnt so happy about.

PS- Update- From nice to Milano, then to Florence and now Im in the ancient city of Rome!
There are ancient ruins everywhere! Oh and one is a cat sanctuary aswell.
PS Holly to see all 4 of the ninja turtles (ie Renaissance artists) head to Florence!