Tour de France
Alright everyone, lets talk France. Yes, for my spring break vacation, I decided to come back to the first European country I visited at the start of the semester. However, instead of staying in Paris for the whole week, my travel companions (J and K) and I decided to town hop our way across the country.
View from Grenoble apartment
Grenoble: Flying into Lyon was a lot cheaper than Paris, and it was close to our first stop, the beautiful city of Grenoble. J had gone to Barcelona a few weeks back and had met a group of students in her hostel that were currently studying in Grenoble. We were staying with one of these students in her apartment to save money. As she puts it, one of the best advantages of studying abroad is meeting new friends, even if those new friends make four people sleep on two twin-sized beds pushed together. Grenoble was probably the prettiest place we visited in France. It was completely surrounded by mountains, so every view was breathtaking. We probably stopped on every street for a different picture. The best thing we did in Grenoble was ride the bubbles up to the Bastille. Not only do you get the best view of the mountain town, but there are many activities to do while at the Bastille. I hope to go back one day to explore more.
Lyon has some interesting trees
Lyon: After Grenoble we did a turn-around and went back to the city we originally flew into. Lyon isn't far from Grenoble, but it seemed more city-like than small Grenoble. We didn't have long in Lyon, so we just spent our time wandering around and seeing the sights. We hiked up to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. The view you get of the town is worth the walk, and the cathedral was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. And I've been in Rome for two months, so that is saying something. I also have to say, our hostel HO36 was the best hostel I have stayed in so far.
Follow the owls!
Dijon: After Lyon we headed to Dijon, land of mustard. You might be wondering how we got around France and the answer is OUIbus. OUIbus is an affordable bus line that runs throughout France. It has wifi, outlets, bathrooms and hit most of our stops, so we loved it. In Dijon we had even less time than Lyon, which is a shame because Dijon was very cute. They have some of the most unique buildings I have seen in Europe, they almost look like they were built in a fairy tale. The town of Dijon has its own very interesting, self-guided free walking tour throughout the town. Just follow the owls to see the best parts of this cute French town.
Beauvais: Okay, throughout our trip people kept saying to us, "why would you go to Beauvais? There is nothing there." Honestly, they could be right, but I wouldn't know. We stayed with another one of J's friends who was studying there, and we mostly caught up on sleep before hitting Paris. However, from the bus to the train station, we did manage to spot a beautiful cathedral, which I heard was nice to look at. So, if you're ever in the area...
Paris: We ended spring break in the city of lights. I will be doing a separate post about my second trip to Paris. Spoiler alert: It snowed :)
Au Revoir for now!
