Last Sunday, I was able to visit two of France hidden gems. I had the opportunity to visit Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo, two small towns in the northwest of France in the Normandy region. These two towns are not the first two towns you would think of visiting while in France but they are definitely worth your time if you ever find yourself near Normandy. I did a day long excursion to both of these towns so I did not spend much time in either, but whether you have a free weekend or a just a free day to visit you will not regret going to either one of these two towns. I began my Sunday excursion at Saint Malo along the beautiful beach that surrounds it. When I arrived with my friends to Saint Malo, we started by entering the fort that surrounds the small town and going to the top of the fort, where you can walk for a few miles and see beautiful views of both the sea and the town. Afterwards, we decided to explore the town a bit. Sundays in France are a bit different than in other countries since most places tend to be closed, expect for major cities and touristic areas. Luckily, Saint Malo is somewhat touristic and on Sundays there is a good amount of shops and restaurants open after 12pm. We began our exploration of the town by going to souvenir shops and looking at all the merchandise the Bretagne area is known for. In the gift shops there were a lot of crêpes and caramel candies that were specialties of that region. Afterward the gift shops we continued walking and we saw a small chocolate shop with many different flavored chocolate, such as lavender flavor. Next, we decided it would be a good idea to eat crêpes. The Bretagne area where Saint Malo is located is know for crêpes and the different combinations of crêpes you can find. My friends and I went to a restaurant and we each had different crêpes. I ordered the Ferrari Crêpe which was just a crêpe with Chantilly cream, ice cream, coconut shavings, bananas, and Nutella. It was a delicious crêpe!! After eating, we continued exploring the town for another hour and the town started to look more lively around this time. We walked around shops and saw many beautiful buildings, until we ran into a shop that specialized in French style donuts that you could fill with any type of filling such as chocolate or jelly. These donuts looked appetizing but after eating such a sugary crêpe my limit had been reached. By this time, it was also time to head to Mt. St. Michel. When we arrived at Mt. St. Michel, we had to take a bus from the parking lot to the abbey located in the town. Once the bus dropped us off we began our climb to the top! As we marched up the stairs, I felt like there was a million of them and I suddenly got a flashback of all the stairs in Montmartre to reach Sacré-Cœur. I thought that after being in France for a few weeks and walking on average 3-5 miles a day I would be in great conditions to make it to the top of the abbey…I was wrong! 20 minutes later and completely out of breath, I finally made it to the top and we began our tour of the abbey. The abbey is truly, a beautiful monument filled with history. As you slowly start your descend, through the monument you get beautiful views of the beach that surrounds it and the gardens within the abbey. The day we visited the tide was very low, so there wasn’t much water in the area but nonetheless the view was beautiful! Mt. St. Michel and St. Malo are both two beautiful towns that are great weekend trips or even day trips if you ever find yourself in France!
0 Comments
Being in a new country with new people can be hard for anyone. I think that the best thing you can do is put yourself out there and try new things. Be open to new ideas!
For example my university in France hosted an international soirée for students to come and meet other students from other cultures as well as local French students. I was a bit hesitant to go because I am not the most social butterfly out there, but luckily one of the girls from my program wanted to go so we went together. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I was able to attend! The soirée was composed of 3-4 activities you could do such as musical chairs, an obstacle course, and karaoke. You were paired with one French student and another international student, and your team had to try to do as many activities as possible. This was a great way for me to step out of my comfort zone and make new friends, as well as learn what the local people my age usually do. If I would have never gone to the soirée I would not have met such great people that night! I think that in any type of environment you might be in, whether it’s in your hometown or whether you’re abroad, you should always try to step out of your comfort zone and experience new things because you never know what you could learn or who you could meet! Angers is, a beautiful city located southwest of Paris, where I first began my adventure abroad my first time in Europe. It has been almost 2 years since I was first in Angers and the city looks almost the same as how I remembered. The city has a bit of an old town charm to it that makes you excited to be here. In Angers, I feel at home. The people are friendly, the town is small and filled with many university students, and I think it helps that I know my way around the town. My experience so far in Angers has been great! The week I arrived I spent a lot of time going to orientations, seeing the university, and being able to bond with the girls in my program. I thought my first week in Angers would have been a bit more rough for me, especially since it was my birthday week but the girls in my program, my host family, and my program director made my birthday one to remember! My biggest concerns of spending a full semester in France, were not being able to make friends as easily and whether my host parents would be strict and limit my experience in France. I soon realized that I did not have to worry about either of those two things! Being able to spend a full week in Angers before classes began helped ease my experience because I was able to socialize with the girls in my program and get to know my host parents pretty well! I feel lucky to have been placed with such a great family and to have met a great group of girls in my program. These are experiences you will never be able to experience unless you study abroad! An opportunity like this is life changing because you get to meet a new group of people from all over the world who have at least one common interest with you! I have to say my first week in Angers has been nothing but wonderful and I think that if you are ever reluctant to study abroad it is best to just go for it because life passes by in a blink of an eye and this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss!! |
Details
Archives |