France

I made my way to France after six months of living and traveling.  It felt as if I was going home and it was something that I really needed. I went to Marseille alone for a few days (which was also something I needed) before I met my dad and his wife to go on a road trip through France to visit my grandmother in Poitiers. Marseille was excellent because it forced me to get to know people in my hostel. I met a girl from Switzerland that I really bonded with and I went shopping with a whiney Canadian that I didn’t like so much.  The girl from Switzerland and I had a blast visiting the tiny town of Cassis, where we eventually were stuck on top of some hilly vineyards. We decided to hitchhike by writing Marseille on the back of a Pizza box. We also met other people at our hostel, grabbed a few bottles of wine, and got hammered at the harbor with our feet dangling over the pier.

Once pops (what I call my dad) swooped me at my hostel the next day, I knew I would be in good hands. Our first stop was at a vineyard along the French Riviera for a few days (he works in the wine business). This place was stunning, and we were able to stay at the house right on the vineyard. As we kept heading towards my grandmother, we stopped at many little Châteaux’s in towns that I don’t even remember the names of.  Not all of them were nice. Some of them had this ridiculous/tacky 80’s look that may have been considered elegant at some point of France’s history?

We eventually hit my grandmother’s house and so much had changed since I had last visited. She lives in a rather sad home built out of rocks and she is not very satisfied with her life. Nonetheless I was still thrilled to see and reconnect with her considering it had been so long. When we went to the grocery store, she said with great pride to the working employees “c’est ma petite fille! Elle ne parle pas Français!” regardless of how many times I told her I’d been taking French and that I wanted to practice.  She was thrilled, and so was I.

After a sentimental farewell, we finally ended our trip in Paris for ONE day. It kind of blew but I had made a pretty long trip exclusively to Paris when I was in high school so it was not a huge concern.  I just tried to enjoy myself as much as I could while I was there and it definitely was not a challenge. As cheesy as it is... I LOVE Paris with all my heart. It’s the ultimate city for me. It’s a destination of pure beauty; the architecture, streets, food, wine, cafes, clothing, and people. I swear everyone is a super model walking around and they just get fashion. It’s unbelievable and made me want to seriously reconsider my attire.

After a day of pure enjoyment and realizing that I seriously want to take advantage of my EU passport and move there someday, we retired to our hotel. I slipped into the crisp/fresh sheets reflecting on a huge day ahead of me. The next day I would be returning home, where my boyfriend would be picking me up from SFO. Man I’ll never forget the kinds of things that went through my head that night and how I wondered what everything would be like upon my return. It was one crazy journey that I would never take back and am so thankful that I was able to part take in such a life changing experience. 

Where I went to kindergarten:

Some incredible photo's I found in a photo album at my grandma's house: