FRANCE!

Facts on France
- There are about 60 million people in the country
- The language is of course, French
- Paris is the largest city, and capital
- The currency is the Euro
- France is about the size of Texas
- There are seven mountain ranges
- It is the FIRST tourist destination in the world, 76 million visit per year
- 30% of the French don't have a religion, about 63% consider themselves Catholic
- There are about 20,000 hotels

Observations
- In Provence, the lavender fields are beautiful, yet smelly (at least for me)
- The roads are very windy, and sometimes hard to maneuver
- There are acres and acres of sunflowers, which are stunning in the summer
- Little villages pop up all of the time
- Large highways can be expensive, because of the tolls
- If you at least attempt to speak French, they will love you
- The old chateaus and cities are stunningly beautiful

My Trip
France for me was about being in the famous French sun. I booked a few nights at a very lovely, and relatively inexpensive guesthouse near Montclus between Avignon and Lyon. The views were incredible as I looked out of my window at Montclus, which is a city from back in the 13th century or so. There isn't a lot going on this the area. A few people were playing games outside of the church. There was a small cafe, and lots of homes for people. The streets and walkways were small, and windy but really nice.

I also spent quite a bit of time doing my favorite thing, hiking. There was a river in the area with lots of places to hike and spend time in the sun. The water was refreshing and clean. The trails were fairly well marked, but nobody was on them except for me.

Finally, I did spend one day at the beach on the South of France. It was nice, expensive, and of course full of people. I didn't have my camera with me as I left it at the hotel accidentally, so there aren't any pictures. The water was blue and warm, and the sand was golden and quite hot.

I will be back to France, soon!

ALL THE PHOTOS FROM FRANCE ARE ON FLICKR









Visit FLICKR, to see all the photos from my Round the World Trip