Driving Around France

Last week my parents, sister and I went on a trip to the south of France to do a bit of exploring. We rambled around towns around the Mediterranean coast of France right along the coast of Spain. While we didn't get any rain (thankfully!) it was quite windy and chilly so a heavier coat was definitely needed. 

I thought I'd share a few of the photos I took along the way.

First Stop: Collioure

I really liked Collioure with its old town, colourful buildings and blue beach. 

Following any one of the many side streets and archways leads you to stumble upon pretty colourful houses. 

Next Up: Béziers

Béziers turned out to be a quite a nice city with lots of old churches, museums, French history and a gorgeous view.

Canet-en-Roussillon

I think I liked Canet in particular because it was the first warm, sunny day we had had all week. That being said, it was still a lovely seaside town that I'd say is lively during the summer.

I'll cut this post short here for now because it's getting a little lengthly, but more to come!

Let me know where you've been travelling to recently?

Thanks for reading,

Ciara xx

The Latin Quarter Paris & L'Arc de Triomphe| Exploring Paris 2

So we awoke the next morning bright and early to a drizzly cloudy Parisian sky, but we didn't let that get us down. Our bags loaded with juice boxes, fruit and crackers we started our tour of the Latin Quarter with the Jardins de Luxembourg.

Everywhere you go in the park there are plenty of chairs and benches to sit yourself down on and take in the day. If it had been better weather I may have been tempted to sit and sip a cup of coffee and watch the other park goers doing tai-chi, martial arts practice and of course admire the determination of the joggers.

By following the outskirt of the park walls you'll find yourself nearly bang on with the Sorbonne Université, the university of Paris. You can't actually go inside without a student ID but it's great to go see and imagine you one of the lucky ones who can study in the centre of Paris.

To round off the Latin Quarter I highly recommend you pay a visit to the Panthéon, and because the french like to treat their tourists right if your under the age of 25 and an EU citizen, bring along your passport and you'll get into most tourist attractions for free!

The Panthéon was originally constructed as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve but now stands as a burial place for some of the most famous French icons in history. Marie and Pierre Curie, Louis Braille, Victor Hugo, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire.

And the day didn't end there, oh no. After a short re-con at the hotel and a spot of dinner we made our way to the Place de la Concorde, walked up the Champs Élysées and climbed the 273 or so steps up the Arc de Triomphe (Ladurée macarons in tow...). 

Quite the eventful day but completely worth it! I still have two more days of my Paris adventures so remember to stay tuned for those.

Thanks for reading,

Ciara xx

France, Monaco and the end.

What's up my hommie?

Ok so I'm not going to lie with you but today I feel like crap so I will excuse myself in advance for the quality of this blog. But today we do have something to celebrate because it's my last blog about France! Finally, even I was getting sick of it. So on my final day in France me and a couple of others went to Monaco on the train. The train ride only took us about 20 minutes because Nice is so close to everything it's unbelievable. I found out that you could get to Italy for under 20 euro return, I have to say I would have loved to have gone to Italy even just to taste some pizza or pasta. Italy or not we arrived in Monaco and spent a lovely evening there walking about and having a meal afterwards.

This is the famous casino in Monaco in front of which were a lot of fine looking cars and one quite out of place Smart Car.

 I'm not sure if I'm completely right but I think this chapel is famous for some royal wedding.

Then after dinner we went to do a spot of shopping at the local boutiques. That is if you call shopping drooling!

So yeah that's the last of my adventures in France I hope you enjoyed them. Again sorry for the lack of quality but I'll be back to normal tomorrow don't you worry. 

Thanks for reading,

Ciara.

France, MAMAC modern art.

Bonjour mes petits chats!
So in the second week of France we went to this modern art museum called the MAMAC which stands for something about modern art I can't remember in french. We spent quite some time walking around the three floors and I gotta say I'm not a big art fan but it was interesting. I had no idea what all the stuff was supposed to represent but you know someone's gotta make art and why not create something that looks weird and has no obvious meaning while you're at it? Anyway enough from me and my uneducated thoughts here are some of the many photos I took.

 This is not at all morbid looking.

 You'd hardly notice the mirror would you?

 'There is not a solution because there is not a problem.'

So if you haven't noticed this is a short enough blog because I thought all that deep arty meaningful stuff migt have been a bit heavy going for some of you. But tomorrow I'm talking about Moncao and it's my last blog about France so new types of blog posts are coming after that.
Thanks for reading,
          Ciara.