Waking up in Paris and seeing my mum next to me was just the strangest but loveliest feeling. I didn't even really want to leave the hotel room cause the beds were just so warm and comfy. But then the other part of me was like "OMG you're in Paris - one of the most famous cities in the world!"

When we walked out of our hotel it was much cooler than we expected -definitely a jeans and jumper kind of day. Off we set to find the Eiffel Tower which we were able to see the top of as soon as we exited the hotel. I was pretty excited but nervous because my direction skills are shocking (Georgina would agree) and this seemed to be a place were map reading would be highly beneficial. Luckily mum was here, because dad has the patience of a two-year-old when it comes to reading maps carefully.

The Eiffel Tower was incredible. I've heard that people say after you do a few of the major "touristy" sights in Europe then they all start to become less and less impressive. But with my first European land mark ticked off, the Eiffel Tower was nothing but impressive. Just the number of tourists around the magnificent structure was amazing - all posing for those corny, cheesy, but necessary funny "I'm holding the Eiffel tower" photos. And to think that it was only meant to be a temporary structure - so surprising to find out just how popular it became. We waited in line and got our tickets to get to the top of the tower along with thousands of other people and despite it being absolutely freezing cold up the top, and the clouds being grey, the view was still so extraordinary as you could see all the tall corner buildings and diagonal streets of Paris with beautiful canals, churches and parks.

Next were the Arc de Triumph and Notre Dame Cathedral and I really loved how everything was in walking distance or only a close metro train stop away. When I walked up the stairs of the metro station and out onto the street, there was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Like just right there!! It was amazing just how much you could see in a day. And just how many hours there were in a day - considering it doesn't actually get dark here until after 11pm!!!! This was probably the most gob-smacking WTF thing to get my head around. I thought the day-light saving in Sydney was great … this is just nuts!!! I would go to bed around 9pm some nights and it would look like midday.

The Palace of Versailles was also another extraordinary sight as it showed me just how much more history there is in other parts of the world. I forgot how "new" Australia really is as a country, apart from our Aboriginal history, but we have nothing like a Royal Palace where queens were beheaded (RIP Marie Antoinette), and kings were crowned. I have never really liked history, the complete opposite to my best friend Georgina, who can't read enough about places like this. But I've got to say - once I go to the place where it all happened - I really do understand her excitement for these things. The royal dynasty that lived here is just so insane! I can't even imagine being the head of royalty, sleeping in gold beds with maids waking you up, dressing you, feeding you, bathing you, driving you (in a horse and carriage), doing absolutely everything for you and all you need to do is wear beautiful dresses (except for those corsets - OUCH), eat, dance at ballroom parties, choose which jewelry to put on - actually now come to think of it no wonder George is obsessed with this stuff. What a life!! The gold gates and the black and white tiled foyer was enough to make my jaw drop - and that was before I walked inside and saw the hall of mirrors, the library, the bedrooms, the hallways, the painted ceilings and chandeliers, the "backyard" which looks exactly like that scene from 'The Princess Diaries' with Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. WOW was all I could say but it was definitely a draining day of walking around, standing in lines, pushing past people, listening to audio tapes, and being a "tourist."

On our final day in Paris, I was determined to find the shop of a famous French designer Christian Lacroix, who a tv character "Edina Monsoon" was obsessed with. Edina is from the 90s comic sitcom "Ab Fab". I saw every episode with Georgina while we were in Asia - killing time on various buses, planes - and let's not lie - there were the occasional nights where we didn't even want to go out to the clubs and party and we would rather just go back to our room and watch a couple of eps of Ab Fab. Haha - yeah I swear we are both 19 years old. Anyway all I wanted to do was take a photo outside the "Christian Lacroix" sign so mum and I walked the Champs De Elysee and were very disappointed to find out that it had in fact closed and relocated but the shop sign was still half legible so I still got my photo. Haha who knows when I'll be back in Paris - the things you do for your favourite TV characters!

After about 5 days in Paris, we hopped on another train and headed down to the south coast of France to Nice. We got off the train at night time and realised that it was like 5 degrees hotter than Paris and walked for about 10 mins to get to our hotel that was located right next to the beach (a pebble beach of course!) The day we arrived in Nice was apparently World Music Day so there was people playing live music everywhere in the streets surrounding our hotel. The celebration was very buzzy, such a great vibe with the warmer weather and hundreds of people all singing, dancing and watching people perform. I really loved Nice - the restaurants were really yummy (expensive but nice), there was amazing gelato shops everywhere, really great weather and really pretty coastal beaches (despite some of them being rocks instead of sand).

On my second day in Nice, I actually met up with video Mike from the 40 day Cape Town to Nairobi G-Adventures tour. He was the American from LA who was really great at editing video footage. He was in Cannes (a half an hour away) working for a week long music festival covering the photography so it was great I managed to see him for a few hours before he got his plane back to the US. We hung out at the beach, investigating the least embarrassing way to walk on these pebbles to get into the water without falling over, as neither of us had the "water/rafting shoes" that seemed to be the norm here. I'll probably see him again in LA at the beginning of next year so that would be pretty crazy to make a friend in Africa and see him in both Europe and America during the course of a year.

The last place I travelled to in France was to a little village called St Cezaire - about an hour inland from Nice up in the hills and countryside. My family friends own a part of this amazing house in the south of France and just happened to be there at the same time as me. I met the Morgans in about 2004 when they moved next door to my house in Waverley, and not long after then I started babysitting for them. In the last decade I have become closer and closer with them, knowing two out of the three kids (Fifi and Gus) for their whole lives and their eldest daughter Chloe since she was three. Chantal is like an aunt to me who can always make me feel better and Will is one of the most inspiring dads I know who I have so much respect for. I have never felt more welcomed by anyone for such a long time and I am so blessed to have this couple in my life because I know I can tell them anything and they will always be there for me. The three days I spent in St Cezaire were probably the highlight of France (apart from seeing mum obviously) because life was just so easy. I had my own room in this amazing 5-6 storey house with the most incredible view and Chant is the most amazing cook so we had such great home cooking and Will's mum Jenny was there who is just always great to have a laugh with and we spent the days swimming in rivers, taking the kids horse riding, throwing the ball in the park across the road, and discovering little French villages surrounding St Cezaire. It was sad to say goodbye to them but it really was the most perfect way to end my amazing time spent in the City, Coast and Countryside of France.

Catch you on the flip side!