I read that Avignon is a small town so I was planning to do a day trip to Aix-en-Provence as well. However the train was booked up so after I went to the tourist office, I decided to book an afternoon tour of Provence instead! In the hours before the tour, I visited the main sights in Avignon, including Palais Des Papes and Pont Saint-Benezet. The Pope Palace is a large palace that 7 popes came to from the Vatican during the Babylonian Captivity. It is quite th...

I stayed in Montpellier for two nights. It has a lovely Place de la Comedie (I've been noticing they use a lot of the same street and square names in France) and a pedestrian promenade. There is also a large shopping mall called Polygone. Walk behind the mall and you'll find place de l'Europe which features a *huge* Olympic sized pool. Keep walking and you'll reach Antigone, an area with nice government buildings, water, fountains, a statue and many restaurants. ...

Madrid. Many buildings are architecturally lovely, there are spacious public parks, graffiti- everywhere, chocolate con churros, soccer fans, flamenco dancing and big partiers... As well as an Egyptian temple. Templo de debod was given to Spain in return for help they provided against a flood in the 60s. When I visited the temple on Saturday morning, the park it's in was covered in beer bottles and empty liquor bottles. Quite the sight and, in my opinion, quite ...

Biarritz's shoreline is stunning. A beach town that was a favourite of Napoleon III (his palace was turned into the Palace Hotel), now hosts tourists, families and surfing enthusiasts. The waves are *huge*! It was almost exactly 9 years ago that I was last here and one of my favourite memories is rolling up my pants and running into the crashing waves. There is a great seawall path from the Virgin Mary at the top of a huge rock to the lighthouse. At one point, i...

Bordeaux I find bordeaux charming. My hotel was adorable too. The old city centre is full of long standing buildings that glow at night. There is a river that flows through the middle of the city where there is a wonderful walking path, as well as a fountain on the ground, a sort of water park, called miroir d'eau. ( apparently it's a 'public art installation') It's great for kids and people with bare-feet! At night the water reflects place de la bourse, which m...