Okay, folks, let’s dive into my little adventure of figuring out the best places to see in France. This wasn’t some fancy, pre-planned trip. Nope, it was more like, “Hey, I wanna go to France, let’s figure this out!”
First, I grabbed my laptop and started Googling like a madman. I mean, where do you even begin? “Best places in France,” “top attractions France,” you name it, I searched it. My search history was a mess!
I stumbled upon a bunch of travel blogs and websites. Man, there’s a lot of info out there! I started making a messy list on a notepad, jotting down anything that caught my eye. Eiffel Tower? Obviously. Louvre Museum? Yep. But then I started seeing mentions of places I’d never heard of, like Gordes and Rocamadour.
Sorting Through the Chaos
My list was getting out of hand. I needed a way to organize this mess. So, I decided to group things by region. I figured that would help me plan a route, you know, make it a bit more logical.
- Paris and Surroundings: This was the no-brainer section. Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Versailles, that kind of stuff.
- Provence: Lavender fields, charming villages, Roman ruins… This sounded dreamy!
- French Riviera: Nice, Cannes, Monaco… Glamour and beaches, got it.
- Normandy: D-Day beaches, Mont Saint-Michel… History and stunning scenery.
- Alsace: those cute villages, and the Routes des Vins.
Then, I went back to those travel blogs and started reading more in-depth articles about each place. I looked at tons of photos (seriously, tons) and tried to get a feel for what each place was actually like. Was it super touristy? Was it more of a local vibe? That kind of thing.
I also started digging into practical stuff. How easy was it to get around? Could I take trains, or did I need a car? I checked out some forums where people were sharing their experiences, and that was super helpful.
Finally, I narrowed down my list. It was tough, but I had to be realistic about how much I could actually see in one trip. I ended up picking a mix of big-name spots and a few lesser-known places that just sounded too cool to miss.
The last thing I got was a Michelin’s map. This help me a lot to visualize all the places, and plan the best itinerary.
So, that’s how I went from “France, where do I even start?” to having a (somewhat) organized plan. It was a bit of a messy process, lots of Googling and note-taking, but hey, that’s part of the fun, right?
