During our 2018 French class trip to France, we had the best tour guide ever. Rania was the sweetest Italian woman with whom I shared my deep love for ice cream and chic sunglasses. Part of what made her so amazing (among countless other things) was that she planned out daily photo challenges for us students.
These challenges ranged from “best Eiffel Tower pic” to “re-enact pirate activity on the shores of the English Channel”. The winners of each day got a special treat hand-picked by her. My best friend on this trip (Hailey) and I always gave it our best attempt, but only had one winning submission during the entire trip.
The day when we went to the Louvre, our challenge was to bring artwork to life. We BODIED this challenge, and would stop at nothing to nab this win. Honestly, I don’t really remember much of anything else from the Louvre other than this challenge.
Enjoy our collection of submissions below, ranging from least to most chaotic.
Soooo anyways we won by a landslide. Nobody came close to our creativity and willingness to lay on the floor. We won some fancy lilac candies in Honfleur for our efforts. Although, I have 0 recollection of how they tasted or if we even liked them. Upon texting Hailey, she states “I feel like they definitely tasted like air freshener”.
In 2018, I had the amazing opportunity to travel abroad for the first time to France with my high school French class. I attribute this trip to my quick and dramatic fall into love with traveling. Our trip took us to Paris, North to Normandy, and South to Nice.
paris
Our first stop on our excursion was Paris. As a 16-year-old girl, this was truly a dream come true. Looking back at my photos, I was also having exceptionally good hair at this time of my life (thank god).
Highlights of this leg of the trip included visiting the Eiffel Tower, getting portraits in Montmartre, shopping on Champs-Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe in view, cruising down the Siene and exploring the Louvre.
Our first day we were supposed to see the Eiffel Tower, there was a left bag nearby, so the entire area had to be evacuated due to bomb concerns before we could go up to the top.
We were bummed at the time, but our tour guide was able to have us come back later on in the trip. We went at sunset and I watched the sun go down from the very top! Then, we stayed close enough nearby to see the tower sparkle later that night.
Randomly, they were also promoting the 2024 Summer Olympics at a massive event while we were there. We got to play volleyball and soccer with French Olympic athletes! (you can imagine about how well that went for me).
Also in Paris, I discovered my hatred for smoked salmon and love for a French breakfast (as long as it did not involve smoked salmon). Teenage me was obsessed with the macarons and probably spent most of my money buying those for the aesthetic photos.
normandy
Our second destination was north to the shores of the English Channel and Normandy. On the way there, we stopped in Honfleur and Rouen. Honfleur ended up being my most favorite spot in all of France (and at the top of my list of places to return to as an adult!)
I didn’t know much about D-Day before going here and remember feeling overwhelmed with grief the day we explored the museum, the graveyard, and could see the remnants of sunk ships when looking out into the water.
An interesting fact we learned is that not all of the landmines from that day have been fully located, so the put sheep out on pasture in the areas they think may have some active bombs. Once a sheep finds a bomb…. they call that barbecue day…. LOL.
Our final destination in this part of France was Mont Saint Michael. This was a really cool castle and town built in the middle of a channel that becomes surrounded by water at high tide. I liked this area a lot and remember we had really yummy pizza that came out of a basement on a pizza elevator.
Another fun fact about Normandy is we accidentally left one of the students on the trip there after one of the chaperones thought she was just in the bathroom on the bus. We went back for her eventually.
nice
Once done in Northern France, we took a bullet train all the way south to Cannes and Nice. If Paris was a 16-year-old’s dream, Nice was heaven. I was in love with the pastel buildings, clear blue water, and moviestar vibes.
It was my first experience at a nude beach where my french teacher warned us that nipples aren’t used to the sun and will need more sunscreen than you’d expect. I personally stayed clothed, but saw MANY elderly nips.
Nice was where I tried my first frogs legs and escargot. Additionally, we realized only at the final leg of our trip that we were of drinking age in France. I felt like the most chic, elegant, celebrity girl ever ordering “I would like one wine please” with my dinner hahaha.
Frog’s Legs (“Cuisses de Grenouille”)
Some of my favorite memories included sitting on the beach after the sun set snacking on caramel chocolate chip cookies and reminiscing on our incredible trip together. It was in those final moments on the beach that I knew my future would hold countless more trips of this nature. If only little me could see me now!!
