TRAVEL BLOG NR 1

Hi guys~

Okay. I'm going to write about something else today because our teachers at university instructed us to. My next 4 posts will be university related.

Because I have to, that's why.

(And I'm really sorry, my language might seem a bit off. I'm under HEAVY influence of tumblr and as you might know, this is a place which kills all your language skills)

I will genuinely try to keep the university blog entries as long as my personal one's, although it's going to be really hard. Bear with me there...

OKAY! TRAVEL RELATED BLOG NR 1!!

I'm not really a pro in stuff like this, I'm just going to write about my travel to Cannes with my former school class. I have to admit, I will need to google a LOT because I don't remember the names of the places we went to but it's going to be fun, reviving the memories a bit. It was a fun journey.

Okay, so our trip started in Graz, Austria, where I went to school and live now. We went by bus and travelled for almost 12 hours (with short stops of course). We lived in small groups of 2 to 3 people (of the same gender of course) and stayed with families in Cannes. We could have spent time together, especially in the evenings, but our group just didn't.We always went sightseeing ;)

HOW WE SPENT THE DAYS

Language school

Short break (half an hour maybe)

Sightseeing

Dinner with our “families”

Evening (meant we could do whatever we wanted but no drinking, no smoking and we had to be back home at 10 pm)

I don't remember in which order we went to the different cities but these were our most important sightseeing tours: Cannes, Grasse, Corniche d'or, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Nice and Monaco

Yes, it was as spectacular as it sounds!

Okay now I'll go into detail and try to remember what we actually did and saw there (don't judge, it was ages ago! Well okay one year and a half..)

CANNES:

The first time I was amazed was when I saw the beach. It was in October but it was still pretty warm and some people went swimming (I wasn't one of them). 

The city itself seems ancient and new at the same time! My favourite place in Cannes was the “Palais des Festivals et des Congrès“. It reminded me a lot of Hollywood although I've never been there. The Palais is the place where the Cannes Film Festival is being held every year. In front of it are plates, placed in the floor, where many famous people like Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis or Sharon Stone left their handprints. For me it was an extraordinary experience standing there and looking at actual, REAL handprints of celebrities! And it felt amazing being there and taking pictures on the red carpet!!! (although I don't have them anymore but it's a different, very tragic story)

I also remember the McDonald's in Cannes pretty well because we used to go there for free wi-fi but it's not really...travel related ;)

GRASSE:

I was really looking forward to seeing Grasse, the famous “perfume” city. It was actually more an old, small town than a city. Our bus driver told us a bit about the town and said, almost all the residents moved out of town because of the lack of work and low living standards.

TOO MUCH FOR OUR NOSES

We walked around a bit, taking pictures and enjoying the fact, that the movie “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” was partially filmed there. Great movie by the way, watch it.

And of course, being in Grasse, we just HAD to visit a perfume factory. It was amazing, because every perfume there was HANDMADE!!! They spend literally years to finish a little bottle of pure perfume!!! We were guided through the factory, and learned lots of interesting things. We saw the process of perfume-making (good quality perfume, no chemical stuff at all!) and could buy some afterwards. Best time to buy some good quality souvenirs no one ever needs afterwards. Meh.

CORNICHE D'OR:

This was a bus-ride most of the time. We travelled along the Corniche d'or, one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world. 

Along the Corniche we saw many holiday mansions of celebrities, for example Elton John.

We stopped a few times to walk around, take some pictures and some people went swimming in the beautiful, blue sea (again, I was not one of them).

Because of the red coloured rocks, the sea has a much darker and intensive blue. It was an amazing sight!!!

SAINT-PAUL-DE-VENCE

Yes, this is apparently the way this town's name is written.

Now THIS was an amazing experience. St Paul is a tiny “city”, consisting mostly of small and bloody expensive hotels and art galleries. Actual art galleries!!! Everyone could just go into them like browsing shops, looking at the most expensive art and furniture I've ever seen in my entire life. Personally, I love art and it was like birthday to me, seeing all the beautiful paintings and sculptures. I guess this was the trip I enjoyed the most.

But there was one thing which topped it all: Marc Chagall's grave!!! I was so excited, many of the other girls were giving me the “calm down you freak” look but seriously, I didn't care. I absolutely enjoyed this day and remember everything, and this happens rarely!

NICE

Okay, I have to admit, I don't remember much about our trip to Nice. I remember rain. SO MUCH RAIN!!!

We went to a museum, which by the way everyone found extremely creepy, and after it stopped raining we went into the city and down to the beach. I must say, although I don't remember what we did there, I remember Nice being one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. EVER.

We shopped around a bit and sat at the beach for a long time. We just had too much spare time and didn't want to get lost in the city...

That's when a high wave splashed over me and my friend. Suddenly, yes. We didn't see it coming. We were so wet and got sick the next day. Didn't stop us to go to the trips though, duh!

  Me and a friend strolling around in Nice

And my phone was stolen after the trip to Nice so I don't have any pictures I made myself, I hope you'll forgive me.

MONACO

We didn't see much of Monaco either because there was so much traffic, we couldn't actually get there in time. It was shortly before the Formula 1 so the people went crazy, it seemed like everyone wanted to get there but just couldn't because of the crazy traffic.

We didn't have much time left but we went to the Oceanographic Museum, which was AMAZING!!! I've been to museums like this before but this was one of the most beautiful one's I've seen. The fish were treated well, the water was very clean, the range of fish and other residents of the sea was HUGE and it was just a beautiful experience.

We also went to the Prince's Palace of Monaco. Apparently the royal family wasn't there at the moment but the palace itself was so majestic it sent shivers down my spine.

As I already said, we didn't have as much time as we expected to have but it was still something very special, something you really can brag about. Yeah, I've been to Monaco! Yeah, I've seen the palace!

Well, that was our trip to France. Pretty much.

Okay, I guess this was enough for an entry? I don't even know what we're supposed to do and write about because I'm so clueless. I'm the most clueless person on earth so don't judge please. I tried to do my best and the post got really MUCH longer than I expected it to be...I hope it will please my teachers.

Kay, BYE BYE~

PS: I might have to edit some things later. I don't know when or what, I just wanted to point it out.