France is full of beautiful places. As part of our semester in Cannes, my group had the opportunity to see hidden and not so hidden gems. Cannes itself is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. It’s directly on the beach but you can see the Alps when you fly into Nice. Our first excursion outside Cannes was to Monaco, which is a really small country but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in beauty. The architecture was stunning and the views off the coast even more so. We witnessed the changing of the guard at the palace, visited the Oceanographic Museum, and went inside the Monte Carlo Casino.

 

 

 

Near Monaco is the medieval village of Èze, which is perched on a hilltop. The exotic garden boasts a variety of plants and definitely the best view of the Mediterranean Sea that I found. The village itself was quaint and so cute. A few weeks later we went to Nice for the day and experienced the markets in the city, the beach (which really is made up of rocks), and Castle Hill, where if you can make it up the many flights of stairs, you’ll see an amazing view of the rest of Nice and the ocean. More inland is Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. Grasse is small but has beautiful buildings and an interesting history with perfumes that we were able to learn about through a tour of a museum and the Fragonard factory.

 

 

 

One of our weekend trips was to Paris, and although it coincided with massive protests, it was well worthwhile. I will never be someone who talks bad about Paris. In Paris, we received guided tours of Montmartre and the Latin Quarter, sailed down the Seine, went to Versailles, and toured the Opéra Garnier. On my own, I was able to explore thrift shops and neighborhoods, and see all the sights like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sacré Coeur, and the Louvre. Our second weekend trip was to Provence. We stayed in Avignon, where we toured the Palais des Papes, but stopped in a bunch of cities and towns on the way. In Arles, we shopped at a market, saw a former hospital where Van Gogh stayed during his lifetime, and went inside the Arènes d’Arles and Théâtre Antique d’Arles.

 

 

Our next stop was Pont du Gard, an enormous Roman aqueduct. Then we toured a vineyard museum in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We toured the castle in les Baux-de-Provence, which was very historically cool despite being insanely windy. The town was also super cute. Our last stop on the Provence trip was at the Domain Castelas, an olive oil mill where we were able to see the factory and sample different olive oils. There are two islands off the coast of Cannes and we were able to reach both of them by ferry. The closer and larger one, Île Sainte-Marguerite, boasted a fort which imprisoned the Man in the Iron Mask in the past. Although the Man in the Iron Mask is shrouded in mystery, the island was beautiful and the fort was still interesting. The further and smaller one, Île Saint-Honorat, is home to a community of monks, vineyards, and olive trees. We were able to see part of the abbey and spent the rest of the time on the rocks by the water.

 

One day, we went to Saint-Tropez, a city famous for being the place to vacation for a lot of movie stars back in the day. We went inside a museum that weirdly had a peacock and browsed a market before touring a vineyard on our way back. Our last excursion was to the Gorges du Verdon, a lake that snakes its way through a canyon. On our way there, we stopped at a couple different lookout points for the view, and after a treacherous drive along narrow winding roads on the mountainside, we made it to the lake. We were able to rent canoes or paddle boats, but I’m not a water activity person, so I opted to relax in the sun on the beach. After we left the lake, we stopped in the village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. The town had a waterfall and stream running through the middle that made for an amazing view. One of the places I went to with just a few other people was Villefranche-sur-Mer, the next town after Nice when you’re on the train. The town was really pretty and we got to watch the sunset on the coast and it was stunning.

 

All these excursion made me realize how much there is in France even if you’re not in a city. The most beautiful places were in the middle of nowhere, and I’m so grateful that, as a program, we had the opportunity to see everything we did. Anyone studying abroad should make it a goal to partake in as many planned activities as possible and try to make it outside of the cities of the country they’re in. You never know what you’re going to see, and that makes it so much more rewarding.

 

Mia Coots

Cannes, France

Spring 2023