I quickly learned after traveling to just a couple of cities that no city is completely how you expected it to be. France was no exception to this rule. Before I went to Paris all that came to mind about the city of love was high fashion, romance, and rude people. While Paris was a very romantic city it has a lot more depth than just being a romantic getaway. Paris boasts world famous museums all through out the city. I had the opportunity to visit both the Pompidou and the Louvre. And the best part: both of my visits were free! (You can get in for free by showing a student ID card and an ID card that shows you live in the EU). The Lourve is massive. I think you could spend weeks in there and still not see everything. If you are able to go give yourself a few hours to walk around (and of course time to see the Mona Lisa even though she was named the second most disappointing tourist attraction in the world because of her size).

The architecture in Paris is absolutely breathtaking from the Notre Dame Cathedral to the Eiffel Tower to the Galeries Lafayette (which is a mall!). I would recommend definitely experiencing all the three of the places I just mentioned. While the last is not well known, it has an amazing rooftop view of the city and is the most gorgeous department store you will ever see in your life.

During our trip we stopped at the Love Lock bridge to put up our own locks. We accidentally  put our locks on the wrong bridge (oops!) but turns out that was not such a bad idea since the original bridge had begun falling apart and all of those love locks have been taken down. It is easy to find locks in the tourist shops around Paris especially by the bridge.

Paris is known for its food and after visiting I can see why! The street food especially was amazing. Make sure to get a crepe or two during your visit! There are also many restaurants in Paris but just because Paris may resemble the hustle of New York City during the day it does not at night. Be aware that a lot of things close early in this city. I ate at Le Refuge De Fondues one night in Paris and the food was amazing! They serve steak that you cook yourself on the table and bread with cheese fondue. They also are known for serving wine in baby bottles. It was a great restaurant to go with a group but make sure you have a reservation!

After Paris, we flew to Nice using Easy Jet. You can also take a train to Nice, however, flying there worked better with our schedule. Nice is absolutely gorgeous. It boasts a large market in town with delicious fruit and beautiful crafts and paintings. If you like soap you will find lots of handmade soap here especially lavender. Climb up castle hill for a great view of Nice and of its rock beach.

We specifically went to Nice for Carnival in March. The parade was amazing and everyone watching was dressed up. It was a mix of Halloween and Mardis Gra. The parade was much more interactive than any parade I had been to before. People dressed up would enter the crowd. Everyone watching would throw silly string and confetti on friends and on the people in the parade. And everyone on the floats was doing the same. The floats were very elaborate and there were a lot of performers walking through the parade too.