Reprend le Role du Touriste.

So I have realized that I am taking for granted the time that I have here in France. I wanted to come here and try to live the life as a French resident. You know, be "French," whatever that means. I wanted to just stay in my own city and experience life in the city. I didn't want to travel around as a tourist. It was almost as if I had convinced myself that I would be able to assume a French character, as if I was temporarily not myself. But to be French would be to not appreciate the country and the culture from the perspective of an outsider. To most places in the world, France is a beautiful, cultivated and rich land with lots of history. It is a country with a lasting reputation of creativity, arts, love, intelligence. This is the France that I fell in love with when I took my first French class in 2008.

So today it hit me. I am not going to ever assume a French character and I am okay with that. But with the few months that remain I need to resume my role as a tourist. As a tourist I will be able to file away the problems that I have had with French administration and government run organizations. I can once again appreciate the wonderful that France is.

But how will I do this? I don't have amazing funds, but I will try to make it work - even if hitchhiking is a way of transportation!! ;) The following places are where I want to visit before I go home.

The region of Normandy

• The artist Claude Monet was especially inspired by this area of France and painted many Normandy landscapes. I would love to see what his eyes saw
• I would also love to see Mont St. Michel. As you see in the picture below, it is absolutely beautiful, but one of the reasons why it is famous is due to the ocean's extremely high tide and very low tide that has formed it into the tidal island that it is today. Super cool! =) If you don't get off of the land before the tide rises, you could be stuck there until the tide goes back down!
  

Nantes

• As many of you may know, I already posted a few months ago why I want to go to Nantes. The song from Beruit, titled "Nantes" is my inspiration to go.
  
• Also, Nantes is located in the Brittany region, which unfortunately I don't know too much about, but would like to discover. Apparently Brittany used to be a small province within itself and had a duke and dutchess!! I really love seeing France's medieval parts =) It is definitely something you would NEVER find on the North American continent, that is why it's so cool.
  
• I also remember when studying the art of Paul Gauguin that he spent a lot of his career in Brittany, so naturally, again I am interested in seeing another area that inspired an amazing artist.
  

Corsica

• Corsica is an island south of France located in the Mediterranean Sea. All I have heard are great things about Corsica. My friend, Mathéa, always tells me how beautiful it is. Some of you might know that I love her name and hope to name one of my future children Mathéa, and the name comes from Corsica, so obviously I have to go ;)

Versailles

• The Chateau of Versailles was the palace of the three kings Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. I have actually already been to the chateau in 2005, but the one thing that I wanted to see there was under construction, and that is the Hall of Mirrors.

Paris

• I have obviously been here a few times, but I feel like you can never get enough of it. I wish to one day go here by myself so I could spend an entire day at one museum, but I'm not sure if I can do that hehe. Good news is that I am going to Paris in three weeks AND Disneyland Paris at that!!! I absolutely cannot wait for this. I dream about it. hehe.

If I succeed to visit all these places, I will be completely satisfied. =) I know that sometimes I complain about being in France, but I mean, when I talk about these beautiful historical French cities and post these amazing pictures, it does make me realize that I am going to miss this place when I go home - and this is good because then I will always be able to view France from the perspective of an outsider. I will continue to remember it with that perfect image of beauty, history and love.