Souvenirs from across the world : Hidden Gems From France

Gooood morning, good afternoon, good evening friends, how are you in this lovely Sunday? Today’s the 19th, and…it’s the official launch of the Souvenirs From Across The World Project on all the blogosphere! Well, okay, on a few blogs that will, hopefully, participate. THANK YOU for your enthousiasm, and I’m looking forward to read ALL of your blog posts! No idea what I’m talking about? Before getting into it, here are some ground rules.

Today officially marks the first day of book bloggers and bloggers, sharing on their blogs about their hometowns, their countries, their cultures AND THIS IS NEWS!, about bookish things related to their countries as well!!
Starting today with my blog post, and all this week up until the 3rd of JULY, you’ll be able to write, and share your blog post with others, by linking to your blog all dooown below.
❗️ Do not forget please to include in your blog post that you’re taking part in this project, by mentionning it in writing and linking back right here to the blog, you can also making a little place for this image right above in your blog post, if you want.
Don’t forget also to share your blog post on social media with the official hashtag for this feature, #SFATW, so I can find you there!
➡️ FOR MORE INFO ON THE SFATW PROJECT, IT’S ALL HERE! 
Alright, the boring part is done, now for the fun part!

✈️

In my 22 years so far, I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot, with my family, and with my gorgeous sister. Obviously, we went almost everywhere in France, North, South, East and West, and I went some places on my own as well to study. Since this whole idea is about sharing things about our countries and hometowns, today, I decided to take you on a short trip across France, with pictures! I already talked about my hometown before, I talked about Paris as well, so…I’m NOT going to talk about Paris again, everyone knows the city, at least through pictures. So… let’s go someplace else with a random selection of cute places!

Heading North…

And we’ll start on the North of France, with a place I’ve learned to know for the last three years…Lille!

If there’s something I love about it, and all of France, to be honest, is the historical architecture of it all. I mean, isn’t it beautiful? And there are always great, peaceful places and surprises right in the heart of the city.

With those little almost river-like places, there’s always a place where you can feel like you’re still in nature, in the heart of the city.

Heading a little bit farther in the North, we’re getting close to the sea. It might be kind of cold to take a swim -before the summer, anyway-, but it’s still beautiful, don’t you think?

And down below, you can see part of the gorgeous, historical city of Boulogne-sur-Mer….

If you’re ever going to the north of France…

🌸You shouldn’t forget: An umbrella, because let’s be honest, it rains. A LOT.
☀️ You should ABSOLUTELY: walk in the city of Lille, get sunburned on the beach close to the Northern Sea, enjoy the gorgeous view from the Cap Blanc Nez * and Gris Nez, go to Amiens to see the cathedral *…
🍴You should stuff your stomach with: Maroilles (it’s VERY STRONG cheese), Welsh (melted cheddar with ham and…yes, beer), Moules-Frites (=mussel and french fries), WAFFLES.

Heading South…

After a little visit to see what some places in the North of France have to offer, how about we cross the WHOLE country, down south, to discover more sun, beaches and places that make me crave for the summer even more?

For that, we’re going to head to a lovely city I visited just last year, Montpellier ! It’s very close to the Mediterranean sea, and so beautiful, a typical southern France city, if you ask me…And there are tons, tons of treasures to discover…

I mean, just look at this surreal place? (And that blue, BLUE sky?! No, that picture didn’t went through Photoshop at all. It was just THAT sunny. Doesn’t it make you want to go right there on holidays?)

Swarming with life, people, and all of these historical, typical French buildings (I’d say? I’m French, this is very subjective, obviously), this was such a lovely place to spend some holidays…

If you’re ever going to the south of France…

🌸You shouldn’t forget: Sun screen! I mean, unless you actually LIKE to look like a schrimp. I know I don’t.
☀️ You should ABSOLUTELY see: The Mediterranean Sea? That’s obvious, I’m guessing, since you’re so close? Ride along the Côte d’Azur for the beautiful beaches and sunshine. Go to Nice for the famous Promenade des Anglais,  to Montpellier for the little cozy streets …
🍴You should stuff your stomach with: Ratatouille (a mix of eggplant, peppers and herbs), Bouillabaisse and brandade de morue (for those of you fans of sea food)… 

🌴You should know: South of France is PACKED in the summer. Like, really. Everyone just wants to look like a schrimp on the beach, I guess?

Heading…home?!

Okay, I couldn’t resist. I just really love home, and well, I love to look at the place, and at pictures, and realize that I’m kind of lucky to live in such a lovely place. I already talked about home before, so, for your sake, I will keep it short and sweet…or not.

Welcome!! To be honest I shouldn’t be this giddy whenever I’m talking about it, but I should be like, an ambassador for this beautiful place, I just love it ahah. Anyway. Typical half-timbering (colombage, in French) houses, COLORED houses…

If there’s something we have TONS of in my hometown, it’s, VINEYARDS. You know, the French cliché about people drinking wine? Well…it’s actually TRUE. But we’re not all wine-crazy, I promise at least I am not. But vineyards make a lovely landscape now, don’t they?

Taking you a little bit further than my hometown, in another lovely city, Mulhouse! This picture below was taken around Christmas time (I know. SO sunny, and no snow, crazy, right?!)

And heading back North again, to Strasbourg, European capital, one of the most beautiful city of the country, if you ask me. Seen from above, it’s gorgeous. This picture was taken by my lovely sister @nyxcorner.

If you’re ever going to the East of France…

🌸 You shouldn’t forget: TO TELL ME. Because let’s be honest, you need no guide when I am RIGHT HERE.
☀️ You should ABSOLUTELY see: the cities of Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Colmar. Strasbourg’s cathedral, La Petite Venise, La Petite France, Mulhouse’s zoo because kangaroo (!),
🍴You should stuff your stomach with: pretzels, bredeles, kouglof, pain d’épices,  flammkuchen… Yes, I’ll stop there. SO MANY  THINGS.

I already did a little blog post taking you to my hometown, if you’re interested, it’s right here.

Did any one of you ever visit France? Where did you go, what did you think about it? ANY Weird things French people do? 🐌

Would you like to go to France someday? Why, or why not? I’d LOVE to know: what image do you have of the French lives? 💬

For those of you participating in this blog post idea, it’s time to share your links in comments, and I’ll put it right there below! You can write a blog post about your city / country as a part of this project and share it with me until the 3rd of JULY.

Get to know each other’s countries, hometowns, cultures and more…UPDATE: You can also talk about BOOKS related to your country such as books set in your country, authors, etc etc!! Feel free to join and leave your link in comments for a tour across the world!

Fadwa @ Word Wonders is taking you to Morocco!
Lais @ harumansaebooks is taking you to Brazil!
Kat @ Life & Other Disasters is taking you to Vienna!
Cindy @ My book file is taking you to The Netherlands!
Sush @ Fervently Curious is taking you to India!
Jamie @ Watch Game Read is taking you to Malaysia!
Fernanda @ Mystery Date With A Book is taking you to Brazil AND Northern Ireland!
Icky @ A Home of Temperance is taking you to Birmingham, Alabama!
Tyra Anne @ Alice in Winterland is taking you to Canada !
Jesalin @ JBelkBooks is taking you to The Bay Area of California!
Lauren @ Wonderless Reviews is taking you to Western Australia! She’s also sharing some of her favorite Australian books!
Beth @ Reading Every Night is taking you to England!
Shoto @ Confessions of a Bibliophile is taking you to Mumbai, India!
Rivka @ The Orang Outan Librarian is taking you to a bookish tour of England!
Sammie @ Bookshelves & Biros is taking you to the United Kingdom!
Yarravy @ Hiraeth For The Pagesis taking you to Sydney, Australia!
Donna @ ChocolatenWaffles Blog is taking you to Bordeaux, France!
Kunaal @ kunaaldoshi is taking you to Malaysia!