Monday, August 13, 2012

Gallivanting Post-Study Abroad

Ireland
Immediately after my semester in Angers ended, I took off for ten days in Ireland. It was my first solo international trip, and covered Dublin (lively), Galway (quaint), and various side trips to ancient Newgrange and the dizzying Cliffs of Moher.
(And yes, those are people playing basketball in kayaks...)
..........
France
Paris
After a jaunt down to Nice, I met up with the rest of my family in Paris. We spent a week on a houseboat on the river Seine, dallying around the Ile de la Cité, lollygagging in Montmartre, and eating large quantities of ice cream from Berthillions (with flavors like rasberry à la rose).
(And yes, that is a squadron of firemen posing with their truck in downtown Paris...)
The Rodin Museum -- Sorry for the corny captions; it couldn't be helped.





The Ardèche
Escaping Paris in a 3-hour bottleneck, we headed south to the Ardèche, a hot, festival-filled paradise for French vacationers. No matter how high the temperature climbs, the vineyards stay a vibrant green. Houses with brightly colored shutters roost on the slopes of the gorge, and tiny river fish swarm the toes of wading tourists.

And last but not least, our nuclear Livelybrooks family wound our way north and east to Annecy and its surrounding areas. We had excellent hosts and guides in Meline (our previous French exchange student) and her family, who treated us to raclette (a fabulously stinky cheese eaten over potatoes), and jaunts around the region.
(And yes, I did take a deplorably small number of photos of this leg of the trip -- my apologies)