France: Top 5 Amazing Things To Do

France is known the world over for their delicious decadent pastries. There is not a place you can go in France that won’t have patisseries on the street corners. While you are wandering around, stop in and try pastries (either always a different kind, or compare your favourite) in as many patisseries as possible.

If you want to take this a step further, research favourite patisseries from people who have visited or live there. Do this by Googling to find blogs written about French patisseries, contacting the local pastry schools to see if they have a list of their favourites, or searching Instagram’s hashtags for “French pastry chef” or something similar and direct message the person for their picks.

Learn how to recreate amazing French food at home

One of my favourite things I did while in Paris was take pastry and cooking lessons. I wanted to learn how to make the amazing things I was eating there, back home so I can pretend I was in France whenever I needed a pick-me-up.

There are immersive programs for a certain number of days where you live and learn to bake in a chateau or local chefs property, there are day programs where you can choose what you specifically want to learn, or there are full school program.

One thing you want to make sure before you sign up for one, is if they are presented in English, or at the very least, they have an English translator.

What sounds better than trying all the different varieties of wine in France to have your own personal tasting? Now you don’t have to visit every single wine region, but the more power to you if you do!

Try and incorporate one wine region to your trip, if possible, and do a wine tour of the vineyards. These tours can be set up at the local tourist office, or you can also make up your own (and hit a lot more places) if you have a car.

While in these wine regions, seek out where you can drink the local wine inexpensively (so you can try more with out breaking the bank). In Bordeaux there is a wine bar, Bar a Vin Ecole du Vin Bordeaux, right across from the tourist office that has glasses of wine where most of them are only 2 Euros! The Bordeaux Wine Council makes these prices possible, as their mission is to promote the local wine.

To round out how to taste as many varieties of French wine, while you are having lunch or dinner, be sure to choose a different wine each time. Now this doesn’t have to be in a restaurant, you can do it much more inexpensively and pick out your wine at the local grocery story, for some great bottles and very inexpensive prices. Remember you can have your own picnic or wine time in any of the public parks while people watching and scenic viewing.

Live the French lifestyle

The French are all about living a decadent slow joyous life. While you are there, take your time in the morning, visit a café, sit and watch the world go by. Wear simple but classic chic clothes. Watch how they interact with one another, both romantically and platonically and see how you can incorporate that into your relationships. Own your body…quit the shame game and love what you have right now. Enjoy every single thing you eat, don’t scarf it down, eat slowly and intentional.

So go out sightseeing at a slower pace, have along lunch, sleep in some mornings, and don’t feel like you need to see every single thing. You will thank yourself for doing this.

When your trip is over and you are back to your normal life, be sure to bring some of these things into your days and see how adding these things in can be great for your soul.