France is such a beautiful place. It’s so crazy how different Paris is to other areas in France! The countryside is so peaceful and full of nature with bright pops of colour opposed to a city full of buildings with stylish Parisians cruising the streets. But the amazing thing I noticed in Paris compared to other large cities of the world is that there are no modern buildings! All the architecture is from the French Revolution and around that time. So when you step onto the streets you feel like you have gone back in time.
I loved visiting all the extravagant landmarks Paris had to offer such as the Louvre art museum, the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and other ancient churches. I could sit and paint the buildings and landscape all day! I also thoroughly enjoyed the French food. The beautifully crafted pastries and deserts were to die for!
After Paris we ventured to Blois, Avignon and Sainte Maxime. In between these places we stopped at smaller locations to look around. I saw old towns that looked like part of the mountain scape. The buildings were all made of thick stone from hundreds of years ago. We stopped at our first French beach in Sainte Maxime and I was pretty impressed. It was still very different to Australian beaches that I am used to though. The best ice cream I had in France was in Sainte Tropez which is right next to Sainte Maxime. I had stracciatella flavour. If you are wondering what that is or how to pronounce it well I actually don’t know how to pronounce it... but it is creamy vanilla ice cream with random chocolates spread through it. Yum!
As soon as I crossed the border into Italy it felt like I stepped into another world! The buildings, people and food had drastically changed within minutes of just driving onto new land! There were pockets of cramped cities and villages in the valley of every mountain and all the buildings are always coloured in beautiful colours. We visited Riomaggiore, Florence, Rome, Positano and Venice.
To reach our first destination in Italy we had to drive up some very windy roads and in and out of lots of mountains! But when we got there it was worth it. Riomaggiore is a tiny fishing village built in the valley between two mountains. The roads are very skinny but the town was beautiful. We walked to the water and got an amazing view of the colourful buildings. I did some painting of the landscape while I was there.
Florence is the home of art and breathtaking churches. I loved walking through the old streets and discovering cool places to eat and shop. By the way Florence had the best pizza out of the places we went in Italy. Very important information you needed to know.
In Positano we had an amazing view from the side of a cliff where our balcony was. It was like nothing I had ever seen before! We had to walk down hundreds of steps to reach the beach but walking back up was really the hard part! We had lemon sorbet out of a real lemon at the beach. It was so fresh and delicious. The sand was large rocks which made me really grateful of Australian beaches with sand that is nice on the feet! I loved drawing the scenery and looking at the ocean.
Venice was my favourite place in Italy. Everywhere you turn is beautiful! I really enjoyed painting all the beautiful colours and architecture. Riding in a boat through the main canal was the best view of Venice. You could see buildings that were thousands of years old which had water knocking at their doors. I loved the idea of boats replacing cars. It was funny to see the taxi boat and ‘hop on hop off’ boat replacing road vehicles. I am definitely going to go back to Venice one day.
I loved everything about Italy and will definitely visit again. I had pasta everyday without fail! Now to Austria where more adventures await! And a five star hotel...
I loved visiting all the extravagant landmarks Paris had to offer such as the Louvre art museum, the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and other ancient churches. I could sit and paint the buildings and landscape all day! I also thoroughly enjoyed the French food. The beautifully crafted pastries and deserts were to die for!
After Paris we ventured to Blois, Avignon and Sainte Maxime. In between these places we stopped at smaller locations to look around. I saw old towns that looked like part of the mountain scape. The buildings were all made of thick stone from hundreds of years ago. We stopped at our first French beach in Sainte Maxime and I was pretty impressed. It was still very different to Australian beaches that I am used to though. The best ice cream I had in France was in Sainte Tropez which is right next to Sainte Maxime. I had stracciatella flavour. If you are wondering what that is or how to pronounce it well I actually don’t know how to pronounce it... but it is creamy vanilla ice cream with random chocolates spread through it. Yum!
As soon as I crossed the border into Italy it felt like I stepped into another world! The buildings, people and food had drastically changed within minutes of just driving onto new land! There were pockets of cramped cities and villages in the valley of every mountain and all the buildings are always coloured in beautiful colours. We visited Riomaggiore, Florence, Rome, Positano and Venice.
To reach our first destination in Italy we had to drive up some very windy roads and in and out of lots of mountains! But when we got there it was worth it. Riomaggiore is a tiny fishing village built in the valley between two mountains. The roads are very skinny but the town was beautiful. We walked to the water and got an amazing view of the colourful buildings. I did some painting of the landscape while I was there.
Florence is the home of art and breathtaking churches. I loved walking through the old streets and discovering cool places to eat and shop. By the way Florence had the best pizza out of the places we went in Italy. Very important information you needed to know.
In Positano we had an amazing view from the side of a cliff where our balcony was. It was like nothing I had ever seen before! We had to walk down hundreds of steps to reach the beach but walking back up was really the hard part! We had lemon sorbet out of a real lemon at the beach. It was so fresh and delicious. The sand was large rocks which made me really grateful of Australian beaches with sand that is nice on the feet! I loved drawing the scenery and looking at the ocean.
Venice was my favourite place in Italy. Everywhere you turn is beautiful! I really enjoyed painting all the beautiful colours and architecture. Riding in a boat through the main canal was the best view of Venice. You could see buildings that were thousands of years old which had water knocking at their doors. I loved the idea of boats replacing cars. It was funny to see the taxi boat and ‘hop on hop off’ boat replacing road vehicles. I am definitely going to go back to Venice one day.
I loved everything about Italy and will definitely visit again. I had pasta everyday without fail! Now to Austria where more adventures await! And a five star hotel...
Wonderful to have your reflections on France Layla. Amazing memories that will stay with you for the rest of your life I'm sure. 💜💜
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