France has been part of my life for a long time. Long before I became a full-time traveler, I spent summers riding bicycles through the French countryside with my family, back when getting lost meant unfolding a paper map and hoping for the best. It was also Jessica's first international trip when she visited her sister there during college.
When we finally visited France together, we skipped Paris entirely and headed straight for the French Riviera. We spent two weeks living and working from Nice and Cannes, trading tourist attractions for coffee shops, seaside walks, and a chance to experience everyday life along the Mediterranean.
One of my favorite memories from that trip involved the hilltop village of Èze. A friend told us we absolutely had to visit, so we hopped on a train without doing much research. What nobody mentioned was that getting from the train station to the village isn't really a walk—it's an uphill hike. There we were in summer clothes and flip-flops, slowly making our way up a dusty trail while everyone around us looked significantly more prepared. By the time we reached Èze we were sweaty and questioning our life choices. Looking back, it's one of the funniest memories from our time in France.
The Riviera ended up being exactly what we hoped it would be: beautiful coastline, walkable cities, great food, and a relaxed pace of life. We spent our days bouncing between Nice and Cannes, working during the day and exploring in the evenings, which gave us a chance to experience the area differently than we would have on a typical vacation.
Paris came later. Like most first-time visitors, we eventually made our way through the postcard checklist: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, and as many famous sights as we could fit into a short stay.
Oddly enough, my strongest memory from Paris isn't any of the landmarks. We completely underestimated the weather and showed up dressed for somewhere much warmer. During a five-hour walking tour, I was absolutely freezing. One of the other people in our group eventually took pity on me and lent me a windbreaker. The unfortunate side effect was that I ended up looking exactly like Larry David in every photo we took that day.
What I appreciate most about France is how much variety it offers. Paris feels completely different from Nice, Cannes, and the villages along the Riviera, which feel completely different from the countryside I remember from childhood. It's a country we've experienced in several different ways over the years, and I have a feeling we'll continue finding reasons to come back.