|
I lived in France for a while too and loved it!
My recommendations:
France (especially southern France, Paris, and any of the wine regions)
Spain (cheap!) - Barcelona has a beautiful beach
Italy - Go to Florence if you're into art
Those are my recommendations based on places I've been to.
I found the French to be polite if you were polite to them. I saw so many "ugly tourists" (of many nationalities - not just American) yelling at French waitresses/hostesses/other service workers in English that I couldn't blame them for being rude back.
Be sure to combine "fun" with "educational". I visited all the monuments and museums wherever I went and while it was very interesting, it got to a point after a few months where I couldn't tell one ancient monument or cathedral from another. At that point I went to Cannes for a few days during the film festival in May for some mindless celebrity watching.
Change your money to the Euro at a reputable bank in America or Europe, the touristy change booths will give you a bad rate or charge a large fee. Travellers checks are a safe bet but be sure to have some back up currency because not every place will accept the checks.
Lets Go is a good series to find cheap lodging but it has a tendancy to exclude certain restaurants and attractions that you may find interesting because they are a little expensive.
Have fun!
|