Bonjour! Bonsoir! Je suis une femme!

Hello! Good evening! I am a woman!

I've just taught you all the French I know. Except for le pomme est rouge and le chat noir (which mean "the apple is red" and "the black cat" and are pretty useless unless you're describing things to a child). I also know how to say crepe, baguette, macaroon, brie and croissant quite well. Getting the food vocabulary secured was my first priority.

Carousel in Arle, France. I think my edited Instagram picture looks much more magical. 

Last weekend, we went on an excursion to the South of France with ISA. Since traveling to Paris in 2010, I fell in love with France and was excited to explore smaller towns with a different feel than the big city.

We spent two nights in Montpellier and spent our days visiting Arles, Aigues Mortes and Collioure. 

Vincent Van Gogh spent a lot of his life and was artisically-inspired by many things in Arles, France. During our walking tour, we got the chance to see a couple of the locations that inspired Van Gogh.

After the tour, we stumbled upon Arles' Saturday morning market and, of course, I left with a couple treats. 

I went for a blackberry macaroon. 

Next stop: Aigues Mortes. This medieval town is still enclosed and has a very...quaint feel to it. It was quiet and not much was going on (except the unbearable heat).

We bought a baguette because the bread is delicious and it seemed like a very french thing to do.

This stop was my favorite. A GIANT chocolate store! 

Exhausted from a long day of sight-seeing in the sun, we spent another night in Montpellier before heading to Collioure, France.

Collioure is a beautiful coastal town with views of the mountains and the sea. The views were so surreal.

At lunch, I ordered what I thought would be a safe, mediterranean salad with some olives and grilled shrimp. Well.

Yes, those are shrimp with their heads fully on. I wasn't prepared and I have no idea how to take the heads off the shrimp (I tried, and some red goo started coming out that told me to just set that one to the side). The toast is topped in caviar - and is surprisingly bland. My favorite part was the pieces of smoked salmon.

So, of course, since I got a salad for lunch I just had to treat myself to a crepe before leaving France.

Yes. Chocolate and banana. 

The towns we visited were way different from Paris, but I still loved them. France has yet to disappoint me! Next on my list to explore in France? Bordeaux, Nice and the countryside. 

Exploring Dali's favorite towns: Figueres and Cadaques

Just a few hours north of Barcelona, and right below the Spain-France border, are two towns that were very dear to Salvador Dali.

 

Figueres is home to the Dali Theatre & Museum. When asked why he chose this specific location, Dali replied: 

"Where, if not in my own town, should the most extravagant and solid of my work endure, where if not here? The Municipal Theatre, or what remained of it, struck me as very appropriate, and for three reasons: first, because I am an eminently theatrical painter; second, because the theatre stands right opposite the church where I was baptised; and third, because it was precisely in the hall of the vestibule of the theatre where I gave my first exhibition of painting."

And "eminently theatrical painter" is quite the understatement. It wasn't just paintings. Dali worked with so many different media - from shadows, to sculptures, full courtyards of figures and so much more.

I wandered through this museum without a real sense of direction, as Dali's intention was to let the visitor make the self-guided tour a part of the experience. It was overwhelming, jaw-dropping, puzzling, intriguing and...random. I'm glad I got to have a little peek inside Dali's brain, but would not revisit this collection of eccentric art.

After our museum visit, we headed to a town called L'Escalas and spent the afternoon on the beach.

This town is known for their anchovies. I didn't try them, but someone in our group did.

THIS was my lunch. Classic. 

We spent the night in Roses, an empty town past 8 o'clock because it's full of elderly travelers. Not joking. So, we did our best to have some fun and got up early for a boat ride to the beautiful coastal town of Cadaques.

Picasso and Dali were both drawn to Cadaques for its unmistakable beauty. It's known for its white buildings, slow pace of life and delicious seafood.

Cadaques was one of my favorite stops thus far! It was so gorgeous and a great trip overall. Highly recommended.

You can find more pictures from Figueres and Cadaques on my Flickr account. 

Cava in Codorniu and an afternoon in Sitges

Coming to Barcelona with ISA has its perks. One of those perks being already-planned excursions for our entire group. The first was this past Friday when we traveled to a cava winery called Codorniu and a southern, coastal city called Sitges.

The Codorniu Cava winery is the world's largest producer of cava.

Cava is produced by the same process of champagne, but it should be noted that champagne is only French. The Spanish do not want you to confuse the two. Essentially, cava is Spain's version of what we know as Champagne.

We were able to walk through one of the buildings that is no longer in use by the winery, but is an attraction and simply something for tourists to see. It's the typical (but, still beautiful) old barrels and other equipment used to make cava.

We then descended downward to the cellar where they store over 100 MILLION bottles of cava on rows and rows of stacked pallets. 100 MILLION! 

After all the walking and touring, I was excited for what came next. A refreshing sample glass of both of the white and rose cavas.

Yes, it was as delicious as it looks, and I treated myself to a bottle of the rose cava to pop on my 21st birthday! 

With cava in tow, we loaded the bus to head to Sitges for some sun and relaxation. Sitges is a small town on the coast, which beautiful buildings and views. It was a great place to spend the afternoon and just hang out. 

Y'ALL. This was the greatest thing I've eaten yet. A slice of baguette topped with guacamole with crab and a slice of raw tuna. I think I would go back just to order a few more. 

Next, look for posts on Figueres and Cadaques, both places very dear to Salvador Dali! More pictures from my adventures can be found on my Flickr account.