By Ashley C., guest blogger studying French in Lyon, France

Avignon: I don?t think you can look at Google Images of Avignon, and get a feel for whether or not the place is worth visiting. Avignon is just an experience. Everywhere, there are people in costumes who hand out flyers to their next theatre performance.  There are people who sing opera in the street; there are people dressed up as bears, and people who play the piano down the side walk. You can definitely go to Avignon without a plan, and just wander around the central downtown. There are enough street
performers to see to last you an entire weekend! It?s one of the most colorful places I?ve ever visited, and I think if you get as far as Lyon, you should definitely spend a weekend here.

Annecy: Annecy is the most popular place to visit on the weekend for the students at my school. It?s beautiful. The water in the lake is incredibly clean (apparently, according to my guide book, it wasn?t all the clean back in the 1950s, but Annecy cleaned it up to increase the tourist populations. Their efforts were successful!). Good hiking, great camping (if you?ve got a tent!), and lots of paddle boating. I just hung out at the beach mostly, and had a great time.

Geneva: If you like to relax when you travel, definitely go to Geneva. I say this because I had the most wonderful time in Geneva, but other people have told me that they didn?t find much to do. Then I thought back on what I did in Geneva, and I remembered I had only hung out on a paddle boat all day. That said, I?ve been on a lot of paddle boats, and there is nothing like paddle boating in Geneva. Again, the water is incredibly clean! Everything is beautiful. Also, visit the Red Cross museum if you can,
and know that it closes early (like everything else in Geneva!).

Dijon: I went here just to experience another city in France, but honestly it wasn?t worth the coin. The mustard is pretty cool to sample, but otherwise there?s not that much to see.

Paris: One word: GO!

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Read all of Ashley's blogs from Lyon France.