Vacation in France

In August, my stage, or group, of Peace Corps Volunteers was nearing the 8-months-at-site mark, which meant (1) we had accumulated enough vacation days to take a 2 week trip (PCVs gain 2 vacation days/month), and (2) we were ready for a break from site. Also, many education PCVs travel during the summer, since they don't really have a chance to during the school year. Therefore, in August, it seemed like the Burkina Peace Corps population diminished by half.

I was one of the many who left in August. Joe and I had planned a vacation in France for 2 weeks. Well, it was really Joe who did all the planning. With my excruciatingly slow internet at site, it would have taken forever to look up just one potential activity or place to stay. We met up in the south of France, after only a few flight mishaps, and enjoyed a few nice days near Nice. I was excited about being able to go to the beach! But apparently, the beaches in Nice are all rocky. Very little sand, just lots of medium-sized, smooth rocks. Picturesque, to be sure, but slightly painful on the feet. Especially if there are waves crashing into you, making you fall into the shore as you're trying to get out of the water, as I found out through first-hand experience. We also went to Monaco for an evening, though opted not to go and lose money at the famous casino. Instead, we stood outside, marveling at the army of luxury cars parked in the lot.

The next stop was Vaison la Romaine, in Provence. We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast owned by a couple that spoke pretty good English. Actually, for most of this trip, I didn't really need to speak French. I guess many places are used to English-speaking tourists. One of the highlights of this leg of the vacation was a cooking class Joe signed us up for! We learned how to make a few traditional Provence dishes, and had a delicious lunch of them afterward. Unfortunately, most of the stuff probably can't be recreated with the limited materials found in Burkina Faso, but maybe Joe will have more luck in New York. One of the afternoons, we decided to bike to Villedieu, a small village about 7 km away. It was a pretty ride through the French countryside, surrounded by vineyards and greenery. Our time in Vaison was pretty relaxing, and of course, we ate a ton of great food.

The last stop in our French adventure was Paris. This was where the bulk of the sightseeing took place. We stayed in an apartment in Paris for a week, and were able to go to most of the big sites. This included Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, and a few other places. Paris was a surprisingly walkable city, and we spent quite a bit of time roaming the streets, stopping at shops and searching for elusive French bakeries (Angelina's and Laduree). Finally found the first one, but despite crossing crowds of people with bags from Laduree, we never actually came upon it. Guess I'll have to wait until I go to their new shop in New York to get a taste of their macaroons.

Paris was filled with many aspects of life I had almost forgotten about, like washing machines, public transportation, and grocery stores. However, there were also some aspects of life in Burkina that I missed, such as greeting each person you pass, even if you don't know them. Of course, it was difficult to go back to Burkina after such a nice vacation, but luckily more traveling and various Peace Corps activities helped keep me busy afterwards!