#7 France

My first experience of France was on my bus trip around Europe. It was a brief, but charmed introduction. We started with a few days in Paris, then travelled down to the Loire valley for a look at some castles, then off down to Bordeaux with a night's stop over in Lourdes.

Lourdes was an amazing place. I'm not religious at all, so it was rather odd seeing so many people with such strong faith venerating the site of a Christian visitation. I tried being cynical about it, but it was quite touching seeing people being wheeled up the shrine on hospital beds hoping for a miracle cure.

After a brief trip into Spain, we then came back into the south coast of France. We spent a few nights on the Riviera. I expected something crass and tacky similar to the Gold Coast in Australia, but it was much, much more than that. Very classy, refined and atmospheric.

I went back a year or so later to Paris for New Year's Eve. The city is just an amazing place. It's on a similar scale to London, but with a completely different feel. The tourist areas just ooze charm and style. That trip, I went out to Versailles, which was amazing. My hot tip is to join a guided tour of the inside of the palace. Not only do you get to see restricted areas of the palace, but the queue is really small, so you get straight in!

The following year, I went back in the summer to see Madonna in concert. She was great and Paris was just stunning in the summer.

Another year, another trip to France. This time, to the north of the country, courtesy of a short trip over on Eurostar. Again, the scenery was amazing and the food great. The highlight was a trip to the Australian war graves from WWI. I challenge anyone to go there and not end up a crying blubby mess. Very moving.

The next year, I spent a week driving around the south of France. That's really gorgeous as well, especially the Cathar region. Not to be missed!