Forums > Social Chat > Travelling in France

Posted: 26th Feb 2002
Train. There are different regions of europe covered by train passes and you have a certain amount of days to cover the region (very reasonable). It is the fastest and I think the cheapest way to travel. I think they are called either euro-pass or eurail-pass.But if you understand french, then might as well hitch. I guess it is risky for anyone anywhere. Have fun!!!

Posted: 27th Feb 2002
My french teacher has been to france a ton of times.. and she has always mentioned the idea of Youth Hostiles and host families. I had a host family in Versailles for two weeks.. the experience was incredible. They loved having an American for a while.------------------I dreamt that I ate a 10 pound marshmellow and then when I woke up, my pillow was gone!

I dreamt that I ate a 10 pound marshmellow and then when I woke up, my pillow was gone!

Posted: 27th Feb 2002
Hi Ros,In order to answer your question fully I'd need to know a bit more about you :how old are you ? is the person traveling with you male or female ?what is it you want ? travel around ? find a few spots and spend a week or two each time ?what's your level in french ?In general I'd say hitching can be tricky. However, I've had many friends do that in france and Europe and they had no real troubles. French are not particularly used to this form of traveling.Doing it alone would be slightly tricky, two girls is slightly better but still not the best. I guess having a guy around would sound better to me. you know you can always turn an offer down and usually you learn to sense the dirty old b*****ds but that ain't 100% reliable... Ok... so what is my answer ? Honestly : don't do it if you can avoid it.Eurorail (train) or Europass(bus) can be a great great option to travel through Europe... but I don't know how good it'd be within france... you might want to double check that for that would definitely be my recommandation.travel cheap ? well... we do have hostels andguestrooms and campings and stuff and they are decent usually allthough still not cheap as in Grece or whatnot. I never know what people mean by "low budget"... but you can also decide to travel and work some place. n the south i am sure you'd find jobs as waiteress for a while... great way to make money and learn French. if you are more into the "nature" vibe then why don't you look up in the WWOF org (Willing workers on organic farms) you know ? they surely have an available list for France, that sure could be a GREAT way to travel , brush up your French and meet some amazing people...All right ... that's all I can think of for now but i sure will get back to you if I think of something. shine onCassandra

"I want brown bread... no, that is diesel oil..."
"So I was raised in Europe, where History comes from ..."
"NON !!! La Plume de mon oncle n est pas Bingibangibungi !!!"

Posted: 27th Feb 2002
hey - thanks for the input My French is mainly learned through school and currently up to A-grade in A/S level but i've spent a few weeks for the last 3 summers in France. I'm (hopefully) going to be travelling with a lad a year older (me 17, him 18) so it's a bit safer than being on my own or even with another girl.We're looking mainly at hostels and the like and just spending a few days in each place then moving on. Just vague ideas at the mo. Robbie's planning on travelling out with me and then wandering down to the south coast where I'll be looking for a job for what's left of July and the whole of August and he's coming back again - well that's the plan anyway! Just an idea, like I said, but we're trying to make it happen!I did a similar thing last year but only for three weeks as that was all the time I could get off work, but we just travelled down the west coast for a few days and stayed in the same place for a fortnight snd this time I want to get about a bit first........just thoughts really As for the low budget bit.....if I manage to get myself a little job then august won't be a problem - It's getting about and accomodation that shortened our stay last time as we didn't have enough money to stay longer. Just trying to be comfy (well, just not too uncomfy!) and have a bit of fun without too much financial strain! Ros xx

Geologists do it in the dirt................