EF Activities - accrobranche

© Finnish EF leader, except the last photo

Climbing in the trees on a summer day - what a way to spend a day! Rope and tree climbing became one of my favourite activities during our trip. It's something I definitely want to do again! The only thing which made me a bit sad was, that we couldn't do to the course which would've had gliding over a lake. Perhaps it would've been too dangerous or too expensive, I really don't know. Well, the next time I get an opportunity to try climbing and gliding again, I'll take a more difficult course. Maybe the Canary Islands offer these kind of nature adventures. I really hope so!

New friends from all over Europe

My three weeks went as fast as a lightning. I made absolutely wonderful friends from many countries, who I'll probably remember for the rest of my life. I'll be thinking of you with joy, when I'm in a retirement home. Hahaha, thank you so much everybody, I love you. I've always thought, that it's such a richness to have friends in other countries. 

During my trip, this feeling only grew stronger. It's always hard to say goodbye but it just might be worth it. Amongst hundreds of people around Europe, all the cultural differences nothing else but emerged. It was amazing how united I felt with the other Finns. Our language is so weird, that many people wanted to learn it. In favour of teaching, I got to learn some extremely important Italian and German phrases

The roomies! Martina, me and Tora.

Swedish people and me going to the beach!

The SUOMIURPOS. Our little group consisting of two Finns and an Italian. Don't ask why.

The roomies! The two Italians have gone missing though :-(

 My Spanish friend and me in the classroom. She gave me a beautiful bracelet after the three weeks. I thought it was so sweet. Te echo de menos, Mariña <3

The Danish, Swedish and Finnish. Heyaaa!

Free art for everybody! Cannes part 1

Today we went to this city which is famous for its film festival, Cannes. Despite the fact that we were driving right next to the coast line on high mountains with thunder and massive lightnings very near, our trip was a success. At least we're still alive, haha. For the first time here it rained today pretty heavily but it didn't last for very long. These are photos of the art we found outside. It looked so  cheerful because of its colours even on a cloudy day.(which was by the way perfect for wandering around the town) We didn't have to go to an art museum this time!

Haunted city - fort royal at St. Marguerite

The first reaction after we finally got through the gates was: this place is definitely haunted. My friend and I tried going to this place on our own but the man at the ticket stall kept saying we need to be accompanied by an EF adult. Since when were free sights only for adults? We had to get our leader with us! That's the very reason we didn't have time to explore this weird place properly.

Anyway, it's said that a movie based on a true story was filmed on this island in the prison. It sounded so interesting but we never got to the prison. As if we weren't frightened enough already, there was a bunch of french kids eating right outside one of the buildings. Apparently they were staying the night there and these haunted buildings are still used as accommodations. Now that really freaks me out. Us Finnish girls decided that the kids had to be ghosts.

Paradise island - L'île Sainte Marguerite

Discovering the greenest island you've ever seen must be one of the best things during a holiday. Going on a cruise was very refreshing. On the boat I felt so free again after a long time! I'm quite sad that we couldn't stay on the island for more than a few hours. Luckily memories won't fade away. And even if they did, I'd still have a handful of beautiful, smooth stones from this little island as a reminder of the paradise.

P.S. Vive la France! Happy independence day!

Ohana means family - nobody gets left behind or forgotten

Our EF disco from Friday. This time the theme was hawaii, so we were given these super awesome leis, yay! Well, they could've been nicer but anyway. I've made such fantastic friends here, it's unbelievable. To balance my super social life, I decided to stay home today after the long day in Aix en Provence.

Shopping and old town in Nice!

Nice. That was our destination yesterday. The whole day was spent hanging around with the Finnish girls, trying a local food Socca, shopping and exploring the old city. The whole place was very lively, because of a jazz festival, other performances and busy people. The shops were so hot and crowded that I didn't want to try on any clothes! I found a hat and shorts though. Oh, and I was incredibly happy when I actually got to eat real salad, not just the white baguettes and crisps, which we eat every day. I think my stomach won't handle any white bread after this trip!

Swagrius... wait, what?

Everyone got their Hollister - happily returning to St. Raphaël!

Tuesday market at Saint Raphaël

Today we accidentally bumped into a huge market! We were just casually walking from school to the beach and there were these tables in front of us. We enjoyed looking at the weird things, especially the African masks and other decorations. A lot of Finns went to St.Tropez today but I didn't want to go, so I decided to stay with my room mate and her Swedish friends at the beach and shops. The variety of the languages you hear here is so awesome - so far I've heard English, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Russian and of course Finnish.