When you first think of France, you think of Paris, a lovely city full of food, wine, and secret nooks just begging to be found. Paris embodies the world’s idea of what French culture looks like, but is Paris truly the only stop you need to make when visiting a country as wide and varied as France? Imagine someone visiting your country said they only needed to visit New York City? What about the Grand Canyon, or the mangrove forests in Florida, or New Orleans? There is so much to see in every country, and though we may never see every town and city in any country, we should make it a point to visit other cities and towns not as widely known as Paris, or London, or Tokyo. You may learn something new about a culture you thought you knew, or you may find that you love that small town more than the big city.

As someone who is passionate about traveling and learning about the world around us, I love to explore the lesser-known parts of a country. We all know Paris, especially post-Olympic Games, and we all have an idea of what French culture is. Think high fashion, exquisite wine, Michelin stars, and snobby attitudes. Imagine that you only saw that part of France and didn’t attempt to see what else was there behind the big, flashing lights of the Eiffel Tower. What are you missing out on, what histories and cultures and foods are you sacrificing when you decide to stick to what was known, rather than the unknown? If you want to get the most out of your trip to France, put down your phone, stop the music playing on your speakers, and follow me on my own journey through France.

When I first went to France with my High School class at 15 years old, we were only able to visit Paris. I was thrilled, because I had always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and Versailles and eat a baguette for lunch. We had a very regimented schedule, and we were unable to explore the city, and most of our tours were cut short thanks to our flight being delayed. I remember coming home, missing Paris, but also being sad at the fact that we hardly saw anything else. We saw the things I wanted to see, but nothing I was curious to see or explore.

When I was given the opportunity to study abroad, I was given two options: study in Paris, or study in La Rochelle, a small city on the Atlantic Coast. I chose the small city. I had already seen Paris, had already been there, and like many major cities in the world, it was not quite as clean and friendly as I had noticed my first trip there. I wanted to see more of France, and through my French studies before my return, I learned so much more about the various cultures, accents, and cities I was unable to experience the first time. To fully immerse myself, I also chose to stay with a local family in La Rochelle, which is one of the best decisions I have ever made to this day.

When I arrived at La Rochelle, I was greeted by a very cheerful and kind woman, Odile, my host mother. She was raised in the Loire Valley, and moved to La Rochelle many years prior. She had been an English professor for several years, though at that point she had been retired for some time and her English was not quite as good as she had wanted. I also met Jose, my host dad, who was originally from Brittany, France. He was also incredibly nice, and though he did not know much English, he always made sure to make me smile and take me to some lesser-known local spots. They both were so very different from the people I met in Paris, both in spirits and in lifestyle. They were very laid-back, approachable, and kind. So were most of the locals, and the employees of the restaurants I frequented often took time to practice their English and ask me questions about the United States. You would be pressed to find that kind of restaurant in Paris.

The history in La Rochelle was also very different from that of Paris. No kings were rumored to have died there, lived there, or fought there. Yes, there was still war, and La Rochelle was an important port during the 100 years war and the transatlantic trade, but their history was more ancient, and held more ancient architecture. One of the places I was told by my host parents to visit were the towers at the port opening of La Rochelle. The towers are the landmarks of La Rochelle, and unlike the gilded castles of Paris, these towers were plain, and spoke of an older construction. When you visit the towers, one on either side of the port, you climb up worn steps and reach floors where British prisoners, protestants, and more were captured and wrote their stories, names, and hopes with their chains on the soft, sandstone bricks. You can still see the carvings today, and there is an interactive exhibit where you can carve with a chain on a piece of stone just how the prisoners did.

It was incredible to see the carvings, and imagine how it was to be a prisoner in the towers. While at La Rochelle, I also had the privilege of seeing defunct WWII bunkers left by the Germans on the beaches of Ile de Re, the beautiful island connected to La Rochelle by a bridge. The stone and metal scars are littered along the Conche des Baleines beach and are now falling into the ocean. As of this summer, you can still go inside and see the graffiti and rooms dotted with European beach grass. As far as I am aware, you would be unable to find this kind of access to an old bunker anywhere near Paris without paying.

Also at Ile de Re where donkeys with thick, long fur, very different from the idea of donkeys that I have had. Their history in Ile de Re began as farm animals who were suffering from mosquito-born illnesses, and so to combat that, the inhabitants put pants on the donkeys. While I was unable to see the donkeys in pants, I was lucky enough to see them out and about near Saint Martin-de-Re on our way to get ice-cream. They were so unlike any donkey I had ever seen, and they were in their natural habitat. We also took a small trip that same day to the ruins of the Abbey des Chateliers, a 12th century monastery that, at one time, has been the largest Abbey in all of Western France. Again, this was a free excursion that you most likely would not be able to find in Paris. Through my travels in and around La Rochelle, I realized that Paris was not the end-all, be-all of France. France has a much deeper and fascinating history, and you can explore that history by taking a chance and exploring a city other than Paris.

I would love to give you many more examples of gorgeous cities all around France in this post, but I must come back to them in other posts. The point of what I have been saying is that we should not ignore what we don’t know in favor of what we do know. Paris may feel safe because you are familiar with it, but some of the best places are those you don’t know anything about yet. As always, when you are traveling abroad, pick up a travel book, learn about the country you will be visiting, and see if there is another town you’d like to visit, or an interesting experience you want to have that you were unaware of before. You might just find that your next trip won’t be in Paris, but in La Rochelle, Carnac, or Nantes.

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