100 Goals for France: Take Two

If you may or may not know, I spent 5 months in France in 2014. In September I’ll be off to Europe again as I’ve accepted a job as an English-Teaching assistant for the academic year in Académie Nancy-Metz. The first time I went to France I made a list of 100 goals to accomplish in my old blog because that’s what my high school French teacher had them do. Those first goals were pretty cute and included things like ‘get on a plane for the first time’. However, I did do most if not all of them some of which I swapped out for cooler things I ended up doing. Now that I’m experienced it’s a little different but I’m also trying to get to things I missed out on and branch out a little more. So here’s the next 100, definitely comment if you have a suggestion and we’ll see if I accomplish them all!

1. Meet my German relatives (Cousins of my grandma on my mom’s side)
2. Keep blogging the whole time
3. Do solo trips
4. Do group trips
5. Take lots of pictures
6. Find a way to do something with ticket stubs and souvenirs
7. Find good and not touristy souvenirs
8. Actually keep a written journal this time
9. Successfully complete TAPIF!
10. Teach my students a bit about me, my background and Michigan
11. Try the cheese and wine of my region
12. Rent a bike in Paris!
13. Sainte Chapelle in Paris
14. Go to a ‘speakeasy’ in Paris
15. Go to Cafe les deux magots- or somewhere that Simone de Beauvoir wrote/hungout
16. Bois de Vincennes- Largest public park in Paris
17. Bois de Boulogne
18. Angelica’s- cafe for hot chocolate
19. Go to a flea market/antique market
20. Go to an open-air market
21. La Promenade Plantée- an elevated park in Paris
22. Do the catacombs
23. Go geocaching
24. Okay fine, actually pay to go up the Eiffel Tower this time
25. Go up the Notre Dame (I missed the staircase!)
26. Visit at least one grad school abroad
27. Visit a brewery in France
28. Visit a Winery in France
29. See a musical in French
30. Go to a concert in France
31. Make French friends (for real this time)
32. Master French slang
33. Get fluent-fluent
34. Go to a country where I don’t speak the language!
35. Visit the Netherlands- Amsterdam
36. Van Gough Museum
37. Anne Frank Haus, and more in Amsterdam
38. Visit Belgium- Brussels
39. See the Manneken Pis in Belgium
40. Go to Lindeman’s in vlezenbeek, Blegium where my favorite framboise Belgian Lambic beer is made
41. Visit Denmark- Copenhagen
42. Visit Spain- Barcelona
43. Eat tapas and drink sangria in Spain
44. Hagia Sophia
45. Visit Strasbourg
46. Visit Bordeaux
47. Visit Burgandy
48. Visit Germany Hamburg, Berlin
49. Visit the Czech-Republic (Czechia)- Prague
50. Marseille and/or Nice
51. Aix-en-Provence
52. Pont au Double where they danced in American in Paris and Audrey Hepburn stood in Charade
53. Visit Audrey Hepburn’s grave and home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland
54. Go to Switzerland
55. Visit Kilomètre Zéro again
56. Visit Hungary Budapest
57. Visit at least one country in Scandinavia
58. Visit Italy see what the whole fuss is all about.
59. Roman Holiday
60. Visit Ireland Belfast
61. Go back to London-UK to go see all the things I didn’t see last time
62. See a British actor in London
63. Find a cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote and buy a copy of Harry Potter there
64. Go back to Luxembourg because it’ll be so close
65. Become 100% confident with grammar, slang and speaking
66. Be reunited with my beloved white chocolate kinder buenos
67. Be reunited with my favorite “deluxe potatoes” at McDonalds
68. Eat doner kebab for the first time in forever
69. Get a giant Kinder Surprise for Easter
70. Visit B-Town! Do all of my favorite things in Besancon
71. Visit some fellow Broncos Abroad
72. Visit some new small, story-book like cities in France
73. Visit my host family
74. Visit someone from the CLA
75. Find a favorite bakery that’s not a chain
76. Eat Pizza in Italy (Only because it’s obligatory). Venice, Rome
77. Throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain
78. Statue of David
79. Colosseum/Ruins in Italy
80. Finally go to the south of France and go to the beach
81. Visit a Vineyard in France
82. Visit a real Chateau
83. Find le petit triton in the Versailles Gardens
84. Visit a Lavender Field in France
85. Visit a place where perfume is made in France
86. Visit the Christmas Markets in France!
87. Go vintage clothing shopping in Paris
88. Buy one of the infamous English sayings shirts for fun
89. Go to Mont St. Michel
90. Avenue Montaigne- Like that movie and the theatre cafe
91. Go to a huge bibliothèque (library)
92. Museum Georges Pompidou
93. Montparnasse Cemetery-where Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Serge Gainsbourg
94. Monet’s Garden in Giverny
95. Go to a museum in Paris I haven’t been to yet like the Rodin Museum
96. Celebrate American holidays abroad, Thanks giving, Halloween
97. Christmas and New Years (bonne année!)  and eat another kings cake (galette des rois)
98. Go to some kind of Music Festival
99. Continue to not have an allergic reaction to peanuts abroad
100. Pack my bags up after 9-10 abroad and come back to the states
101. Also decide on grad school….

So there’s a bonus goal in there, but I’d like to here your suggestions. As a more experienced traveler this time, where should I go and what should I do that I haven’t done yet?

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