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A Missed Visit to Mont-Saint-Michel (and how you can learn from my mistakes)

In college, I saw a film that started an obsession with a place I had to visit. The film was “Mindwalk,” and the place was the film’s setting – the mystical islet of Mont Saint-Michel off the coast of Normandy. Years later, when I was planning a trip around France it only made sense that I would include a day trip to Mont Saint-Michel from Paris.

It seemed like such a simple idea. In retrospect, this should have been my first clue that it wasn’t going to work out.

The day was one long series of complications, and although it ended on a positive note, it remains one of my biggest travel regrets that I wasn’t able to get to Mont Saint-Michel. Travel SNAFUs happen – even to travel pros – but you can learn from our mistakes.

Photo Credit: LoboStudio

Plan Ahead

This is the most obvious remedy to most travel complications, but it’s also easy to ignore. We so often hear that spontaneity is where the fun is – especially when it comes to travel – but there are some things that require advance planning.

The main reasons you would need to plan ahead for a day trip or a particular attraction are:

• Attractions Aren’t Open Every Day – Many tourist attractions have one day a week that they’re closed. It’s easy to forget what day it is when you’re on vacation, but it sucks to find out that the one day you’ve got set aside to visit the Uffizi (for instance) happens to be the day it’s closed. Look up the open days/hours of the attractions you want to visit in each city you’ve got on your itinerary, and then you can shift your plans by a day if something is closed.
• Tickets Sell Out – Some attractions sell a limited number of tickets per day, so if you plan on waiting until you get into town you could miss out. In some cases – such as the main museums in Florence – there’s a ticket window re-selling last-minute cancellations, but you won’t have your pick of entry times. In other cases – such as the Last Supper in Milan – tickets sell out months in advance and your only alternative is to book a whole city tour that includes the painting.
• Public Transportation Isn’t 24/7 – Most of us are accustomed to public transportation being round the clock, but in many places that’s not the case. Trains and buses don’t run 24 hours a day, and their Sunday/holiday schedules are even more limited. If your day trip is planned for a Sunday or a holiday when buses and trains won’t be as useful, that’s when booking an organized tour or renting a car for the day might be your only option.

Have a Plan B

After unexpectedly bursting into tears in a French train station upon realizing I wouldn’t be able to get to Mont Saint-Michel, my day was rescued by my quick-thinking travel companions who said, “Hey, we’re close to the D-Day beaches, right?” I was too emotional to see any other options, so I remain thankful that I was with friends who led the way. These days, I’m better able to get past frustrations and think on my feet – an invaluable skill for a traveler.

The key in most travel situations, of course, is that you may not know what your Plan B is until you realize Plan A won’t work – but being open to the possibility of a Plan B will get you a very long way, indeed.

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About the Author: Jessica Spiegel is the Italy travel expert for indie travel guide BootsnAll, and every single time she looks up Paris airfare she still thinks of Mont Saint-Michel. She really hopes she can get there someday…

Looking for expert help in planning your trip to France? Click here to see the ways I can help!

Spas in Umbria

Umbria – the central Italian region long known for its bucolic rolling landscape, picturesque stone hill towns, fabulous art and architecture, and hearty country cuisine – has been late hopping on the spa bandwagon, but over recent years a number of fabulous, luxury spas that combine wellness and pampering with culture and history have opened their doors.

Most offer elegant accommodations, if you are dreaming of a romantic weekend away, or day-spa packages for a special treat during a longer stay in this beautiful region.

Where I Want to Go When I Die (Nun, Assisi)

© Nun Relais

Dear God,

I know I haven’t lived a perfect life. I realize heaven is probably off the table for me by now. That said, I would just like to remind you that I have lived for almost twenty years next door to my Italian mother-in-law and haven’t yet committed matricide, which should count for something.

So, in lieu of the pearly gates, when my time comes I humbly ask to be sent to the new Nun Relais and Spa Museum in Assisi.  This breathtaking five-star complex includes a full hammam-style spa, which has been artfully incorporated into the extensive remains of a 1^st century BC Roman amphitheater unearthed during construction work in 2008.

With a basic entrance fee of €45, this is a treat within reach of even the meekest of sinners. Amen.

In Vino Veritas ( Le Tre Vaselle, Torgiano)

© Bella Uva

Five star luxury country hotel Le Tre Vaselle’s BellaUva Wellness Center specializes in treatments featuring grapes, grape seeds, must, and wine from their own Lungarotti vineyards.  Long known to have antioxidant properties benefitting the skin and circulation, reducing stress (Yep. I can vouch for the whole wine-use-for-stress-reduction thing.) and signs of age, grapes have inspired a selection of vinotherapy treatments, including massages, facials, and a wine bath.

The best part of the package is the tasting of their house Rubesco–if soaking in some hearty red doesn’t relax you, tossing it down the gullet probably will.

The Villa Life (Villa di Monte Solare, Perugia)

© Villa Monte Solare

This stately 18th century villa near Umbria’s provincial capital seems to belong to the lost world of the Forster novel.  Now an elegant hotel and restaurant, the villa is surrounded by a formal garden and boasts a Limonaia, which houses their Le Muse Spa.

Indulge yourself with their massages, sauna, and Turkish bath, or one of their Charme d’Orient treatments—including Hammam, Ayurvedic massage, and shirodhara (Don’t worry…I had to google it, too.).  They also have a selection of treatments designed for expectant mothers, if you are pampering for two.

Boot Camp With Velvet Gloves (Health Center Marc Mességué, Todi)

© Messeque Health Center

If you yearn for an iron-fist-in-velvet-glove luxury boot camp experience, this is the place.

Part of the Mességué family’s group of herbal health centers, the spa is housed in the lovely medieval castle Torre Errighi.  Clients are given a thorough medical check-up followed by a detoxifying herbal treatment and rejuvenating diet (and, of course, all the pampering extras one expects from a top shelf spa: massages, beauty treatments, Turkish baths, inhalations).

The spa offers day treatments, though the philosophy behind the Mességué program lends itself to a longer stay. Yes, a stay at the five-star castle (where the staff-to-guest ratio is 1:1) will certainly be a sacrifice, but it’s for the sake of your health, remember?

Champagne Taste, Beer Money (Castaeaquae, Assisi)

© Castae Aquae

If you are looking for a little pampering, but managed to max out the credit card on Umbrian wine, ceramics, truffles, and linens, don’t despair.  This friendly, informal wellness center, part of the family run La Terrazza Hotel, offers all the comforts of a high-end spa for a fraction of the cost.

I especially like their Ritual packages, which begin and end with a massage and have sauna, Turkish bath, or Jacuzzi sessions and herbal infusions included…all for €100.

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Rebecca Winke is an Innkeeper and Blogger who moved to Italy from Chicago in 1993 and shortly thereafter opened an agriturismo in her husband’s renovated family farmhouse at the foot of Mount Subasio near Assisi, Umbria.  She spends her time taking care of guests at Brigolante, blogging about the lovely region she now calls home at Rebecca’s Ruminations, and wondering about what strange winds blew an urban vegetarian to a farm in Umbria.

Traveling to Italy?  Click here to see how I can help plan your trip!

Southern Italian Christmas Traditions

The holiday season is one of the most enchanting times to visit southern Italy. Cities throughout the mezzogiorno light up with shooting stars, dangling lights of red and gold and bold signs declaring “Auguri,” and “Buone Feste,” as shoppers scurry by in their furry scarves and matching gloves from shop to shop.

Although four Christmases have passed since I moved to southern Italy in 2006, December 25, 2010 will mark the first Christmas Day that I’ll be in Calabria. There are certain traditions I’m looking forward to in my attempt to maximize this Calabrian Christmas … some I’ve seen before, others I’ve only heard about through my new Calabrian family or southern Italian friends. And yes, I’m getting excited about all of them. However, there are a few traditions that I’m specifically attracted to. Here are five of them.

Daily Dose of Bread of Gold
Since late November, store shelves have been overflowing with dome-shaped boxes, covered in shades of red, purple or gold and advertising the ever-popular, pandoro … or literally, “bread of gold.” While this is technically a northern Italian invention, along with its cousin, panettone, the cake is also popular throughout the south and for the last week or so, has been my breakfast cake of choice.

Tour of the Presepe
In tradition-rich southern Italy, homes, shops and churches make room for their presepe, or nativity scenes, much like we do for our Christmas trees back home-and just as we pride ourselves on a perfectly placed ornament or hole-less Christmas tree, Italians fuss over their presepe. They are typically several feet long and can take up the better part of a large wall.

Scenes are set, similar to a Department 56 Dickens’ Village, with villagers, a starry night and with the most important character, Baby Jesus, waiting to be placed in his bed of hay on Christmas Eve. Every year, the churches in Catanzaro open their doors for a nightly tour of the presepe, an event I’ve missed every year … except this one.

Il Cenone
Put together course, after course, after course, after course of the finest seafood dishes in the Mediterranean and what do you get? Il Cenone! Sometimes called “The Feast of the Seven Fishes,” by Italian-Americans, this Christmas Eve banquet is one southern Italian tradition I’ve always wanted to try and luckily, this year is the year.

However, this dinner event brings with it a whole new set of issues … like choosing dishes, narrowing the menu and most importantly – timing yourself so you can eat-and enjoy!-every last bite.

Midnight Mass
Yes, yes, Catholics throughout the world celebrate the season with Midnight Mass, however, in my pint-sized hometown in Texas, the 100 Catholics or so who comprise our tiny congregation gather on the evening of the 24th, rather than at midnight. So, yea … I’m looking forward to attending the real deal this year.

A Visit from La Befana
I have to admit I’m a little fascinated … in a quasi-obsessive kind of way, with the idea of a Christmas witch delivering gifts and stockings to people on January 5, the night before the Epiphany. Think about it … in the US, Christmas presents have been opened, trees have been taken down, decorations, stockings and ornaments all boxed and discarded for the next 11 months.

But not in Italy. Oh no, there is more to look forward to and oh yea, I’m looking forward to it.

Have you celebrated Christmas in Italy? What are some of your favorite traditions?Which ones would you want to try if you were here?

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Cherrye Moore wrote this guest post for Mindware Seminars which organizes dental travel seminars. Find out more about them on their website or read more about living and traveling in southern Italy on Cherrye’s site, My Bella Vita.

Photo Credits: Mino San Tome / Trevino

Foods of Southern Italy

You know how I feel about Italy and Italian food.  It’s love.  Always love.  And though I know quite a bit about the food in Northern and Central Italy, other than fish, lemons and limoncello that I sampled on the Amalfi coast – I have yet to try many other Southern Italian specialties.

Here to tell us more about foods in Italy’s southern region, is none other than my Travel Tip Tuesday partner – Cherrye.

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Southern Italy food is characterized by spicy red pepper, fresh fruits and vegetables and a healthy combination of meat and fish-from both the mountains and the seas that surround the land.

Some of the most famous contributions to Italian food are abundant in the south, especially olive oil, wines and cheese. Here is a quick roundup of some of my favorite dishes from five of the regions in southern Italy.

Campania

Yes, yes, Naples gave birth to the pizza and it is likely their most famous invention-and one my husband and I celebrate a couple of times a week-but another tasty treat from Campania is the lemon-infused digestive liquor, limoncello.

Limoncello is not only a great night cap with friends, but can also be used in cooking. Check out our delizia al limone recipe, yet another great dish from southern Italy.

Sicily

Sicily is famous for their rosticceria, fried appetizers, and one of the most popular items on the list is arancini.

Arancini are rice balls, traditionally filled with ground beef, tomato sauce and a few green peas, then deep fried to golden, uhm, little orange perfection. They are often eaten as an appetizer to pizza or served as part of an antipasto platter.

Calabria

For the first year or so that I lived in Calabria I was hesitant to try their famous ‘nduja spreadable sausage … not so much for fear of the flame, but rather for fear of unknown meat. Still, ‘nduja won and once I tried it, I was hooked.

Here in Calabria, you will often find ‘nduja-filled arancini, ‘nduja bruschetta or even pasta or gnocchi in a ‘nduja sauce.

Basilicata

The food in Basilicata is a simple combination of fresh vegetables and spicy red pepper, but if you find yourself near Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage site for its Sassi cave dwellings, then be sure to find time for breaking bread. The Pane di Matera, or bread from Matera is made exclusively with durum wheat and is characterized by its thick crust and soft interior. It also has an impressive shelf life for homemade bread.

Puglia

Ever-more-popular Puglia is gaining in notoriety, not only because of the laid-back cities and the sea, but also, or perhaps, even more so, for its food and wine. One of the most famous Pugliese pastas is orecchiette, so-named because the pasta is shaped like orecchiette, or little ears.

There are a variety of sauces that go well with orecchiette, but one of my favorite dishes is Orecchiette con cime di rape-pasta and broccoli rabe.

What is your favorite thing to eat in southern Italy?

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Cherrye Moore is a Calabria travel consultant and freelance writer living in southern Italy. She writes about travel for MNUI Travel Insurance and about living and traveling in southern Italy on her site, My Bella Vita. She and her Calabrese husband also own Il Cedro Bed and Breakfast in Catanzaro.

France Travel Series : The Nice Side of Cemeteries

Cemeteries usually aren’t at the top of any travel itinerary, particularly not one for the French Riviera. Beautiful beaches? Check. Decadent seafood dishes and gelato in every flavor? Check. Winding streets and bright colored buildings? Check. Ancient graves and tombs? Not so much.

No doubt there is an abundance of things to do in Nice, France and the surrounding seaside towns. Checking out les cimetières du Château de Nice, however, can give you a rare glimpse into centuries of life in Nice. The family tombs hold generations, dating back to the early 1800′s.  If you’re seeking a quiet refuge from the hustle and bustle of Old Nice or a break from the crowded beaches, wander through the cemetery nestled on Castle Hill.

The history lesson is worth it in itself. Graveyards can tell stories that the living can’t—and encourage you to make up your own. Reading the tombstone of a family who lost several small children in the late 1800′s made me wonder about the leaps we’ve made in modern medicine. I also realized that many of the young men who died between 1914 and 1918 or the early 1940′s were most likely victims of the World Wars.  While reading tombs can be somber, it can be moving—like the tomb that held three generations of clearly loved fathers and brothers, from 1900 to 2007.

The cemetery gives you a peek into many facets of French culture, particularly religion and family. The cemetery is separated into Catholic, Protestant and Jewish sections. It’s interesting to see the differences between the large, ostentatious Catholic tombs and the simple Protestant tombs: the ideologies of both faiths are also reflected in death rituals.

All Souls Day, known as La Touissant, is dedicated to praying for the souls of the deceased as well as cleaning and replacing flowers on graves—and is still widely practiced in France. Most of the graves are extremely well cared for, with an abundance of fresh flowers. It’s lovely to see that the departed haven’t been abandoned—and also speaks to the generations of Niçoise that remain in Nice.

Once you’ve had your fill of the cemetery, you’re in the perfect spot to look down on the brightly colored buildings of Old Nice and the imposing structure of the Modern Art Museum. Directly across from the cemetery is a gorgeous view of the city of Nice. Stroll through the shade to the other side of Castle Hill to check out a waterfall, beautiful gardens and mosaics, a children’s playground and an amazing panoramic view of the Mediterranean. Bring a picnic and take advantage of the sprawling grassy areas and scattered benches.

To reach the cemetery, climb up the Montée Menica Rondelly from Place Ste. Claire in Vieux Ville or wander over from the Montée du Château.  The cemetery is clearly marked next to the colline du Château on a city map of Nice.

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If you’re looking for a cemetery tour guide, Christine is currently living in Nice, France and blogging about life on the French Riviera at C’est Christine and tweeting @camorose. Christine’s first trip to France was at age 11, where she fell in love with pains aux chocolat, modern art and Galeries Lafayette.

France Travel Series : Paris – 90 Minutes Until the End of the World

For some people, a favorite travel memory is a good meal, a stunning piece of architecture or a glass of full-bodied wine at sunset. Me? I’m fond of mild panic.

Picture me sitting under a clacking departure sign at the Gare du Nord. I’ve just stepped off the Eurostar after my first jaunt through the Chunnel (until now as an adult, I’ve only ever flown into Paris) and I’m transfixed by the station’s dizzying mixture of order and chaos.

Everyone seems to know where they’re going – but why oh why do those stairs go up, loop round and come back down without appearing to do anything *but* that? It’s relentlessly open-plan, giving an exciting, exhausting air to every view. But I’m quite happy, gazing this way and that, watching people, watching errant sparrows, testing my French against the super-animated chatter around me. I feel smugly content. Everything is perfectly under control.

Why? Because my ticket tells me than in a little over 90 minutes, my train would be leaving from the platform I’m sat opposite, heading for the Italian border and beyond – a sleeper train, crossing overnight to Bologna where I would scramble off in the wee hours and make my connection with Trenitalia’s service south, to Bari.

But here I am, in Paris. An hour and a half to kill, in one of the most fascinating cities in Europe. Frustrating. I *could* drag my suitcase out the main entrance and go for a rumble to see what I could see, but the rain is hissing down and I’d rather not fog up my shared sleeper-car as I dried out. Time to sit tight and get my novel out.

My bookmark is the booking confirmation for the ticket I’d be using to board the Italy-bound train. I glance idly at it – and a good job too.

“____!”

You see, there is no train service from the Gare du Nord to Bologna. The train I needed was departing from Paris Bercy, in almost exactly an hour and a half – and Paris Bercy was on the other side of Paris.

Shouting at myself like a crazy person, I leap to my feet and clatter across to the entrance to the Metro, suitcase windmilling frantically behind me.

So why is this a fond memory? Because over the following 90 panic-laced minutes dashing hither and thither across Paris, clumsily asking for directions, getting laughed at by Metro officials, up one set of steps and onto the street and round a corner WOAH (damn French kids and their mopeds!) and down more steps, getting jammed in a luggage barrier and sitting in a subway carriage trundling at an agonizingly slow pace through Paris’s underground with the clock ticking like the countdown to the end of the world…my awareness of the city was honed, heightened to an almost supernatural degree.

The sights and smells of overland and underground Paris sunk deep: glimpses, snippets, snapshots between buildings, cameos of passengers, silhouettes of skylines. Paris is a rich experience, and when you’re hurtling through it with your heart racing, it’s truly intoxicating.

I make my sleeper train with seconds to spare. And I think that was the day Paris really got under my skin. That was when we truly bonded, the city and I, and our relationship has deepened since that self-imposed bout of travel lunacy.

Although if I’d missed my connection, maybe I’d feel somewhat different…

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Mike Sowden is a freelance travel-writer and blogger. He writes about travel for MNUI travel insurance and for his own site Fevered Mutterings. Catch up with him on Twitter @Mikeachim.

France Travel Series : My French Wine Trail Fantasy

Next month I will step on French ground the second time. I still remembered when I was still an undergraduate studying in UK, learning how to taste and differentiate various makes of wine around the world had naturally become our extra-curriculum during the weekend.

From some of those little experience gathered, French wine had become my choice of wine, even until now. Since then I’ve been dreaming to have a chance to track down the French wine making regions to taste every one of them.

I missed out on that 13 years ago because of limited budget. Due to the short period of rushing tour to Europe next month, I’m going to missed it again, for the second time!

Which wine regions of France I would hope to visit one day? What would be my favorite French wine trail of all? Here is my top 5 dreamed itinerary:

1. Firstly, I’m going to start off from Bordeaux in South Western France. Bordeaux is one of the world’s most famous wine region on the Atlantic coast of france. Being a red wine region, Bordeaux produces wines from various main types of grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and large quantities are being exported.

2. Next stop would be Loire valley in Western France. Mainly white wine are being produced here, the largely known grape variety here is the Sauvignon Blanc.

3. After tasting both Bordeaux’s red and Loire’s white wine, I’m going to visit another world’s famous french wine region, Champagne. Located in Eastern France, Champagne produces… Champagne, the nickname of sparkling wine we used to see in many celebration parties.

4.  Started from the West to East, I would continue my French wine trail by traveling to the South of France. From the commercial orientated Bordeaux red and the Loire white, to the home of sparkling wine, champagne, I would drop by Burgundy on the way to Southern France to taste some of the top-notch quality French red and white wine which cost more than a car per bottle!

5.  Lastly, in the Southern region of Provence, the warmest wine region of France, I will also taste some of the great red wines in the region with its reputation being the close competitor to the traditional wine region of Bordeaux.

To end this French wine trail fantasy, I wish I could spend a wonderful night in the beautiful city of Nice. What a nice french fantasy!

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Photo Credits : ClatieK / FlashpackingLife

Cecil Lee is an avid traveler who is also a passionate travel blogger and travel photographer living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He writes about travel for MNUI travel insurance and on his own travel photo blog, Travel Feeder.

France Travel Series : A Saint in Shining Amour

While Paris seduces me from time to time, my true love lies in the sunflower fields of southwest France, somewhere between the pink bricks of Toulouse and the salty air of Marseilles. As I can only choose one place, I’d like to introduce you to St Cirq Lapopie.

St Cirq Lapopie

Swaying poppies, daisies, medieval half-timbered houses and a wonderful coq-au-vin. St Cirq Lapopie bottles up all the charisma that southwest France has to offer and infuses it through its winding, cobbled streets. Throw in a wine museum and I was hooked.

St Cirq, as the locals call it, seems impossibly perfect, a model village designed to make visitors go ooh and ah. Yet amid the smells of fresh baguettes and the lazy hum of bumble bees, St Cirq bears a grisly secret.

Guarded by stone walls, it sits 100 metres above the river Lot, not for scenic reasons but strategic ones. Several of these bastides, hamlets on elevated cliff tops, still exist around the region, a strikingly beautiful legacy from the brutal years of the Albigensian Crusade, the Hundred Years War and the Wars of Religion. While soldiers raged across today’s tranquil fields, villagers retreated to the bastides for survival.

The ruins of the 13^th-century château tell the story, while offering the gentle distraction of a view across the Quercy meadows. St Cirq also has a sparse chapel with elaborate stained-glass windows, as well as independent workshops specialising in handmade wooden goods and paintings.

Near the edge of the enclosure, a cluster of restaurants serve up rich magret de canard (duck breast) and goat’s cheese on red-and-white chequered tables. Even the sunlight falls properly here, onto the vine-sheltered terrace.

So, that’s how St Cirq won me over, through strength and resilience plus a hefty dose of French charm. Knights Templar used to roam here, after all.

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Abigail King is a freelance writer with a passion for art, science and travel. She blogs at Inside the Travel Lab and also writes for Cheap Weekend Breaks and MNUI Travel Insurance.

France Travel Series : Meeting a Myth in Paris

I’ve dreamt about traveling to France since I was a young girl. I remember afternoons spent watching travel shows on TV or camped out in the travel section at the local bookstore pouring over maps and guidebooks and beautiful pictures.

Last January that dream finally came true with a week holiday in Paris. I loved every moment, out walking, exploring and seeing as much of the city as I could each day.

Time after time I came face to face with so many of the great works of art and architecture that I had studied and dreamt about seeing while in graduate school. Nowhere did I realize so clearly that my dreams were becoming reality as when I stood one chilly morning in front of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.

There it was it all its Gothic splendor right in front of me. A myth suddenly became something so real I could touch it.

Inside, the sudden hush of the visitors awed by such beauty, the vivid colors of the sunlight pouring through the stained glass are still part memory and dream for me. Walking around the winter gardens surrounding Notre-Dame my eyes darted back and forth from the towers to the flying buttresses to the famous gargoyles high above as the church bells began to ring.

Having dreamt about it for so long, it was hard to say when exactly my dreams of Paris ended and my experience in real Paris began. In fact, there is still something dreamlike about my memories of places like Notre-Dame, something that has made my time there as magical as the city itself.

On my writing desk sits a small, metal statue of Notre-Dame, a daily reminder of the importance of dreams and how they just do sometimes come true.

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Laura Thayer is an art historian and freelance writer living on the Amalfi Coast in Campania, Italy. She writes about travel for MNUI travel insurance and blogs about life on the Amalfi Coast at her own site Ciao Amalfi.

* All photos in this post are copyright, Laura Thayer, Ciao Amalfi!

France Travel Series : How a French Encounter Ended My 10 Year Grudge

While sitting in my tourist office today in the center of Rome, a lovely French woman stepped in to ask if she could take one of our free maps. I smiled and nodded my head, motioning to the big stack of maps on the counter.

Thinking that this would be the extent of her visit, she went on to ask me where she might find a nice market nearby. Here is where it got tricky, as I needed more information in order to steer her in the right direction. The madame spoke no Italian or English, which meant that I had two options.

The Italian in me told me I should resort to hand gestures and extra loud Italian, that way she would surely get what I was trying to say. After all, Italians are the masters of getting their point across without ever opening their mouths.

The American in me, on the other hand, started getting all righteous. “Come now Danielle, didn’t you study French for four years in high school and get straight A’s?

Weren’t you the one the teacher always asked to read stories and poems in French because your spoken French sounded the least like nails on a chalkboard of all the kids in the class?

Didn’t you even perform songs in French for a singing competition?”

Yes, Yes, and Yes, it’s all true, but where did all this get me when I was in Paris 10 years ago and trying to buy a baguette, check into a hotel, or get on a train? Nowhere. I got answered in English and hurried off on my merry way. Which hurt my Sicilian pride and made me swear never to speak French again (not sure why I thought this would teach the French people a lesson) after that trip.

In that instant, with this sweet French tourist in front of me and the tables turned, I let go of the Sicilian grudge and let in the laissez-fare.

“Vous êtes à la recherche d’un marché d’alimentation ou d’un marché de vêtements?” I asked.

“Alimentation!”

“Mais oui madame,” and with that I gave her instructions and she was off on her merry way to the Campo De Fiori market. As she left I realized the extent of my silliness over the past ten years. And more importantly, I officially ended my Sicilian grudge against France.

That said, it’s a good thing my French is still pretty appalling, or I may have gone into an explanation of how their Arc du Triomphe was inspired (read: copied) by Rome’s Arch of Titus. So there!

I’m looking forward to France the second time around! Next time I will try not to take things so personally.

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Danielle Russo is a coordinator of Rome and Vatican Tours. She lives in Rome, Italy and writes about travel for MNUI travel insurance as well as WhenInRomeTours.com.