France in Under 90 Days

I went to France at the end of 2025. I had a bit of time to take vacation at the end of my PhD since I realised I... hadn't taken any vacation in roughtly 2 years. That doesn't mean that I actually took vacation; more that I just worked but without the hassle of being on campus. There's something more relaxing about being in the EU and doing your work than smack in the middle of Scotland and trying to hustle through things. At any rate, I lived mostly in Epernay which is located in Grand Est and is roughly an hour and a half by train from Paris. It's in the Champagne region and if you think I drank champagne every day you'd be wrong. Mostly what I took away from the experience is that every Wednesday and Friday there is a farmers market and at the Farmer's market is the best rotisserie chicken for about €10 and also the freshest local cheese, produce and seafood... it was insane. Each week was planned around what was at the farmer's market and what we could make out of what we found there. Were we going to have shrimp? Maybe scallops... oh or the salmon was very fresh this week lets have that... there were butchers who always had incredibly fresh cuts of every type of meat (duck, chicken, pork, beef...) it was dreamy.

We also found all the local gardens and I spent many nights running through the city and trying to find new places: the church where the bats hung out, or where the river cut through the far end of the town, or where the more suburban part of the city began as opposed to the medieval centre.

It was fantastic. I miss it every day. Many people go to France and talk about how rude the people are but I feel like we only met nice people when we were there (aside from the rental car employees in Reims and at CDG... the less said about them the better). The people who lived in the village and in the real places were amazing.

In Epernay the river that ran through the village was the Marne - pictured here at the tail end of summer in a beautiful verdant teal colour.

When we moved up to Charleville-Mezieres in November we had the chance to live on the banks of the Meuse! I like that so much of France is connected by these waterways (Paris with the Seine...). In Charleville we ended up fiding out about the Trans-Ardennes Greenway though much too late to do anything about it! It would be nice to return at a better time of year to do a long trip on it; maybe rent bikes and enjoy the curving flat tracks that run along the riverfront! If you haven't been or are looking for places to enjoy I would recommend both.

Taking time out in France to explore the cities and villages that aren't Paris are actually much more enjoyable in a lot of ways. It's not to say that I don't love Paris - but that sometimes the hidden gems of a country aren't the most touristed areas; but they're off the beaten path.