France can be a little tricky to navigate. The French tend to be kinda standoffish if you speak with any kind of English accent - when I was there I lived with my British-born ex who spoke it fluently with no accent and it made things somewhat easier. Depending on how you plan on traveling this may just be something you want to be aware of. The one thing I noticed which I found funny is that French women kind of run the show, haha. They are way bossy and the men are just like "Whatever," lol. The theory is that since so many men died during WWII the women had to take charge of things and it just continued on like that. As far as places to visit, I spent most of my time in the southwest, so obviously I'm going to recommend that general area...there are tons of little beach towns along the coast. Specifically I lived in Royan, which is very near a gorgeous, mostly secluded and uncrowded beach called La Palmyre. Incidentally, half the beach is nudist section. Just be forewarned, haha. (There's also a great nightclub there called Le Rancho, but unless you want to spend close to €50 a night it's probably not worth your time.) But the beach there is wonderful. About an hour inland is Cognac where you can do fun things like touring the Remy Martin HQ (with free samples galore). Though I didn't spend much time there, Brittany is a gorgeous region with its own specific culture and (Celtic) language. Cherbourg is a cool town to tour, even if you aren't taking the ferry to England - great pubs and seafood. On a practical level, your cheapest food will come from Leaderprice and Lidl's - you can get several meals' worth of bread, cheese and sauciason for like €5. It's also a fun experience to see that McDonald's serves beer over there, lol.
Like I said, I wrote a bunch about New Zealand in Wawa's thread, but to reiterate: quite a welcoming culture and specifically very friendly towards backpackers. I always suggest buying a hop-on/hop-off pass with one of the backpacker buses as this will be the easiest way for you to access the more remote parts of the country. Try to do the Tongariro Crossing though this will depend on what time of year you're there. In the wintertime you can go skiing/snowboarding. Queenstown is the major tourist town in the South Island but I highly recommend the nearby Wanaka instead - way chiller and just stunningly beautiful. There's the beautiful lake and then Mount Cook right smack there next to it.
Let me know if you have any specific questions and enjoy!
Edit:
here's the link to the NZ thread.
I found this site and i thought it was exactly what i've been looking for. I'm trying to plan a trip this summer where I train hop from Cali to New Orleans and get a taste of the states before i start traveling for real. If you have any advice, it's welcome.
