france:

here is my advice in france other than paris. go to bordeaux. this is the famous wine region. it's a very yound student city. they have pedestrian streets and trams and it's more modern than most cities in france. the best thing to do is go to the tourist office and sign up for wine tours. they have bus tours and if you rent a car you can go on your own. if you drive make sure they know you have very little money and it'd be better to go to vineyards with cheaper wine. but wine tours kick ass. if you know anyone from ND in anger go there. that is in the loire valley. the loire valley is packed with castles and vineyards. you can't go wrong there. chenonceau is the coolest non-versailles chateau ever. wine tours rule too. take as many as you can and drink all the cheap wine you can. normandy is also really cool. they love americans in the north of france. probably wouldn't be on the top of my list if i were you though.