The beaches in Goa are truly a sight to behold and a paradise to experience. I wouldn't know anything about this truly majestic place if it had not been by the summer I spent near the French coast. It was originally my uncle's stubborn determination that made me leave the chilly comforts of my south Canadian home in order to set sail for what he so eloquently described as "our ancestral motherland." He had put the computer I gave him for his last birthday to good use and booked me for a sort of French summer camp plus country tour and, according to him, I was in no position to refuse.

The trip to France was long but uneventful. Once I arrived, however, it seemed like I was taking part in a well oiled tourism machine! I had almost everything planned for me, but rather than feeling trapped or constrained I just couldn't stop enjoying all the exciting things my uncle had prepared for me. I toured some of the major cities and spent a great deal of time getting to know the museums, theatres and places of great historical significance at each one.

The real surprise of the journey, however, was waiting for me at Lyon, the second largest urban area in all of France. I would find no elaborate schedule for museums and no list of local hallmarks to visit there. On the contrary, it was a French school Lyon would surprised me with. I had been enrolled (from the comfort of my uncle's PC) to a highly prestigious (and very expensive) language school for what had been advertised as "the best French course France has to offer" so I could finally polish my French and honour our ancestral heritage. I was a bit mad at first, having left school only a few weeks ago I thought I deserved to stay away from books at least for a couple of months. But that feeling was soon forgotten, not just because I met a fabulous crew of fun and interesting people there, but because my uncle planned a reward for my hard work: a dream holiday in the soothing shores of Aguada beach in India. The reward was worth all my efforts. I arrived at the golden shores of Goa on a beautiful morning and had a taste of paradise for the first time. The sapphire waters, golden sands and the emerald palm trees combined to make a mystifying landscape that stretched like a fine line into the horizon. It was the best holiday of my life and I will cherish it forever.