Peace out Paris

Well, I know my blog has dwindled but only because I was enjoying Paris too much to spend it behind my laptop. I am leaving today to take an 8 hour train ride to Tarbes, France where I will be working at a bed and breakfast for a month. I am then going to my high school reunion in Kenya and on family holiday in Florence. Eventually I will find myself back in DC.

Paris has been everything I could have hoped for and more. I am really sad about leaving, but as always it's time to go. I will absolutely be back one day.

Street Noise

It's May now which means I have opened my window. I now have a cool breeze blowing through my room and slamming my door when I'm not careful. This change has added something else though - street noise.

I now hear the delivery trucks bringing fresh fish to the "poissonnerie" across the street and the fresh vegetables/fruits to the "epecerie". Dogs bark all the time because the French take their dogs everywhere. Dogs on the metro, in clothing stores, in the grocery store... Fans cheering/yelling at the soccer game. Birds, birds, and more birds because almost every street in Paris is lined with trees which are finally full of leaves. The garbage collectors who come everyday. The clinking of people putting their wine bottles in the recycling bins found on almost every street corner. The number 80 bus. The neighbors talking to each other while on their respective balconies.

Street noise, I find, is actually rather comforting. It's another perspective on the daily routine of Parisians. These are noises from any city in the world and somehow that makes Paris seem more real to me.

Turning 20, Volcanic Ash, and a week with my sister

First off, I am very sorry for the long delay in updated my blog - although I hope the following explains why it might not have been a priority over the past couple of weeks.

Well, a couple weeks ago I had the privilege of turning 20 in Paris. My friends went well out of their way to make it a fabulous night. It all started with me and my two friends from college, both named Lauren, standing under the Eiffel Tower as it twinkled at midnight - a little cheesy, but perfectly appropriate. The saturday after my birthday Lauren Moore and I went to Versailles which was absolutely gorgeous and not too crowded at all. I think we just managed to beat the large crowds. The on Sunday morning, in the middle of the whole volcano ash mess we started our journey to Scotland.

We had already bought train tickets, but it still ended up being a battle to get on the train to Amsterdam. Once there we had a lovely evening wondering around and the next day we took a free walking tour of the city. By this time we had found out our flight was not going to leave Tuesday morning, but we managed to change it to Thursday morning. Fortunately I had an old dorm sister, Danjella, who lives about an hour outside of Amsterdam with her brother and sister and let us stay with them for two days. It was wonderful seeing Danjella, relaxing in the Dutch countryside, and cycling like the locals. Our plane did leave Thursday morning.

After many hours of traveling I made it to Aberdeen just a couple hours before Megan, my older sister, found out she had won her campaign and now has a job for the next year! It was perfect timing and I am so glad I was able to celebrate with her and her friends. The next day Megan and I went to see Les Miserables in Edinburgh and afterwards we spent the rest of the week just taking it easy in Aberdeen. Last night I finally made it back to Paris and it felt so nice waking up this morning to fresh baguette, a french press of coffee, and a pain au chocolate on the table.

Megan and her friends
Me and Danjella
Dutch countryside
A little Amsterdam...

Ciao Bella

Milan for Easter, an excellent decision. My friend Bridget and I flew from Paris to Milan on Friday and despite an 8 hour delay leaving from Charles De Gaulle the weekend was lovely. Italy was fabulous and a country I must return to someday. I was pleasantly surprised by the generally friendliness of Italians and how easy it was to understand some Italian and pick up a few phrases while I was there. Also, most likely due to Milan's proximity to Switzerland, I didn't find the culture overwhelmingly different from France.

Milan is where Hemingway based his novel A Farewell to Arms and I loved walking around picturing where the hospital might have been and all the roads his characters wondered down.

Bridget and I knew very little about Milan, the Lakes, or really what we were going to do once in Italy, but that added adventure to the trip and I think we managed just fine.

Bonjourno Senhora!
I, of course, drank lots of Italian coffee.
On Sunday we went to visit Lake Como, renowned as the most beautiful lake that borders Italy and Switzerland. Despite the gray skies it was absolutely beautiful.
Gelato!
Milan is currently one of the fashion capitals of the world along side Paris, London, and New York. Bridget and I strolled down several of the main shopping streets, but only window shopped.

Leonardo Da Vinci. We went to one museum in Milan featuring Italian art from the 15th-17th centuries. Lots of Luinis, Brezins, and Raphaels. A nice surprise was seeing Raphael's original sketch of his "School of Athens." The museum was having a special Leonardo exhibit and we saw his self-portrait and as well his painting of "the musician." Then we were given free tickets to go see the small exhibit of his sketches/thoughts. It was amazing to see what all that man thought. One piece of his journal had some sketches and then text that dealt with the flights of birds and the problems of painting.
There was a huge Easter egg with the four seasons painted on it.
Bridget and I on top of the roof of the main cathedral, Duomo.
The view from the roof was amazing, but even more incredible was seeing the architecture's miniscule details. Bridget and I spent over an hour on the roof just in awe of this.
The Doumo.

Well that's all for now, prego.

Spring in Paris

Spring has arrived! How do we know this? Because it is forecasted to rain everyday for the next week. It is also slowly getting warmer, I've packed away my heavy winter coats and Parisians are venturing beyond wearing only black and gray. Flowers are beginning to bloom and the days are getting longer. My friends and I have begun having lunch in the Luxembourg gardens and Paris in general just seems to have come to life.

Taking advantage of our student passes and copious amounts of free time, I've been visiting all of the main museums/monuments. This past Wednesday we went as a class to the Opera Garnier which was unbelievable. On Thursday afternoon I went to the Musee Carnavalet which is a museum on the history of Paris. It's in a huge house in the Marais that used to be owned by Madame de Sevigne whose letters are the main record of life in the Marais in the 17th century. Then on Saturday I went to see Les Invalides which is the French military museum and Napoleon's tomb. Next on the list is Cafe Procope - the very first cafe in Paris and a favorite of Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Oscar Wilde.

As the weather continues to get nicer and as I love it here more and more I can't help but wonder if there is someway I can stay.

Vienna Waits for You

Last weekend I went to visit a good friend of mine from AU who is spending the spring semester in Vienna. I flew in Bratislava Friday evening, thinking until the day before that Bratislava was in Austria. Wrong, it's the capital of Slovakia. Then I took a bus from the airport in Bratislava to downtown Vienna. Stepping off the plane in Bratislava brought back a lot of memories of African airports - this was the first impression I had of Eastern Europe and it kind of surprised me the immediate difference one can see between the East and West.

In Vienna I played the complete tourist. Lauren and I went to the Hofburg Palace to see the library, we stepped inside Stephansdom, went to the summer residence of Maria Teresa, rode the famous ferris wheel, and explored an open air market. I can't decide though if my favorite part was the cafes or the opera. Cafes in Vienna are fabulous. Each is different with either an elegant, but inviting feel or a smoky, cluttered, and chaotic twist. What I loved the most is that no matter the setting the waiter always came out in a tuxedo to take our order. Alslo, in Vienna to make sure everyone who wants to sit has a seat they combine groups at tables. For example two girls are having coffee at a table for 4 and so the waiter adds another couple to the table. I really don't think that would go over too well in the US. My other favorite was the opera. Lauren and I stood in line for an hour to get standing room tickets at the Vienna Opera house. We saw the Flying Dutchman by Wagner and for so many reasons I was blown away.

Vienna was the perfect weekend away, but I am glad to be back in Paris where I don't feel completely foreign anymore.

Vienna's incredibly famous and old ferris wheel.

My last breakfast in Vienna at Cafe Central.

Schonbrunn Palace - the summer residence of Maria Teresa and the Hapsburgs

The Opera.

The royal library inside Hofburg Imperial Palace.
Lauren and I with Stephansdom in the background
Lauren and I with the Hofburg Imperial Palace in the background.
Bratislava.

Happiness is.... (Parisian style)

Happiness is...

Fresh baguette in the morning... and then again in the afternoon

Eating breakfast and listening to the radio with my host dad in our pjs.

My French professor wearing his purple trousers... again.

Coffee at Malongo with my girls

Getting lost with Claudia from our class tour of the Pantheon

Running along the Seine

Having someone ask you for directions - I look French at last!

Someone playing 'As Time Goes By' on a saxophone in the metro

Grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with my host brother, with the table fully set

Nutella crepes

Saying Les Champs-Elysees as often as you like in your best French accent

Free roses from the flower shop on the corner (I knew winking at that sales-boy would pay off)

Tea with madame after dinner

Seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkle its lights on the hour each night from my window

Simply being in Paris.