So much has happened in the past ten days! For my fall break, some friends from my program and I decided to visit Paris, Barcelona and Ireland. It may have been a bit ambitious to travel so much in such a short period of time, but we had a great time.
I have never been to Paris but have heard so many great things about it. Margherita and I were talking about my vacation before I left and she was shocked that I was planning to only be in Paris for three days. She has been there several times-- at least four or five-- and has seen something different every time. She has an uncle that lives there and every Sunday he goes with his friends to see something different in Paris. He has been doing this for 70 years and has never seen the same thing. Imagine how enormous this city is. Her advice to me was to just walk around the city and see everything-- museums take up too much time. This was pretty much my goal for the trip: just wander! The first day, Friday October 28th, my friends and I landed in Paris and had to take an hour and a half bus ride to the center of the city. We finally navigated our way through the city to our hostel to check in and drop off our things. I
left to meet up with my roommate and good friend, Stephanie, who is studying abroad in Paris for this semester. We had a blast together. I basically told her to just show me the city. We went to the cutest
cafe, Angelina's, to get hot chocolate (it was actually chocolate syrup-- so incredibly thick but amazingly delicious) and a pastry they are famous for. We pretty much wandered around the city central and saw the Opera, walked down the Champs Elysees, climbed up the Arc du Triomphe, climbed the Eiffel Tower right before it closed and ate delicious crepes. It was so surreal spending time with Steph, I wish we had more time together. For some reason I have the worst planning with my trips and just barely miss my friends. But it was perfect just wandering the city together and catching up on life.
The next few days, my friends and I had a blast. We took a boat ride down the river and saw museums, famous bridges and the Notre Dame. We wandered through the Latin Quartier an did some shopping and bought a baguette (so necessary). Sunday was my favorite day because I went off by myself and just wandered around the city. I bought a travel book and tried to find everything I wanted to see. I just can't get over how large the city is-- It was impossible to go inside any museums because there was so much I just wanted to see! I walked past the Imperial Palace, the Sardonne, Musee d'Orsay, Odeon and the Luxembourg Gardens. Oh my goodness, I could have spent hours in the gardens, they are absolutely gorgeous. Fall is an amazing time in Paris. The gardens are huge but they are public. I saw so many families and parents playing with their babies. I loved it! That night, Molly's parents had bought us girls tickets to the Moulin Rouge for Molly's birthday (which was the previous week). What an experience! I had no idea what to expect and it was certainly interesting. The theater is in an interesting part of the city-- pretty much the red light district. It was a blast getting dressed up and having a nice night out together though! Molly's parents were so sweet!
We had to get up quite early on Monday morning (October 28th). The bus ride to the airport was about an hour and we had a 9am flight. But we arrived to the airport on time and safely got on the plane for Barcelona!!!
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| Paris at night-- from the top of the Arc du Triomphe |
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| Notre Dame |
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| The Pantheon |
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| Luxembourg Gardens-- How gorgeous are the trees? |
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| My friends and I were obsessed with the crepes in Paris. |
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| The Louvre! |
I have never been to Paris but have heard so many great things about it. Margherita and I were talking about my vacation before I left and she was shocked that I was planning to only be in Paris for three days. She has been there several times-- at least four or five-- and has seen something different every time. She has an uncle that lives there and every Sunday he goes with his friends to see something different in Paris. He has been doing this for 70 years and has never seen the same thing. Imagine how enormous this city is. Her advice to me was to just walk around the city and see everything-- museums take up too much time. This was pretty much my goal for the trip: just wander! The first day, Friday October 28th, my friends and I landed in Paris and had to take an hour and a half bus ride to the center of the city. We finally navigated our way through the city to our hostel to check in and drop off our things. I 
left to meet up with my roommate and good friend, Stephanie, who is studying abroad in Paris for this semester. We had a blast together. I basically told her to just show me the city. We went to the cutest 
cafe, Angelina's, to get hot chocolate (it was actually chocolate syrup-- so incredibly thick but amazingly delicious) and a pastry they are famous for. We pretty much wandered around the city central and saw the Opera, walked down the Champs Elysees, climbed up the Arc du Triomphe, climbed the Eiffel Tower right before it closed and ate delicious crepes. It was so surreal spending time with Steph, I wish we had more time together. For some reason I have the worst planning with my trips and just barely miss my friends. But it was perfect just wandering the city together and catching up on life. 
The next few days, my friends and I had a blast. We took a boat ride down the river and saw museums, famous bridges and the Notre Dame. We wandered through the Latin Quartier an did some shopping and bought a baguette (so necessary). Sunday was my favorite day because I went off by myself and just wandered around the city. I bought a travel book and tried to find everything I wanted to see. I just can't get over how large the city is-- It was impossible to go inside any museums because there was so much I just wanted to see! I walked past the Imperial Palace, the Sardonne, Musee d'Orsay, Odeon and the Luxembourg Gardens. Oh my goodness, I could have spent hours in the gardens, they are absolutely gorgeous. Fall is an amazing time in Paris. The gardens are huge but they are public. I saw so many families and parents playing with their babies. I loved it! That night, Molly's parents had bought us girls tickets to the Moulin Rouge for Molly's birthday (which was the previous week). What an experience! I had no idea what to expect and it was certainly interesting. The theater is in an interesting part of the city-- pretty much the red light district. It was a blast getting dressed up and having a nice night out together though! Molly's parents were so sweet!
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