paris!

Well, I made it to europe! It feels so good to be back in this beautiful city. The plane ride over was great and easy and luckily we made it on time to Frankfurt and with enough time to catch the train to Paris. I didn’t sleep at all so by the time I made it to Paris I was completely exhausted. But it was so good to see Lauren so I perked up quickly!

As most of you know this is my second time here – I am so lucky! It was pretty overwhelming (in a good way) the first time around but it has been very relaxing this time and I feel more apart of the every day life, which is wonderful. Lauren, my good friend from anchorage, has a beautiful apartment in an incredible area where we can walk to the Seine or the Latin Quarter very, very easily. She has a nice balcony and there are bakeries and markets across the street; it is beautiful!

A few highlights from the trip: the first night we ate dinner at a great Italian (ironic) restaurant down the street and we were joined by two old French men who had just finished at least three bottles of wine and could speak a little English and were very entertaining, to say the least. They gave us (well, Lauren) all of their information in case she needed anything at all. They also shared some very expensive wine with us! They were pretty hilarious. The next day we walked by the Seine, Notre Dame, Luxembourg gardens, through the Latin Quarter -- I was reminded of how much I love this city. We met up with some of Lauren’s Dartmouth friends that night so that was fun. On Tuesday we walked to get chocolate croissants and enjoyed the morning on the balcony and then spent the afternoon walking through Montmartre and by the Sacre Coeur, which is one of my favorite places. It was just as beautiful the second time around. That night we went to a fondue place for dinner that was full of mostly French people and other foreign visitors. There are two long tables that everyone shares together and you can either get cheese or meat (we got both) fondue and then they give you either “rouge” or “blanc” wine in baby bottles. Yes, baby bottles. It was quite strange but hilarious. We made friends with our Belgian and German neighbors and had a wonderful time. We took the short metro ride back to Lauren’s and had some delicious gelato on the walk home! Yum! Today Kime and I walked around Lauren's neighborhood and went to a few museums (the picasso museum was closed) and then we ate delicious sandwiches from a bakery when Lauren got home from her French class! We have just been relaxing and I have been getting my stuff ready to go...

Tonight I will take the night train (13 hours) to Madrid and then I will continue on to Sevilla and arrive in the afternoon. I am getting nervous but also SO excited to be back. I’m so glad orientation is in Sevilla, which you all know I love and am familiar with. I am hoping to meet up with Eva and maybe her parents, which would be nice! I don’t know when I will have internet access again but it should be soon. I hope all is well wherever you all are.

I miss you all and love you LOTS!
bisous (kisses!) from Paris!

FOR PHOTOS : please refer to my facebook because lauren's internet is not fast enough to put up pictures on here. merci!