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A Dreamy Paris Weekend (don’t mind my reminiscing)

A Dreamy Paris Weekend (don’t mind my reminiscing)

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Bonjour,

There’s a certain weight to the way Paris sounds when you say it, even audibly, it’s luxurious.

I booked a Friday plane ride to Paris the Wednesday before I went, and I’ve been itching to write about it.

May I present: Paris in the fall

My trip to Paris began with me dragging my suitcase down Champs-Élysées in hopes to greet the Eiffel Tower with an insanely wide grin. My stroll across the city, paired with a ham and butter baguette, reminded me that I was walking in a city that was nothing less than a masterpiece. I sat under the eiffel tower drinking the richest hot chocolate I’ve had in my life, feeding pigeons french fries while naming them.

Paris in the fall, what a sight. I stayed in an airbnb that was neighbors to the Picasso Museum (I can’t believe I’m living a real life right now). It was a cozy studio nestled in an amazingly charming neighborhood not too far from Rue de Rivoli (I would recommend the 3rd arrondissement to anyone, although every Paris niche has it’s own charm).

What to do during a weekend in Paris, you ask?

  1. Parks Parks Parks

Jardin du Luxembourg is gorgeous all year round, but in the autumn, it’s a haven. I sat in the grass of the garden surrounded by champagne toasts, children floating mini sailboats in the fountain, and a small crepe stand in the middle of a warm hue of fall leaves. While this park is a show stopper no doubt, there are a plethora of Paris parks that reside in the city– find them, frolic in them, drink champagne, write a future pulitzer novel. The park is your oyster.

 

2.  Free museums

FREE museums. Yeah. The Louvre is free Friday nights for anyone under 26, so you bet your bottom dollar I danced throughout the ancient art and statues (and said hey to the Mona Lisa) on a beautiful Friday night in Paris. There are loopholes to getting into a multitude of museums for free (certain days of the month, certain times, package deals, etc), and if you do your research you’re bound to find something that suits your interests.

 

3. F-o-o-d

Parisian culture is smoking vogue cigarettes and drinking an aperol spritz at an outdoor cafe, but when you’re in the mood for a bite, here’s some dishes it would be a shame to miss:

  • Moules Frites – usually consist of a huge steaming pot of mussels cooked with butter, white wine, shallots, and herbs. They’re delicious and you’ll probably eat them all in like 2 minutes, but with a basket of fries to dip in the leftover cooking liquid, you have every component for a perfect meal.
  • Streak Frites – steak and fries, what could go wrong? A perfectly cooked, thin steak paired with fries is mouth watering and as french as it get. (Ask for pepper sauce if you can!)
  • Bread – croissants. Baguettes. Get them in the morning when they’re warm. They will undoubtedly change your life.
  • Cafe Noisettes  – a perfect couple of sips of coffee with a hazelnut dollop of cream. An absolute delight.

 

Looking for a specific spot to go?

  1. Café de Flore (Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue Saint-Benoît, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissement)

A corner cafe covered in flowers– how can you beat that? Café de Flore is famous for having famous writers and philosophers as it’s regulars. It’s really Paris, really charming, and really overpriced. I would recommend stopping for coffee, not a meal.

 

I stumbled across so many amazing things in Paris, I can’t even count them. Spend your days in the city of love walking around it aimlessly, you’ll venture to a million picturesque places.

Merci pour la lecture!

Pretty in Paris

Pretty in Paris

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Make sure to visit this at night for a stunning light show every hour on the hour
If you can afford it, the views from the tower are breath-taking

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited Europe before. I saw some cities in Spain, France, and Italy, and loved them all enough to come back. Recently, I returned from a trip to Paris, which I saw last time I was in Europe.

I thought I wouldn’t have much to do, since I’d been to the Eiffel Tower, seen inside the Louvre, and entered the Notre Dame, but I didn’t have enough time to visit half of what I wanted to.

As preparation for this semester abroad, I hunted down works of fiction that took place in Europe as inspiration on where to visit during my stay, and I had a few new ideas on what to see in Paris. This trip was so fun because it was like a scavenger hunt, I was either viewing the touristic attractions in a new light or visiting places a tourist would normally walk by.

Be sure to look for the cat if you don’t have the time to read part of a book in there
A complicated, beautiful work of art. If you think it’s pretty on the outside, wait until you walk in

I highly recommend reading a couple books that take place in the countries you’d like to visit, because that way you’ll learn about new places to visit, or gain more knowledge on places you already know of.

Thanks to the books I have read, I was able to visit the church of St. Etienne du Mont, Shakespeare & Company, and learn more about Point Zero.

I learned Point Zero is where all distances in France are measured. Apparently if you make a wish on it, it’ll come true, and if you don’t make a wish, you’re bound to return to Paris again one day.

Don’t worry, I made sure to stop at Point Zero before I left Paris, but I can’t tell you what I wished for, or it won’t come true!

It’s worn away from the tourists walking past, to Notre Dame
The Final Stretch

The Final Stretch

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When did this happen!!! I’m freaking out a bit because I’ve realized I really only have a little over a month left in Italy. It seems like yesterday that I flew in, but then again, it may as well be an entire lifetime. All that I’ve accomplished, all the places I’ve visited, all the food I’ve eaten, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. This opportunity has left me entirely awestruck and grateful to no end that I was able to even participate.

This past weekend I was able to go to Paris with my roommate and it hit me (for like the hundredth time) how blessed I really am. I routinely posted all the pictures I took and read the comments that my friends and family left me and couldn’t help but bask in the praise. When I’m old and wrinkly, I can always look back on being 20 and how I freakin’ travelled Europe. Does this sound kind of cocky? Probably. But it’s okay because if I can’t fully enjoy these few months and have all these memories to feel nostalgic about, then what was it all for?

I have a graduated friend who has spent the past few years bouncing all over Asia and South America. I’ve always been genuinely so happy for him. I mean, how many people can say they’ve spent their post-college years traveling the world? I’ll probably be freeloading off my parents as I sink into the abyss of adulthood. But he’s gone to so many beautiful countries and dipped his toes into so many wonderful cultures, sharing his experiences through his blog posts and Instagrams. However, the other day he posted a little gem on his Twitter that said:

“Since when did going to London, Paris, Barcelona, and Rome constitute traveling the world? Lmao please stop this nonsense”

HA. Okay. I was a little salty about that one. Omg maybe he was subtweeting me…who knows? And honestly, who cares!! I could write a book about why that tweet was BS but I won’t. Because first of all, traveling doesn’t have to be taking a voyage across the entire globe. Travel is as simple as taking a drive to a street you’ve never been before, visiting relatives in a different state, going on vacation to a warm, sunny place. Getting out of your comfort zone can even be travel! And even if you have gone to London, Paris, Barcelona, and Rome, hell yeah! Good for you! You a boss! Why would you bash on something as petty as that? My friend has been to more countries than I can name (kidding) but for him to come for those who have taken a step outside their usual routine is shady.

I don’t even know if anyone is reading this or cares, but I’m so proud of myself. I’ve been to more countries than those in my hometown and now have a collection of stamps in my passport and although I haven’t traveled the entire world, I’ve been to places I used to only dream about. If you have the opportunity and the means to travel or STUDY ABROAD, enjoy! You’re a world traveler! And if you’ve only visited a great aunt in Montana, hey you’re still a traveler! Small steps are still meant to be celebrated. Don’t compare your chapter one to someone else’s chapter twenty. 🙂

-Andrea

What I Learned: Having Your Parents Visit You While Studying Abroad and Visiting a Different Country

What I Learned: Having Your Parents Visit You While Studying Abroad and Visiting a Different Country

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Last month, my parents came to visit me here in Rome. I was so excited because I definitely needed a little taste of home! This was their first time out of the states, so they were a little nervous but very excited. When they arrived, it felt surprisingly normal to see them, even in a place so far from home.

Navigating the city with them was fun because I got to be their tour guide, showing them my favorite places and sharing what I’ve learned about the history of Rome… But it was also a little tricky because I felt like I needed to be the “expert,” knowing where to go and speaking in broken Italian for them at restaurants and gelaterias. I became frustrated because I felt like I either had to do all the talking or, once people heard my parents speak in English, like I couldn’t practice my Italian. I seemed to forget that my parents hadn’t taken a semester of Italian 101 before coming here, like I had.

The weekend after they left, I traveled to Paris with some friends, and I finally understood how my parents felt in Rome. None of us spoke any French, so trying to order food and find our way around was daunting at times. Waiters sometimes seemed impatient with us for only speaking English. I felt self-conscious and wanted to hide in a bathroom sometimes, but after falling up the stairs from the bathroom at a restaurant and having a French man catch me (haha it was wild), I realized that I couldn’t let this fear hold me back from enjoying this place. People travel all over the world without knowing the language or culture of the places they go. It’s important to be sensitive to the culture you find yourself in, but it’s something that you can figure out once you visit a place. Yes, it’s scary and you’re bound to make a fool of yourself once or twice, but the things you see and the things you learn are so worth it.

I spent spring break in three different countries and plan on visiting three more before the semester is over, and I will hold onto this idea through each of them. It’s easy to let fear get in the way, but I don’t know the next time I’ll be back in these places… Or if I’ll know any more about them when/if I come back. So, right now, at the edge of my comfort zone, I am pushing myself to be a little scared. That’s how I learn!

Also, big shoutout to my parents for coming to visit me. I enjoyed the week so, so much. Y’all rock!!!

Doppelgangers

Doppelgangers

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For the past two months, I’ve been seeing familiar faces from home. I’ll be walking down College Road on the way to the library at UCC and catch a glimpse of so-and-so from high school. Or while grabbing a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream (yes, I am five-years-old, thank you very much) I’ll know I’m staring at what’s-her-name from the Starbucks on Sheridan Road. That-one-guy from work is definitely sitting in front of me in Modern Irish.

The lovely sprawling city of Cork.

It’s not them. Of course it’s not. But my mind has played this trick on me so many times that I’ve started cataloging which lookalikes I’ve seen. It’s turned into a game, almost as if I’m trying to collect all the familiar faces before I fly back to the U.S. I’ve even given this phenomenon a nickname: Doppelganger Syndrome.

And if that’s not weird enough, I’ve started having flashes of places around Chicago and Batavia. In the middle of reading about the 1937 Irish constitution, I suddenly see the Walmart parking lot on Kirk Road.

I just don’t get it. It seems like these images keep bubbling up to the surface because some small part of me is afraid I’ll forget them. To be honest, seeing bits of home is a comfort. I like being surprised when boy-from-freshman-year-dorm stands in line behind me at Tesco. My face splits with a goofy smile when a snapshot of the windmill off of Route 25 crosses my mind.

Even as I cling to these images, they help me settle in to my new surroundings. I can carry them around with me. They calm the fears that I’ll forget things about Cork when I go home, too. Maybe in four months, that afternoon I stood in the spitting rain watching the River Lee push beyond its banks and tear through the trees will meander on by as I’m sitting on the Red line.

The River Lee accompanied by a rainbow.

It’s funny what will wedge itself into your mind. It’s even funnier how much those strange moments, places and people will mean to you when you’re thousands of miles away from home.

Side note: I’m saying this because, well, I can. I’M OFF TO PARIS IN THE MORNING!

Crepes, Crepes, and more Crepes, please!

Crepes, Crepes, and more Crepes, please!

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Sorry that is has been so long! February was a very busy month. SO MUCH TRAVELING!!

In the beginning of February I went to Paris!! It was an amazing trip because not only did I get to visit the City of Lights, but also I got to see my cousin and friend Mia. My cousin Bridget is studying in London for the semester and then Mia is in Paris. It was once in a lifetime experience to go and meet up with some of my best friends in such a beautiful city.

I arrived in Paris on Thursday night and stayed until Sunday morning. Bridget and I stayed together in the hostel because Mia is doing a home stay. On Thursday night we all met up to get dinner and catch up on our time abroad. We ended with our first night together by seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. It was the perfect way to end our first night together!

On Friday morning we got up early and walked around the city. Mia lives right near the Eiffel Tower so we walked from that area all the way to the Lourve. What was great about our trip was that Bridget and I had already been there when we were young with our grandparents, so we didn’t have to do any of the touristy stuff. We just roamed the streets of Paris, which was absolutely perfect. I had my first crepe and french macaroon there, AMAZING. I would go back solely to eat the macaroons.

We were tourists one day and went out to see the Palace of Versailles. I had never seen pictures of the Versailles, and I’m glad I didn’t; the pictures would not do it justice. It such a grand and beautiful place to go, and I would recommend anyone traveling to Paris to see it. The rooms were all extravagant and a bit ostentatious. My favorite (along with everyone else who goes to Versailles) was the Hall of Mirrors. I took a few mirror pictures, and I am not ashamed of it. After Versailles we went back to Paris, to again wander around Paris.

By far one of my favorite experiences I have had thus far in my time abroad. I still can’t believe that I got to see my closest friends in Paris! It was unreal to all be in Europe together and then being able to meet up.

Until next time….

Case