Florence, Pisa, Lucca

Ah I am sure that you ALL hate me because it has been like 3 weeks since I have posted but I truly am sorry and I have some GORGEOUS pictures to make up for it! I just returned from Italy today, we went to Florence, Pisa and Lucca for a long 4 day weekend. I am now OBSESSED with Italy. It is such a gorgeous country and I cannot wait to go back next week for spring break.

To start it off, here is a picture of the main square in Florence, it is the oldest square in the whole city and the buildings date back to ancient roman times.  This is the center of the city, with town hall, a copy of the David statue, and many others as well.  The Duomo is one of the main attractions of the city, with architecture is similar to that of Barcelona. It is absolutely gorgeous on the outside but completely empty on the inside... weird.The real David! I learned so many facts about him. Took what felt like a 2 hour tour all about the statue. For example, did you know that his pupils are heart shaped? It was forbidden to take pictures in the museum so I only snapped the one, but I think its a pretty good shot! Ponte Vecchio in Florence. So pretty! Our second day it was raining like crazy, but we managed to climb to the top of the point and lookout on the whole city. Such a nice view! So different from being stuck in the city of Paris.

Canolis for the two 12 hour overnight train rides. Yum!Went to Pisa on Monday took cheesy tourist pictures,and ate gelato.

 Then we headed to Lucca, about 2 hours from Florence on the train, and rode bikes around the whole city. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. Lucca is a really small town encircled by a wall of grass all along the perimeter, which we rode atop of.   So nice to have fresh air and get some real exercise! I felt like I was back at home in this town for some odd reason.

 View from the top of a tower in Lucca. Little slice of Italian paradise.


Italy was so much fun, and I still have my Bordeaux pictures to post. I'll try and get on that tomorrow. Spring break starts on Friday, which I am so excited for! 16 days, Athens, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and then back to Paris. Sounds like the most perfect 2 weeks I could ever imagine.
Until next time
xo

Ill Find You That French Girl, You'll Find Me That French Boy

Not much has been going on lately, so nothing really to blog. Tuesday I had to go to the immigration office to get a physical for my visa, which was located in the Bastille. There was this huge strike planned for that day, but we all thought it was for public transportation, turns out it was Anti-Sarkozy/Anti-Communism. It was my first strike and I was so excited to join in! it was also SO hot and the march went from the Bastille to my front door, so it was quite the experience seeing the neighborhoods around me. Now I feel a little less secluded over here in my neck of the woods. I love this guy! So many photographers were having a field day with him. He's so 90s punk looking and was totally bad ass rocking the flare. 

Not much else to post about. Here's a pretty picture of an after-the-rain sky. Off to Bordeaux in the morning so I should have plenty to post after the weekend! Margaret gets in Monday morning so this coming week is going to be SO busy! Cannot wait to see her though!

Until next time

xo

Do Not Fear What You Don't Know

So this week was AWKWARDLY hot, they even turned the fountain at my intersection on! It's so pretty and totally reminds me of my baby Delilah (sad face), but I love that its on, maybe there is a glimmer of hope that winter is over and we're headed in to spring finally! 

We opened our windows in the living room and realized that there is enough room on the windowsill to actually sit out there and watch the day go by. So Thursday Caroline and I opted out of adventuring and decided to sit out there all day and we even made dinner!

Tacos with chips and salsa! I really miss mexican food and our meal was surprisingly delicious. So we enjoyed our little homecooking and spent the rest of the evening out on our "balcony" (or so we like to call it). People were actually REALLY surprised walking by seeing us sitting out there, but I felt a bit of a Beauty and the Beast moment and couldn't refrain from humming a little "bonjour, good day, how is your family"

We can see the little tip top of the Eiffel Tower from our window also so we just watched  that light go round and round and round all night. It was definitely a good break from the hectic week. And not to mention I felt a LITTLE bit like I was back home with the warm weather. (Which of course turned into a torrential downpour last night. Of course) 

Friday I went to Hotel de Ville which was actually REALLY cool. In the square in front they had a francophone awareness something or another festival. These people were on stilts, boys from 8 to men around 60 years old all trying to knock each other off. They had a lot of cool African drums and bongos playing. The whole thing took about 30 minutes and the winner did a little Irish jig ON his stilts at the end. Looks like it took a lot of practice, but he was pretty good at it!    

Again, my pictures do not do justice to the city AT ALL, which is a bummer but doesn't stop be from being paparazzi everyday!

Off to do some sort of exploring today!

until next time

xo

Kiss Me I'm Irish!

Hope you all had a good St Pattys! After class Caroline and I headed to my favorite cafe in St Michel, Cafe Panis, for some Croque Monsieurs and a Kronenbourg before happy hour. It was SO humid and sticky that I was disgustingly sweating through my thin shirt and leggings. Gross. We did get to do a lot of people watching though, because like I said, its tourist season officially! Among the tourists I saw this Parisian girl riding her Vespa. How cute is she?! Lady in red on her pink bike. Only in Paris I suppose.

A shot of our lunch. Quite substantial I'd say, to balance out our green Guinness's. THIS is the reason why I love this cafe. So close to my building, HUGE croque monsieurs for cheap, perfect view of Notre Dame, and it reminds me of my mom. 

After our meal we headed over to our favorite Irish pub in the alley behind St Michel. It was SO crowded but the australian bartender LOVES us so we got right in. My neighbor Horacio met us there and we all celebrated with our green Guinness's and the rugby match on the tele.We met a lot of really cute boys (of course because we are from Cali) but I am starting to notice (and get annoyed with) the same conversation every time I meet someone! Where are you from, I love california, why are you here, where do you study, WHAT do you study, when do you leave. Of course all in Franglais. Partly because thats the easiest topic to discuss, and partly because i've yet to meet someone that I want to talk more with. Aside from Laurent :) I ended my night early while my roommates and some friends headed to karaoke. I guess you can say I was a party pooper but I DO have homework still for my online class back home, so I had to work a little on that before I completely become overwhelmed. 

Off to class now, but afterwards we are headed to the park right behind our apt. I had no idea it was really there because we never go that direction (except to take the metro to McDo. Oops). Here's a link to show just how HUGE this park is! I guess in the middle of one of the man made lakes they have a cafe on a rooftop or something? Im hoping today is just as warm as yesterday so I can check it out!

I'll post pics of it later, of course. http://maps.google.fr/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=daumesnil&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=fr&tab=wl

until next time
xo

View From The Top

Today was SUCH a gorgeous day! I finally got to take my jacket off and let the sun beat down on my skin. After school I met Caroline at Raspail to explore the neighborhood. We ended up at Luxembourg gardens with a bottle of wine and a baguette and just sat for about two hours. It was SO nice I cant even explain. Afterwards, we walked on over to Tour Montparnasse to watch the sunset from the 56th floor. I've been wanting to do this FOREVER and it was finally clear enough out to head up to the top. We were really tired after all the walking (and ok maybe the wine added to it a little) so we didn't stay for too long, but it was really a breathtaking view. Another one of those moments that just makes me realize, I'm in Paris. Life is good! 

We also made a pact today to not go home until the sunsets. Which hopefully will help us in our exploring and meeting new people and finding all those hidden gems. 

Told you i'd try and post a pic a day! Tomorrow is St Patty's so we are rallying up a group to head to our favorite Irish pub after school to celebrate. Hope you all have a good day and remember to WEAR GREEN!

until next time

xo