Paris Recap: Part 2

I feel like I'm dragging out this vacation for far longer than I should be, but this is the last post about my trip to France (I promise!). I've already talked about the first part of my trip here, and then my first two days in Paris here. Today I'm wrapping up the recaps with my last two days in Paris! These last two days were probably my favorite of the whole trip, and definitely an amazing way to wrap up the vacation.

Thursday was another busy day following Wednesday, but I think it may have been my favorite. We began the day by visiting Notre Dame Cathedral and the area surrounding.

We then left Notre Dame and went to the area around the Centre Pompidou for lunch. Let me just say that until you experience the pastry shops like the ones around here you have not lived. 

oh. my. gosh.

We also had a chance to explore the gardens of the Musee Rodin, but unfortunately the actual museum was closed, so we didn't get to go inside.

Finally, the best part of the whole trip, the Latin Quarter!! The Luxembourg Garden was fabulous and it's my new favorite place, for sure. We explored the garden and the town and stopped for a snack before seeing a play followed by an amazing dinner.

Friday was our last day, and it was surprisingly pretty laid back. We started off the morning by exploring the Tuileries garden where we were spotted and invited by a funny PR kid asking us to come participate as the audience for a french reality TV show at the most famous studio in all of Paris! Of course, opportunities like these don't come everyday, so we couldn't say no. It was such a fun experience and honestly so hilarious because we had no idea what was going on. After the show, it was hitting lunch time, so we walked over the bridge to the Musee D'Orsay.

One fun fact about Paris, the most famous and original lock bridge is called the Pont des Arts, but there are a ton of bridges in Paris because the Seine River runs right through the city, and almost all of them have locks on them. This bridge is just one of the random ones and you can see how many locks there still are.

View from inside the Musee D'Orsay, the modern art museum.

After the Musee D'Orsay, we hopped on a train to Versailles, where we took a tour of the Palace of Versailles and hung around in the gorgeous and abundant gardens. This was such an amazing way to finish off the trip. The weather was amazing and it was so fun to enjoy ice cream cones by the water and watch people boat and bike around the gardens. The actual palace itself is unreal... real gold everywhere, inside and outside, and it's one of the biggest castles in all of France. When I first saw it, I was almost shocked at what I saw! It looks like a tiny village drenched in gold from far away.

Following, we went to a creperie for dinner where I had the best meal of my life. My dinner crepe consisted of goat cheese, honey, walnuts, and salad, which was so amazing I almost cried. Oh, and then my dessert crepe was almost even better. Honestly, I don't know how I've lived since. Caramel, chocolate, pralines.... oh my. I can't even talk about it.

The last thing we did on Friday was a 10:30 PM Eiffel Tower excursion where we went to the top and saw Paris at night from above. incredible.

Arc de Triomphe

Have you ever been to France? What was your favorite place?

xoxo

Limoges Recap

Although I've already posted a reflection on my experience as an exchange student, I wanted to share some fun snaps and show you all what I actually did for those 11 days in Limoges, France! Unfortunately, I took very few pictures of the actual town, so bear with me.

I arrived on a Friday afternoon and went straight to the school we exchange with to find my host, Camille. After heading back at her house to drop off my bags, we went into the most charming village of Limoges and she showed me around before stopping at a cafe to have drinks and hang out with her friends! The first weekend was quite fun, spending Saturday in the town again for shopping, a movie, dinner, and more exploring with her friends and a few other American girls as well. Sunday we explored the Cathedral and gardens, and picked up amazing macarons. One thing to note about France: the food is amazing. Honestly, I don't think there was one thing I tried and didn't like on the whole trip!

The whole next week, Monday through Friday, was school days. However, me and the other American girls went on a series of excursions throughout the week with our teacher. French school is very long and difficult if you don't understand what's going on, so our field trips were quite necessary. Monday was a full school day, but on Tuesday we left for an afternoon in Oradour Sur Glane. If you're unfamiliar with Oradour, it's a small town outside of Limoges that the Nazi's invaded, destroyed, and ruined. However, the town was preserved and is now a place where you can go and remember what happened as a reminder of the horrible events of World War II. Although sad, the visit was really interesting and it was eye-opening to see a town in that state. 

Wednesday was no school for us, we spent the morning at the Lascaux caves, the afternoon in Montignac, and then visited the Chateau of Hautefort before returning to our host families. The Lascaux caves were really cool, but it was hard for me to get into it considering they are just caves... Despite that, it was still interested to see them and I enjoyed the tour! After, however, was a lot more fun! We went into the adorable little town of Montignac, France where we had time to go off on our own to explore and have lunch. Aaand, this is where I started using my camera (finally! - but lots more snaps on my Instagram)

The little markets everywhere are so cute.

Following Montignac was the Chateau de Hautefort. In total, we visited three castles, and this was probably the least grand. It was of course still beautiful and so fun to walk around in. This castle is apparently where the movie Ever After was filmed, too!

Thursday was another full day of school, but that evening was pretty fun! Thursday after school, which ended at 6 PM that day, all of the Americans and their French hosts went to play Laser Tag, which I thought was a random activity, but it turned out so be so fun. After, we went to see a synchronised swimming show, also strangely unexpected, but still entertaining. Friday afternoon we went on another little excursion after our morning classes. Limoges is known for their porcelain, and so we took a tour of the factory! This was actually a lot cooler than I had expected and the porcelain was gorgeous.

Friday evening was low-key, as was most of that second weekend. Saturday night I went to a little music festival type show, and then spent Sunday at mass and relaxing for Easter. Monday was no school, so her family took us out to a lake for a picnic, as it was my last day. Tuesday I left for Paris, so stayed tuned to see lots more about that!

xoxo

Reflecting on Limoges

Because I leave Limoges and my host family for Paris today, I wanted to write up a little reflection of how my experience was living with another family for 10 days, especially in another country with a language (and culture) barrier. 

My French isn't amazing. In fact, there were times when I should've totally known what was going on around me and I just didn't. Fortunately, when I hosted Camille (my french correspondent), back in October, I learned that she is very, very good at English, and when I didn't understand something here in France, she could explain it to me. The program is designed to make you feel immersed, which I definitely did feel, but at times when it got to be a little overwhelming and frustrating, it helped to speak a little English. 

The hardest part about this experience, however, wasn't simply that I had trouble communicating beyond the capacity of a second grader, or that their culture of wiping their plates clean with bread after each course was unfamiliar to me, but the combination of the two that made me feel very isolated at times. Don't get me wrong, this experience was fabulous. But, think about it this way... without seeing my family or my close friends, I could probably get by for two weeks. But, combining that with little opportunity to speak my natural language and to eat how I'm used to or do things how I'm used to was simply exhausting, both mentally and physically. I constantly felt tired and would fall asleep in short car rides or ask to go to bed far earlier than I'm used to. I felt a little isolated because when I wanted to say something or share something with the family, I just couldn't. I felt like a little kid who couldn't communicate their feelings, and it was frustrating!

But, on the more positive side, I learned so much on this trip. First off, going to French school was such an eye-opening experience, even if just for a few days. Let me just tell you... everything is colder in France. I mean everything. I had gym class one morning and a few other American girls were in my class, so because we weren't supposed to participate, we all just watched from the sidelines. Doesn't sound bad until you consider that their periods are actually an hour long (60 minutes) and gym was two periods. And their gym is the equivalent of an ice box, I swear. We were all shaking for almost the whole time and seriously wondering if we were going to get hypothermia. Their school was generally tiny, with undecorated rooms, chalkboards, and I'm convinced no heating system. It makes me appreciate my school and the fact that I don't have to layer up just to walk around my house or to sit in class.

Another thing I've learned so far (haven't been to Paris yet!), is that France really is like something you'd find in a movie. The towns were clad in cobblestone streets and buildings bunched up next to each other in arrays of pastel-colored shutters. (Oh, and a note on the shutters, they actually close. I walked outside my doors in my room every morning and night to open and close them, even in the rain!) I liked exploring a little town of France because I'm sure it is different than your average Paris tour, and I'm so fortunate I had the opportunity to do so.

I'm so excited for Paris this week, and I'll be returning home on Saturday afternoon.

Have a great week, and sorry for such a long post!

xoxo

Off to France

via

I'm almost in disbelief that I'm actually leaving for France today at one. When I was seven years old my parents told me I could go to France when I was 16 and I've been waiting for this day ever since. It's kind of a nice coincidence that my school has this exchange program because it made making the trip possible that much easier! I will be gone for 17 days, with the first 13 spent with my exchange student and her family, attending school and just living French life, and then the last four I'll be in Paris!

Today is going to be incredibly long. Like I said, I leave at 1 for a 5:45 PM flight out of Chicago. I fly to Paris and will arrive at 8ish AM (1:45ish here), and then I have to drive 5 hours to Limoges! Please wish me luck that I won't get too jetlagged.

I've scheduled a ton of posts while I'm gone, so hopefully things won't be too quiet around here. Make sure you're following along on Instagram and Twitter to catch the latest!

Wish me luck!

xoxo

France Inspiration Board // Input Needed!

As most of you may know, I'm adventuring out to Limoges, France for 13 days (!!!) and then off to Paris for 4 days in mid-April for spring break this year as the second part of my exchange program through school. I've never been to France and everyone I've talked to claims the weather is all over the place, especially this time of year. I'm basing my ideas of what to pack off of D.C. type of weather, since I visited there in the spring a few years ago and heard similar claims for the disjointed climate. However, all input is extremely helpful and any suggestions you may have I would love to hear!!

sparkly tote // plain leather tote bag // trench coat // classic ballet flats (under $200!)

I'm planning on loading up on jackets, layering a ton, sporting lots of cute ballet flats, and toting around my necessities in a big cute tote bag like this one!

What do you recommend? Am I on the right track? Calling anyone and everyone who's ever been to France or even has any random suggestions of what I might want to bring, I am all ears. I want to start planning what I need so I can go ahead and get shopping!

xoxo