Studying Abroad in the French Riviera: The Beautiful City of Lights....

This past weekend I traveled to the Northern part of France... yes, we went to Paris- the city of lights! The adventure began on Friday, when my roommate McKenzie and I boarded our 5 hour train ride to Paris! It was pouring rain here... and apparently it stormed like crazy here the whole weekend... but being in the train, we had a lot of room to spread out, as it was very early! We slept for the better part of the adventure! I studied for my French midterm that is coming up this week... which was very hard as the scenery was very pretty! When we finally got to the amazing city... we took the metro to our hostel, where we met up with our friends Matus and Taylor! We immediately started exploring the area around our hostel! Our first stop was to eat a french meal at a little cafe! I had amazing soup, which was something I have been wanting since I arrived (they don't really eat soup over here... which is disappointing because I LOVE soup)! But finally, I was able to satisfy (or tease) my taste buds with some amazing soup! After our meal, we went and saw a beautiful cathedral, which over looked the city! It was amazing!!! We then decided to head to de la Tour Eiffel... also known as the Eiffel Tower! I had never thought that the Eiffel Tower was that amazing.... until I saw it! I then realized how incredible it was to see in person!!! Holy cows... was it just glorious to see!!! We took a few pictures in the park by it (which were beautiful as it is fall and the colors were amazing...)! We then headed to the bigger viewing part, where you saw people doing all kinds of fun things in front of the tower! We saw a guy holding a girl straight up in the air... and she was upside down... it was NUTS!!! We admired the tower for quite some time... it was eventually night by the time we left, so we were able to see the tower light up, and were surprised when the tower started twinkling... which was ABSOLUTELY amazing!!! Just soooo beautiful!!! We then decided to go explore a new area and look for a place to eat! We were told there was a Chipotle in Paris... so we googled the address and went to go find it... and of course, there wasn't one! After about 40 minutes of searching... we gave up, and headed back to our area to bring McKenzie to her hostel! We ended up just grabbing some asian food just down the street, and then headed back to our own hostel to get ready to go out! A lot of friends came to Paris this weekend, so it was really fun to meet up and do things together... such as go to a club called Queen on Champs Élysées, which was featuring the world famous DJ Afrojack! It was very expensive to get in, for college kids anyway... and the drinks were quite expensive as well, but once Afrojack came on, he was AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, we were very tired, and headed home early so we could wake up early and enjoy the city again the next day! Saturday morning, Taylor, Matus and I woke up and started exploring the area by our hostel, because our friend Erica was coming sometime in the morning... so we stuck around so we could meet up with her and explore the city! While exploring we found the Moulin Rouge! It was very interesting hear about the area around the Moulin Rouge (because we caught up with a tour guide who showed us around the area a bit)... we also learned that the area was known for having the best shops for food... best cheeses, baguettes, wine, fresh fish, meat, fruits etc. It was very interesting... then we found Erica, grabbed some food, and headed to Notre Dome! We met up with some friends from school, and got a tour of the cathedral... the woman was very dry, so it wasn't that fun... plus her accent was really hard to understand... she said apostles and I heard applesauce... if that gives you any idea of how funny her accent was! Haha... after the tour (which was free), we walked outside and around the area... we were going to go up into the tower (where the hunch back lived), but we had to pay money... so we decided against it! We then ventured around to the Latin Quarter, and found some amazing sites... afterwards, we decided to go to the Champs Élysées, to explore the shops, and what was offered there! We met up with some more friends... and ate a lovely dinner at a cafe just off Champs Élysées... which was AMAZING... the food was really good, and very reasonably priced!!! I had mashed potatoes for the first time since... I don't even know when! Haha... it was awesome! Afterwards... Erica, Matus, Taylor and I decided to head back to Eiffel Tower! We stopped and got a few bottles of wine first, which we drank before we went up the tower! We were going to go to the top... but they closed it two people before we got to the window (sooo bummed), so we only went to the 2nd floor... which was amazing! We were able to see the entire city... and it was just flooring how amazing Paris really is! Paris was one of the places I wanted to go... but only because I live in France! I didn't give this city much credit... until I went!!! I guess it has been shown in movies and television so much, that I figured I had seen it all already... but it is completely different seeing it on television versus actually being there! After our adventure up the tower, it was time to head back to the hostel! We were all exhausted, and fell asleep almost instantly! The next morning, we woke up and headed out to the museums! In France, the first Sunday of each month, they have free admission to the Museums! We decided to go to Musee d'Orsay... which was absolutely GLORIOUS... I can not even describe how amazing the paintings were! I once again... can not believe how amazing they were, compared to the images I have seen on the computer or on television! I love impressionist art, so I was very interested in the art at this museum! We didn't have time to go to the Louvre, because I had a train to catch at 5:40pm or so... so we went and saw Arc de Triomphe! Which was very interesting... I wish I had gone up, but we were REALLY hungry, so went and got some food instead! I then parted ways with my friends, and headed back to the hostel to get my stuff, before getting on the train to come back to Antibes! On the train ride back, I reflected all of the fun I had, and I am SOOOO glad that I am going to Paris again in two weeks with Mom, Nick, and Jackie!!! Thank GOODNESS!!! There is still so much I didn't see, and do.... that I want to yet! The adventure was amazing, and I loved it! I can't wait to go back!!!

Love to all of my friends and family back home... I can't wait to see everyone in a month!!!