Massive Update: Take 2

Okay, I for real am going to start being better about blogging. haha. Because I don't like having to keep having these like dump sessions. So I am PROMISING to blog at least three times a week. Because I can't break a promise. Therefore, I have to follow through! So, there ya'all go. I will be better. But since I didn't follow through with being better after London (oops haha), I now have A LOT to fill you in on. The funny thing is, since my last post, the most stuff has happened. Blah. Time to blog dump.

LONDON

London was absolutely amazing. I loved it. So so much. We got there in the middle of the day on Monday. That night we walked around a little and decided to go to Les Mis. Best production ever. Oh my goodness. It was phenomenal. Then Tuesday our whole group went to The Globe and saw As You Like It. It was sooo fun! We stood, like the peasants would have back in Shakespeare's time, and it was great! We were like RIGHT there. I got bumped numerous times by the actors walking onto the stage. I highly recommend this to anyone. After that, we went and got tickets to Wicked. It was my fourth time seeing it haha and it was amazing. Good play. The Glinda was kind of a let down, but besides that it was wonderful! Wednesday we pretty much shopped all day. Which was awesome. And then we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner and then to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! I had never seen Phantom before, so I was completely thrilled to see it. I loved it!! So so much. It was incredible. I still liked Les Mis better, but Phantom was so great. Like wow. On Thursday, me and three other girls took a bus tour thing to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath. It was soo fun. Totally worth it. We went to Windsor and explored the castle for awhile. Then we did Bath. The Roman Baths were so cool. And I loved the city itself. So amazing and beautiful. And then we made it to Stonehenge. Which was awesome. Of course. On Friday I went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Way cool experience. Then I finally had fish and chips (right off of Tottenham Court Road! bah! how exciting is that?). After that it was on to the British Museum. It was so great. I wish I could've spent more time there. I saw the Rosetta Stone though! And really cool mummies. And a bunch of other stuff. Then we went to evening prayer at Saint Paul's. The music was really pretty. And Saint Paul's is just beautiful. Then we went to Wagamama's for dinner. It was excellent. We ended the trip with the V&A Museum. It was awesome, but it closed earlier than we thought so I didn't get to see much. Then we went home the next morning. Whew. That was rushed and not detailed, I know. Here are some pics.

Les Mis.

Windsor Castle.

Roman baths.

My first, and last, time doing the classic, lame pose. Haha so funny.

A better pic at Stonehenge haha.

I love when people see you trying to take a picture of yourself and ask if you want your picture taken. That happened at Buckingham Palace.
SINCE LONDON

So much has happened since London. It's really quite ridiculous how much I have to tell about haha. The first week back there wasn't that much. I was sick, so I didn't do a bunch of thing. Although we did take a field trip with our whole group to Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte. If you didn't know, Vaux le Vicomte is the chateau that inspired Louis XIV to build Versailles. He was jealous of how great it was and threw Fouquet (the owner) like into prison haha. Sad, but kind of funny. Based on this history, you know it's gotta be something special. And it was. But they have recently added like . . . figures to the rooms. Which was just creepy and cheesy. Haha. But the gardens were way pretty. Here's some pictures from Vaux le Vicomte.

(yes, that IS a screen on the left playing a scene of people dancing, as if the room keeps going hahaha)

Besides this little field trip, I didn't do much. I went to the Saint Ouen Flea Market though. That was awesome. And I did my homework. Which included my photo essay for the week. You can read it here if you want. It's so me haha.

Now this week has been a completely different matter. I have done SO much. I don't even know where to start! So I guess I should probably just start at the beginning of the week haha. I had a French test on Monday. Not exactly exciting. Tuesday I had class and then I went to my friends' apartment to plan our Italy trip! And we figured it out! And bought tickets! So I officially have my Italy trip planned! Well, the plane tickets at least haha. I am so very thrilled. We are going to Rome early on a Thursday and staying there until Sunday night. Yay!

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday I had class again. French (which I have everyday) and Art History. We are finally at a time of art that I really like. (Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, etc.) As always, we went to the Louvre and spent two hours there. So during that time I saw the Mona Lisa for the first time! Which is cool just because it's the Mona Lisa haha. But even better than that . . . I saw my favorite sculpture for the first time! It's the Eros and Psyche one by Antonio Canova. It's my absolute favorite of all time. Which is saying a lot, because sculpture's my favorite kind of art. I saw a copy at the Met when I went there, but this was my first time seeing the original! And it was so beautiful. So wonderful. Wow. I only saw it for a second though because we were just walking through that room. So I need to go back and spend some time really seeing it! Same with the Winged Victory of Samothrace statue (my second fave), which I quickly pass like everytime we go to the Louvre.

So after class is when my week started to become like best week ever. That night, I went to a soccer game! A REAL soccer . . . er, football, game! It was France vs Austria. And it was one of the funnest things I have ever done. The excitement and everything was just so great. I LOVED it! I don't know how I'm going to go back to the U.S. where soccer's not that big. Oh goodness. It was just so great.

Me and Megan, with our game faces. I stink at game faces haha.

The Stade de France before it started filling up.

During the game. Look how packed it is! And I just loved all the French flags being waved. It was sooo cool.

I bought an official jersey! And I had a hot dog. On a baguette. What a night haha.

THURSDAY

Thursday was a great day haha. It "started" off right with Confit du Canard for lunch. Duck is my favorite meat. Because seafood's not meat, right? If it is, then it's my favorite non-seafood meat! Look how yummy it looks!


After lunch, we went to the Salon du Chocolat. We = Professor Olivier and about half the students. The rest were doing other things or were in Ireland/Amsterdam. They totally missed out. Because it was AWESOME! There was so much chocolate. Everywhere. And this thing is like a big deal. They do it in like Paris (obviously), NY, Tokyo, Moscow, etc. Basically it was like a fair/boutique, where all the booths are different chocolate companies. Local French and otherwise. And most had free samples. Talk about chocolate overload. Mmm. It was wonderful. And they had a fashion show with clothes that were at least partially made out of chocolate. Here's some pictures, so you can get an idea of the fantasticness of it!

*Sorry that some of them are blurry!

Look at all this chocolate!

(Really blurry picture, but I just had to show you that price. 49 euros!)
Okay, that's more than enough chocolate pictures. Now onto the fashion show. I didn't have a very good seat so I didn't get very good pictures. So here's a video I took. It's better than any of the pictures!

FRIDAY

Friday was the happiest day ever, because we went to DISNEYLAND! Disneyland Paris, that is. It was SO fun! I mean, it was Disneyland. How could it not be fun? And it was decorated for Halloween! Which was heavenly for me because I've always wanted to go to Disneyland during October. The rides were way different, but great! It was really just so fun. As always, here are some pictures!

(This is their Indiana Jones ride. How weird is that?)

We didn't meet a single princess. How sad is that?

SATURDAY

Saturday was a lovely day. I went to the Bois de Boulogne in the morning to take pictures for my photo essay, which you can read here. Then I did a walk. During that walk I went to Saint Sulpice and to PIERRE HERME! He is like super rockstar of pastry chefs. Like best in Paris pretty much. The line was like out the door and around the corner. But it was worth the wait. I had a delicious mini macaron (his are supposed to be the best) and some other thing. It was two macarons with stuff in between I think. And the flavors were raspberry and rose. So good. Look how pretty and yummy they both look!




After my walk, I went to the Salon du Mariage. On the metro that morning, I saw the sign for it that I see like everyday. And the date finally registered yesterday. It was October 16-18! So I had to go yesterday! And it was AMAZING!!! Like the greatest thing I have ever been to. If you know me and how much I LOVE weddings, you will understand how it was like utter heaven for me. Especially since they had a room with WEDDING DRESSES. It was the same as Salon du Chocolat in that there was different booths. But it was way nicer and more upscale in a way because I mean, it's weddings. Couples were there literally planning their weddings. And THE best part of the whole thing was that they had a real fashion show. With the dresses. And some tuxes. I saw a wedding dress fashion show. With a real designers and high class designers and everything. Wow. Just wow. I couldn't really take pictures most of the time though, so I am sorry to tell you that I don't have any pictures to share with you. But know that it was incredible. Beyond incredible. Haha and my other favorite part was when one of the people there asked me, in French of course, when my wedding was and I was like "Oh, next October." Haha. Except in French but whatev. It was awesome.

I think that brings you all up to date! I will be back SOON! A bientot!

P.S. So apparently when you add like mass amounts of pictures and a video to a post, the pics go from good quality to very poor quality. Good to know.