Paris!

It has been such a long time since I have posted anything! I kept telling myself that before my trip I would just wait and post when I got back. So here we are I'm back!
Back in July, my parents surprised with a trip to France for my graduation present. Ever since I got to study abroad in Italy a few years ago, I have been bitten by the travel bug and wanted to explore my parts of Europe and the world. They knew this and gave me this trip. I feel incredibly blessed and thankful for the opportunity! 

I feel that every time you get to travel somewhere, you get to learn about how another part of the world does things. You get to experience life from their perspective. Our first day there, I felt like I was completely transported to another planet. A planet where I only knew the words "hello, goodbye, thanks, thanks very much, and good evening." Needless to say, it is always remarkable to me how quickly people can adapt to new environments. 

There is just way too much to blog about and too many pictures to post so here is just a quick list of my favorite things that happened and realizations I had. 

1. French food is amazing. I don't think I have ever eaten such decadent food in my life. Every night we got to go to a new quaint little restaurant that only holds about 20 people. They only had a few dishes but everything was delicious!! 

2. I need to brush up on my French history. We got to see a lot of historical landmarks like the Arc de Trimophe, Versailles, etc. I learned a lot but I still wish I knew more! 

3. Stinky cheese tastes good! On my dad's bucket list for Paris he wanted to eat unpasteurized cheese. Well, a restaurant for dinner had some and the waiter assured us that "It is stinky, it is great"and it was! 

4. Art is everywhere. I thought France was going to have a hard time living up to all of the wonderful art I got to see in Italy but man was I wrong! The Louvre, Orsay, and l'orangerie all had amazing works of art. Art is one of those things that fills my soul up with Joy. Seeing precious and countless works of art from Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, da Vinci, Picasso, Matisse, etc just filled me up with Joy.

(You wouldn't believe the trampling I had to do to get this picture!)

5. Everyone looks good in a beret. My dad wanted to get a souvenir from the trip so we went to a speciality hat shop. When my dad asked the sales person if he could pull off a beret, he told my dad "It's a beret, everyone looks good in a beret."

(Meet Marcel)

6. I love learning about different places of worship and the history of cathedrals. We got to go to Notre Dame and it was absolutely beautiful and incredible. We went on a Sunday to tour the tower and they were having mass on the inside. It gave me goosebumps knowing that people worshipped in that same spot 800 years ago.

(We lit a candle in memory of Tyler)

7. Shopping in Paris is great but it can be hard on your American self-esteem. Talk about sizing differences especially after eating rich meals and macarons. I still found some great buys! 

(Just their department store)

8. They really know how to  do some  interior decorating. 

(Versailles)

(Versailles)

(Louvre)

9. Paris has a lot of stairs. (sometimes 700-they numbered them) But the climb is worth it to gain a new perspective. Plus to appreciate what you just saw. 

10. And finally, it is wonderful to disconnect for a week from responsibilities, deadlines, projects, and stress and spend time with the ones you love. It was a week filled with good conversation, laughs, art, beauty, and everything I could have ever dreamt of! 

Thanks parents :) 

P.S.-Sorry for the mega long post! It was long overdue though!

P.P.S-Sorry for all the selfies....