La BAGUETTE

Normally, BYU students are the few students across the nation who are deprived of a spring break. Fortunately, however, study abroad students get special treatment and DO get a spring break! Well, sorta. This past week everyone in the BYU Centre was able to travel to Paris! We did so much and I'm still exhausted from the trip. My feet are definitely still throbbing...

Lets start with Monday. I went to bed at approximately 4AM after staying up late packing and figuring out arrangements for my apartment for next semester. Bad thing is that we had to wake up at 6AM to leave for Paris, so to say that I was a little tired is definitely an understatement. After traveling to St. Pancras (St. Pancreas) station we hopped on the Eurostar, and I headed back to Paris for my second time. Once we arrived, we hopped on a coach to Chartres to go see the Cathedral there. On our way to the Cathedral, we stopped and got some crepes, and got hit on by a creepy man who wanted to keep in touch with us via facebook. We said no thanks--shocker. We got to the Cathedral and went on a tour, however it was absolutely freezing inside and so it was a little difficult to pay attention. I got some good journaling in though. After the cathedral, we went back to Paris---all in all we were on a coach for about four hours there and back when we spent only about 2 hours in Chartres. It seemed like a waste of time to me. When we got back in Paris, we checked into our hotel and then a group of us went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant and then went to the Eiffel Tower. We took some pictures, did a little can-can, met some more French men, went on a carousel, and then came back home and called it a night.

Tuesday, we woke up really early, had breakfast in the hotel, and then left for Versailles. We got to tour the whole palace (which was massive), and I got to see the hall of mirrors which was really cool. After, we went to this street called the Rue de Mouffetard, which was this really cute little street that had tons of little shops along the way. We got chocolate from a store called Nicolsen's, which was the best chocolate I've ever had in my life, and ice cream from this store called Amorino. The ice cream there was the best stuff ever--not only was it absolutely delicious, but they shaped your ice cream into a flower! It was so cute! I got chocolate and amarena (cherry). I loved it. After the Mouffetard, we went to the Champs-Elysees and we walked up the Arc du Triomphe. It was an absolutely gorgeous view. After, we went and ate at George V, which was the restaurant I had eaten at with my family in Paris, and then we went back home. It was a really really fun day. I loved it! Oh, and the weather was absolutely beautiful... so much more pleasant than my first experience in Paris.

hall of mirrors

Wednesday, I woke up very unexpectedly.... because, I actually didn't wake up. Macy and I slept in until 9 o clock. Unfortunately, our group was leaving the hotel at 9 oclock, so we got left behind. Luckily, Macy and I both had our laptops, and Emma had her blackberry, so we were able to email her and figure out where everyone was and what was going on. Eventually, we made it to Notre Dame and found Emma who was so kind as to wait up for us. We climbed to the top where I found my inner gargoyle (and Quasimodo), and then after we went off to Montmarte.

We found the city pretty easily, and on the way there we had to climb a huge staircase. Well, we were walking up the stairs and this black man is walking next to us and he's on his cell phone. When he gets off the phone, he sees Macy's butt--which is parallel to his eye level since she's walking in front of him up the stairs--and he starts freaking out. Now, keep in mind Macy refuses to wear pants these days so she can always be found wearing a pair of leggings. The black man really liked these leggings and started freaking out and constantly was asking Macy if she was "Africana." He kept on asking me if Macy was African and kept on pointing to the color of his skin, because apparently he thought that Macy had a black woman's butt. It was one of the funniest things I've ever experienced in my life, and that man DEFINITELY got Macy to run up those stairs quickly.

Once we got to the top, we got ham and cheese crepes and some gelato, and then looked around at all of the art work. I loved it all, and I bought a painting for my new apartment, as well as a painting for my mom since my family didnt get to go to Montmarte when we were in Paris and I know they would have loved it. After, we walked down and found the Moulin Rouge and took some pictures in front of it. I loved this part of our little excursion because Moulin Rouge is my favorite movie of all time! It was so cool... even if it was in the red-light district of town. After, we went to the Musee de Orangerie where we saw some massive paintings of Monet's water lillies, and then went over to the Louvre where we ran into Caitlin (our long lost friend), Calvin, Cam, Katie and Brit. We all went to dinner together at an Italian restaurant, and then the guys went one way while the girls went on a night cruise on the Seine. It was really fun, I was exhausted, and even got to finish the night off by getting a donut...or two.

on top of Notre Dame! see what building is pointing out behind Emma's head?

Some call me Quasimodo, you can call me Friend.

Montmarte

crepes at Montmarte

in front of the Sacre Coer/the top of Montmarte---it had am amazing view from up there

oh, by the way, Wednesday was... ST. PATRICKS DAY! The only thing festive about the day was my green skirt... other than that, since we all know that the French think the whole world is French, we didnt really do anything too Irish or celebratory.

the Musee de Orangerie

Thursday, Emma, Caitlin, Macy and I woke up and left at around 8:45 for Disneyland Paris! It was so much fun. We got there right when it opened and we were instantly in the best moods ever. Disney things just always make me so happy. We first went on Space Mountain, and then hit up every other single ride we wanted to go on. And, because we were students and had discounts in our maps of Paris, we got park hopper tickets at a discounted price. So, were also able to go on over to Walt Disney studios after Disneyland and go on the Hollywood Tower of Terror, the Aladdin ride, and the Aerosmith Rocking Rollercoast ride. I loved every second of it. I was with the greatest girls in the greatest place. Thursday was definitely magical.

Disneyland always has great food--especially hot dogs. The buns were heavenly.

My second time in Paris was definitely more enjoyable than my first time. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I found myself carrying my jacket half the time and the people were so nice and helpful. The first time the people were very rude and it was absolutely freezing, so this time around provided a lovely contrast. However, when I was in Paris I found myself missing my family a lot--especially my sisters. When we were walking around Disneyland, past jokes would pop into my head and I'd want to laugh about them until I realized that the twits weren't there in Paris with me. As sad as I am to be going home in the next month, it'll be good to see my family again... especially my cat.

In the time since being in Paris, I've done some shopping, gone out to eat at my new favorite place--the Gourmet Burger Kitchen--went to the Tate Modern (art museum), Camden (I finally found the donut man! my sprinkle donut was delicious--and no I'm not gaining weight here, why do you ask?), and I went and saw Legally Blonde the Musical and loved every second of it! Being here is still so much fun and I'm finding that I'm caring less and less about school every day... which probably isn't a good thing since if I am going to make it into any decent law school I'm going to need to keep my focus. Ahhh if only homework didn't exist. But it does, which means I should probably get to bed so that I can do my English reading in the morning. Good night from London! :)