Long Time, No Write!

I'm so sorry to have taken such a long break! Lots and lots has happened so I'll try and give a summary of the past couple weeks.

Since my last post, I have been able to go on two ISA (my study abroad program) trips-to the Loire Valley and to Normandy. Both were absolutely amazing trips and I got to see beautiful castles, the gorgeous countryside, a wine tasting, an apple cider tasting, and visit the beaches where so many men gave their lives in service to our country. Below are a few pics from these two trips.

Chateaux in Loire Valley!

Chateau Chemanceau

And the most magnificent... Chateau Chambord

And then moving on over to Normandy. We got to visit a war museum, walk along the beaches of Normandy, walk through the American cemetery, see the cliffs, and visit Mont St. Michel. So glad that I got to see those sites! Something I never thought I would be able to see in person.

And then they surprised us with a trip to an apple cider factory! We learned all about apple cider and how its made. And we ended it with a delicious tasting, trying 5 different levels of cider.

And here are a few from Mont St. Michel. Absolutely stunning view. And there are actually a population of about 200 people who live there! We went on a sunday, so when we passed through the church at the top, mass was going on. 

Sorry for the really quick summary and long line of pictures to explain the weekend trips! I took wayyy too many pictures and am still working on even getting them edited and on facebook. They were both lovely trips and jam packed with toursim, pretty sights, good food, and lots of photos!

Two other things I wanted to comment on for fun....

French Fashion

In the two months of my living and shopping in Paris, I think I have had a good amount of exposure to the true phrase "Oh, that's SO Parisian!" . I have come to the conclusion that most french fashion boils down to these three important elements. 

1. some element of BLACK (shoes, jacket, scarf, shirt, pants, any or all of the above
2. a SCARF (because you're actually cold OR because it's just cute, for men and women alike)
3. a BLAZER (any color, always necessary)

     To have all of the three, you are very parisian. Especially if your scarf doesn't really match the outfit... and especially if the blazer is either black or navy. Should you have two, you could pass for parisian but one of the two must be wearing black. And if it's only one.. You clearly didn't spend enough time getting dressed for the day.
     Of course there are other elements to french fashion, such as stripes, a hat, beige and/or earthy colors, sweaters, lipstick, but I have found, thus far, that these three are the key elements to passing as Parisian on a daily basis.

Daily Routines

Something else that people have been asking me a lot lately, is what does my day to day schedule look like. So I figured I would summarize what a week kinda, sorta looks like. Honestly, no two weeks have really looked the same, with random last minute things that come up and are cancelled, and the traveling that I have been blessed to do, but here's a basic and broad summary. 

Classes here in France are all only once a week for three hours. And let me tell you, it's a little difficult at times. It's one thing to have three classes in a day, each for an hour, and another to have the same class- same teacher, same people, same room, same subject, for three hours! And A/C is not a thing here so it's always warmish to stifling hot. When you add in the time it takes to commute to class, a three hour class takes up a large portion of the day. So to the one day that I only have a night class, I save all my errands, grocery shopping, school work "catching up"/studying, random little things, for that morning/afternoon. So while those days are usually pretty open, they fill up very quickly with all the little things I need to do that I didn't get to do over the weekend (normally because I was out of town, I promise!) Then, two times a week I babysit my precious Nadjet:

She's quite the handful at times, but she is a lot of fun and I love that I get to see her twice a week. So before class I make sure there's no homework I forgot about and then make the trek to school and have just enough time to eat a little lunch, and skype my sweet brother for about 20 minutes after class, before going to pick Nadjet up from school. And if you're wondering how Parisian my eating diet has become ( :D ), I have a piece of toasted bread with goat cheese and "saucisson" for lunch with fruit and yogurt. Yumm. And then I always have one day that I reserve for "explore Paris day". My good friend, Kelsey and I, we pick a new place each week to go take pictures of or just explore because we haven't yet! So after I finish class and eat my lunch, her and I meet up and enjoy the afternoon walking around a new part of Paris together. Out of all my days in the week, my Friday's are what change the most. Depending on my weekend plans, my Friday afternoons are sometimes spent practicing music, coffee with a friend, homework I need to do so I don't have to over the weekend, or many other things. And for the rest of this semester I only have two more weekends in Paris!

It's crazy how fast time is flying by and that I've already been here for a little over two months! I'm looking forward to continuing exploring Paris, improving my french, and learning more and more about the world :)

His love never fails.

God Save the Queen

Similar to my first Paris trip with my mother 3 and a half years ago, my London trip was a whirlwind of experience! 48 hours packed to the brim with tourism. We took the night bus out Friday night and arrived early, early, early on Saturday morning. We quickly found a Starbucks, of course, to map out our day. I've decided to adapt to each different Starbucks culture and change my name according to what country I'm in so in Paris, I'm Isabelle and in London I decided to be Abby. Tayler stuck with "Tayler" and this is what happened:

Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to EVERY destination on our proposed list, as there was just not enough time. Nor enough strength in my legs to keep walking... But here are some highlights of what we were able to do.

On our way to the London Tower we of course crossed over the London bridge! And it wasn't falling down which is good. 

The London Eye

Big Ben!

Westminster Abby

And of course... had to take one of these.

And then my camera died right after this. And of course I forgot to bring my charger so I couldn't charge the battery so the rest of my trip I used my iPhone to document our awesome Harry Potter walk through London, which was also full of historical information, our trip to Buckingham palace to watch the changing of the guards, our walk through Hyde Park.

BUT.....

Then a terrible thing happened. The one thing that you pray never happens...

We were visiting the Industrial War Museum and I had just walked through the spy section, learning about all the spy techniques and actual spies of World War II. As I headed back downstairs to the main entrance I pulled my phone out of my purse and as I stepped down, my precious iPhone took flight. I tried to catch it mid air but only further propelled it forwards. It hit the side railing and fell just slightly too far right.. It slipped right between the elevator and the stair case, falling three flights, hitting the elevator at one point and then smashing onto hard concrete at the bottom. I only wish someone could have photographed my face when it happened. I stood there a few moments just looking over the railing in shock. Not believing that that had actually just happened. I finally snapped out of it when someone asked me if I had dropped something and I could only mutter out... "My...phone..." I knew it was a lost cause. Of course there was construction going on so the museum staff had to find the correct key to go all the way to the bottom to even collect my phone. 

Jennifer was sweet and let me borrow her camera for the rest of the trip since my Nikon was dead and I didn't have my phone! After I collected the pieces of my phone, we headed back towards the Thames to the London Eye. We stumbled upon an open air market where a bunch of different local sellers had tents up. So much good food! I had tasty Indian food for dinner from there and I also bought some really yummy butternut squash pesto... It is so so good and if I know anyone going to London I am going to have them buy more!!

That pretty much sums up the trip :)) For future plans, the night bus was a hard transportation method. It was convenient because it only took up time that I would have been sleeping, but it was long and I did not get much sleep! I would recommend trying to take the 2 hour train instead, it will be worth it! 

His love never fails.