How to travel in Europe.

So you know how everyone says that traveling in Europe is SO easy cause it's all so close and convenient and cheap?

Well. Let me tell you. It's definitely not SO easy. Convenient? Yes, for the most part. Cheap? Depends on where you want to go and when. Most of all, it is a process. There are multiple different avenues to travel. Bus, train, and plane. But within that... there's lots of different options for each transportation method! So when trying to make travel plans and trying to find the cheapest deal, it is quite the ordeal. And so many different websites to visit, rates to compare, other costs to think about, and schedules of multiple people (if you're traveling in a group) to keep in mind. It's stressful! But thankfully, I made it out alive and with three destinations for the semester :)

The first being London! Tayler and I are taking the night bus the last weekend of September to be in London for a little more than 48 hours. Using the night bus allows us to leave friday night after her classes and arrive early Saturday morning and have all of Saturday and Sunday. Going to be a new experience trying to sleep on a moving bus!

Second will be a big group trip to Morocco. My study abroad program puts together a group trip to Morocco for each study abroad section for those who are interested. It's a five day trip- over a french holiday, but I still have to miss one class (sorry mom and dad!). Super pumped for that one!

And lastly will be, of course, a weekend trip to Rome :) Tayler has friends there so we will be able to spend the night at their place and not worry about booking a room! My travel advice for this trip is NEVER EVER use the site OPODO. It is a travel agency that helps compare costs of different flights and companies and you can book the flight directly through them. When I tried to run my credit card, the page kept saying that there were technical difficulties and the transaction was not processed and I did not have a reservation. Long story short, the card was charged but I never had a reservation. Read later online that this company is notorious for poor communication, "technical problems" and bad customer service. Thankfully, we were able to cancel the charge and I booked the flight through Ryan air directly. So my advice and tip: use sites like opodo, liligo, and jetcost, to see what options you have for cheap flights but then actually purchase the tickets through the airline directly!! It was quite a hassle.

Another shout-out to my parents for being so supportive and willing to let me not only be in Paris for 10 months but also want me to be able to travel and explore different parts of Europe! What great parents I have. So blessed.

Looking forward to sharing this trips with you guys through more posts and pics!

His love never fails. 

And then there was school...

It's true. I do actually go to class. It's crazy! I didn't think it was ever gonna happen, but alas, it did. I love learning, and for the most part enjoy reading my text books, but actually GOING to class is hard! When there is so much I want to do and so many places I want to explore. And so for that reason, that is why my posts have dwindled! Sorry friends :) But here's whats been up the past week.

Last weekend, some friends and I found a jazz club of sorts. It's called "Le Caveau de la Huchette". There is a live band that plays jazz music every night and a dance floor for swing dancing! Or as they call here, "danser le rock et roll". The crowd was a little bit older ( ;)  ) but it was very fun. So glad that I could still go swing dancing in Paris! And there were some REALLY good dancers there. It was fun to sit and just watch everyone else who actually knew what they were doing!

Another fun adventure that I had was my first, of many more to come, camera dates with Miss Kelsey Huffman! Unfortunately, I was silly and forgot to charge my camera battery so it died after about twenty minutes, but it was a fun twenty minutes! Still learning how to shoot in Manual but here are a few pics of the Luxembourg gardens.

This was only one little portion of the beautiful gardens so I'm looking forward to going back and staying longer!

Another important event this week was the arrival of sweet Marta! 

She is a good friend of Dominique and will be staying with us for a few weeks. She is from Cuba and I can tell that she just absolutely loves life. Her suitcase that she brought with her mainly contained fruits, vegetables, and other items from Cuba. Dominque called her suitcase a grocery store! And it really was. Throughout the first meal she continuously was showing Tayler and I the different things she brought with her. One being MASSIVE avocados. I didn't even know they could get that big. She's holding one in this picture:

Ya that green thing is an avocado... It's awesome. We ate some tonight at dinner and it was great! The pastry on the table is a guava "tartine". It's like a fruit pie. And it was simply delicious. And of course, she brought with her, a nice big bundle of cuban cigars. 

Throughout this week I've been able to pick up a few spanish words which is fun! I set a goal to try and learn a little bit more of another language while abroad, since I already know french. So this is a great opportunity to do that! I have loved having Martha here and watching her just love life and love people. She comes to Paris once a year to visit Dominique and yet seems to know everyone here! She doesn't speak a lot of french and yet she goes out by herself all the time, confident in the french that she does know. She is an inspiring woman and I love that I have been able to learn from her in just the five days that I've known her. 

Really the only other exciting thing this week (at least important enough to share!) is the fact that we found a Chipotle here. Yes, good 'ole Chipotle. And so we had lunch there after church on Sunday. And it was delicious. However, quite expensive! Much more expensive than the states. But it was a worth-it splurge! Other than that, my week has been full of getting back into a school schedule, since this was my first full week of classes. 

Hope you all have had a great week! Until next time :)

His love never fails.

Falling In Love

It was bound to happen. Only a matter of time. And last night... It happened.

I FELL IN LOVE.

With Paris :) I remember the moment exactly. It was 8:07 and I was walking back from watching the incredible movie, The Untouchables (if you haven't watched it, go rent it RIGHT NOW and watch it. extremely moving, funny, and beautiful). To get back from the ISA office and to the house, I walk past Notre Dame everyday. At this time yesterday, the sun was setting perfectly behind Notre Dame and the temperature was perfect, with a slight breeze blowing. I felt like I was in a movie. That moment was when it finally hit me that I was living in Paris and that I absolutely loved it. Despite the trash, the occasional B.O. on the metro, and a few creepy people, I love Paris.

Something I've noticed more and more, and something that I learned a lot about this past summer, is how tempting it is to be EFFICIENT. Don't get me wrong, efficiency is great and sometimes necessary, but not all the time. So often, it takes away from real, personal relationships, enjoyment, and attention to the beauty of detail. America, myself included in this, we love to be efficient. How can I get things done as quickly as possible but still retain the best results? But here, I can see how much detail there is. How much enjoyment in taking your time to do things. Truly tasting the food, enjoying the conversation, wanting to be personal and intentional during meal times, and noticing the detail in everything around you.

For example, the architecture. The reason everyone is so drawn to the architecture here (and Europe in general) is because of the attention to detail. There was a purpose to these buildings. The builders were not trying to be efficient. They weren't trying to make a quick profit, get things up and running ASAP. No, their building was going to be a work of art, the talk of the town. It may take years to build, but it will be magnificent-I'm sure that's what they said. And they were right. These buildings are magnificent. If only all our city halls could be like Hôtel de Ville- the city hall in paris. If only all our churches could be like Notre Dame, or Saint Michel.

So the reason so many people fall in love with Paris, you probably can guess it now, is because we begin to notice the detail, and there IS detail we can pay attention to. It truly is life changing. As I said before, though there are times that the culture or way of life may frustrate me because of how I expect things to work, I love that is forcing me to slow down and look around me.

Here's my challenge to you: What detail are you forsaking in order to be efficient? It could be a wide array of things, but I know there is something. So find it! And take note of how beautiful it is. And it is there for you to enjoy. Don't be so stuck trying to be efficient and quick that you forget to take delight in the things around you.

His love never fails.