I'm moving to Paris!

No really, I loved it. My France trip involved horrible weather, crazy host mothers, spending the last of my money and a few weird hostel roommates, but I loved it. I spent the first three days in Paris and saw everything I could. The only majorly touristy thing I didn't do was go inside of Notre Dame and up the Eiffel Tower. My favorite thing was probably the Musee d'Orsay. I spent so many hours in there I almost passed out. I spent so much time on the Metro the last two weeks. I packed to try to fit in, but with my red hair and red coat I still stood out. It's always fun to pretend to be a native of the place I'm in, and it was really fun doing that on the Paris metro. The people were just more interesting I guess.

For the first few days I stayed in a cute area of Montmartre, so every morning or evening I walked all the way up the hill with a baguette and an apple to the Sacre Coeur to look out over the city. All that walking made up for the several visits to chocolateries I made. I spent a lot of time reading in cafes, bookstores and in parks. I did some shopping which was stupid but successful. I checked out the Louvre and the Tuileries. Went to the Jeu de Paume photography museum that had a great exhibit on Lizbet Model. I saw the mansions and ridiculous buildings off the Champs Elysees. I spent a lot of time in the Latin Quarter which was really cool. It is centered around Rue St. Michel and Rue St. Michael, with a mix of old bohemian and high fashion. La Sorbonne, my dream school, is there, and so beautiful. The area around there is bustling constantly with students, tourists and French people who stepped out of magazines. I was in love.

I spoke horrible French the whole time- I took French for two semesters sophomore year of college and loved it, but the class was early in the morning and I may have had some issues getting there on time. So, my French was not perfect, but passable. Not like my Dutch, which only now sounds like it is coming from a normal Dutch person.

Thursday night I took the three hour train to Dijon in Bourgogne to visit Alicia, Elias and a few other Clarkies studying there. I had so much fun during the couple of days I was there with everyone. We didn't do much other than hang out, explore Dijon and sit in cafes because of the bad weather, but it was just like being at Clark, only relocated.

Tuesday I went back up to Paris for three last days in the city of light. I literally spend all of Wednesday in the Louvre. I have no idea if I saw even a fraction of it because I didn't even pick up a map, I just wandered. It's so big and has a terribly confusing layout. But out of what I did see I loved the Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, Egyptian Sphynx, and French and Italian galleries. It was a really impressive place but so packed. I was staying in a really neighborhoody area between Montmartre and Belleville which was a bit sketch but cool. Met some great people at the hostel I was staying at. During those last few days I also went to the Pantheon which was so enormous it didn't feel real and ran through the beautiful and peaceful Pere Lachaise cemetery to find and kiss Oscar Wilde's grave (I probably have a skin disease now).

On Thursday I met my Parisian friends Mevyn and Louise for lunch near their place in the center of Montmartre. They took me to a great little cafe where we all failed to eat our enormous salads. After we hung out at their adorable apartment and ate cookies from a nearby boulangerie and played with their cat Twix. We went for a walk through the sex shops of Montmartre and past the Moulin Rouge to Louise's parents house. Their apartment was something I could only dream of having one day- gorgeous. They were really lovely people. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long since I had a train to catch. Almost missed it, but managed to yell 'wait!' in Dutch (wachten!) before the platform guy gave the go ahead. Thank god. On the train I didn't know whether to speak French, Dutch or English, something that always makes you appreciate America a little bit.

I was so sad to leave- I had such a great time on the trip and felt a little like I was being ripped away from my home. Spent most of the train ride listening to Yann Tierson, Edith Piaf and Django Reinhardt to stay in the Parisian mindset as I traveled through quirky beautiful Belgium and the wide plains of the Netherlands. Talking to my friend Cara later that night, we almost bought train tickets back to Paris for this weekend hahaha. I really am serious about living there. Even only for a year. Maybe after college. Starving in Paris would be more romantic than starving anywhere else. I might give it a try, and hey maybe then I'd be able to check out the rest of France and Versailles.

Now I'm back in Leiden where everything is blooming and the festivals are about to start. I'm actually studying for finals, so that's weird. I bought my ticket to London this morning where I am meeting up with my dad and brother before I head back to the states. I only have two weeks left!

Here are some pictures, in no order at all.
<3 Ash