We'll always have Paris!

So my time in Lyon is coming to a close and I am not happy about it. It has legitimately been the best six weeks of my life and I do not want it to end. However, I have the best job in the world to return to in Baton Rouge, so I'm off.

We ended our trip in Paris, France, which is my favorite city in the world. Now, I've travelled to many awesome cities: Las Vegas for my friend's 21st birthday, Miami for the Saints' Super Bowl, New York during the Christmas holidays. I've seen a lot. And Paris, you take the cake. Congrats.

We browsed Trip Advisor for the most delicious restaurants for our first night, and settled on this super tiny one with only 4 tables. The meal was delicious, and it was so quiet and French-ish. :) Exactly the type of restaurant I want to end my trip with. 

After dinner, we took a quick ride to Buddha Bar. I've only read about this place; they have locations in Paris, New York, and Milan. I've heard about the expensive menus and interesting clientele, so of course, I was intrigued. 

Paris at night

 First, the restaurant is amazing. It's dimly lit, so you really can't see much. They have crazy music playing the entire time. A HUGE Buddha statue sits in the middle of the restaurant, overlooking everything. The bar is on the second floor, with plush couches overlooking the tables downstairs.

At 20 euros per drink, it's pricey. But well worth it. The guests are young and beautiful, or older men with young, beautiful girls. It was great for people watching and I would recommend anyone visiting Paris to check it out one night.

Big Buddha

The next morning, we rented another vespa. We just love these things. You really see the city much faster. You can park anywhere and drive anywhere, so don't worry about one ways or no parking signs. You're basically the boss while on a vespa. At 30 euros a day, this is worth it.

We checked out all the normal places again: Notre Dama, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre. It was just amazing this time as it was 6 weeks ago.

Notre Dame

 For lunch, we looked at Trip Advisor again and found Au Petit Sud-Ouest, rated one of the top restaurants in Paris. Of course, we had to check it out

And it was marvelous. Literally, the most delicious foie gras I've ever had. As foie gras will soon be illegal in the USA, I had to get my fill in Paris. THe restaurant was, again, very tiny and quiet. They had toasters at each table to toast your bread. I enjoyed a HUGE duck and foie gras salad, with a chocolate mousse for dessert. Definitely worth a meal here for Parisian visitors.

Next, we decided to actually visit the Louvre. The Louvre is 8 miles of walking through 350,000 sculptures and 75,000 works of art. Serious exercise. Well, you know we had to. 

Hanging out with Hammurabi's Code, one of the oldest recorded codes in the history of mankind. 

Napoleon's chair

 We saw famous art, sculptures, and the apartments of Napoleon. Also good Louvre advice? Do not go through the main entrance (featured in the movie, Da Vinci's Code). Go down the stairs behind the winged angels next to the arc across from the Louvre. As opposed to waiting 4 hours in the main line, we walked down these stairs, and were in the Louvre within 5 minutes. Trust me.

Self-portrait of Durer

The Sisters

The Lacemaker

 The following picture is underneath the Louvre. To the left, you see a huge wall of bricks. This used to be the WALLS that surrounding the city of Paris and protected it from outsiders. To the right, were the fortress/castle walls. Before the Louvre was a museum, yes, it was a fortress. AMAZING.

Venus de Milo

Egyptian statue 

One of the oldest statues of man

 We learned about the Winged Victory in my Stolen Art class. While the Louvre was being looted, the soldiers wanted to get the Winged Victory out. They had to carry this massive thing down the two flights of stairs in the Louvre. The stairs are extremely narrow, and this statue is HUGE. You have to see the stairways to actually comprehend how difficult it was to carry this thing safely down.

The Winged Victory, also known as, Nike

Coronation of Napoleon, where he crowned his first wife

 Finally, we got to see the Mona Lisa. Not to be a hipster, but I find this painting extremely overrated. The mystery behind it is what attracts everyone, I am sure. Other than that, it was relatively tiny compared to most other paintings. Hundreds of tourists gathered around the extremely secured painting to capture pictures. It really was a sight. The painting is behind 8-inch thick glass walls, totally bullet proof. On top of that, it is humidity controlled, and set back about 10 feet from people by a metal rail. Talk about security.

Mona Lisa

After, we checked out a few Michelangelo sculptures, including the Captured Slaves. 

 It really was an amazing trip. My advice to those wanting to see the Louvre in double time, is to pick up their maps at the front desk and only see the "Famous Works." There's about 30 of them, and takes about 4 hours. Definitely a better idea.

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

 After the Louvre, it was time to make our last visits. We vespaed everywhere and for hours. It truly was amazing. I cannot wait to get back to Paris as soon as possible.

Oh, Paris

I'm cheesy, I know.

Well, readers. This is my last picture-inspired blog post for a while. Maybe something awesome will happen soon and give me another reason to blog. Someone asked me to do an "Itinerary" for each major city, based on our experience. I will get to this soon.

Thanks for reading.

When In Rome...

Once again, I am super sorry to my fans who count on me to post. My computer literally does not work, and I can't blog unless I steal Timothy's computer. I'll just have to do so more often. :)

Also, I am very excited to announce that I have 6000 page views. I don't know who is looking at my blog, but thanks, and I hope it's as enjoyable for you as it is for me to have these experiences. Moving on.



Beautiful

My weekend started on a high-speed train to Florence, Italy. This only took 5 hours, which is about 5 more hours than I can bear on a non-air conditioned vessel. But I digress.

A few words on Italian food: it is all the same in Italy. Just about every restaurant, whether 5 star or just some shack, has the same menu: pasta and pizza. It might have a different sauce, or a different meat, but it's all the same. After four days of straight pasta, I must admit, my belly needed some American food, also known as, Hard Rock Cafe Rome. Moving on.

So we arrive in Florence, and this church is the first thing I see. It really is amazing. We get there about 4, and there's only one thing to do, right? Go to the museums.

So we begin at the Uffizi. This is the huge Florence museum with the Ninja Turtle arists (jay kay) and The Birth of Venus. There is a strict "no photo" policy, but I risked getting thrown out of a world-famous museum to snap pictures for my memories and this blog.

The Birth of Venus. You're Welcome.

After we witness this marvel, I want to read about every sculptured philospher in the museum. That would literally take days, so two hours later, we were on our way to the Accademia.

The Accademia is a very small museum with one main piece: Michelangelo's David. Yes, there are other works, but probably the most looked-over works in the history of art. Why? There's a 20-foot naked man standing next to the other paintings with a huge marble stage.

I also risked getting kicked out of this museum for this picture, but I just had to. Timothy and I spent about 20 minutes looking at this work, wondering how he sculpted it, how much time it took, how does the museum avoid people going cray on it. It really was amazing, and I couldn't believe how lucky we were to see it.

After the two museums and traveling all day, I am exhausted. We take a cab to a hotel and along the way, Timothy talks about how awesome pictures in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa would be. And since I'm a sucker for a good photo shoot, 10 minutes later, we were at the train station, on our way to Pisa.

It was a short train ride, only about 30 minutes. On the way there, we went second class (no airconditioning) and had to spare the extra 20 euros on the way back for a little AC. That's a good suggestion.

Also, if these pictures seem blurry, it's because they are. I have no idea how to work Timothy's computer. When I get my fancy new computer, I'll try to re-upload.

Anyway, after Pisa, I put my foot down: I'm going to bed. Of course, I'm awoken early the next morning with more plans: Horseback riding through a Tuscan vineyard. I can handle that.

Now, I love riding horses. Wherever I go, I try to convince my parents to do some excursion with horseback riding. So when assigning horses to us, I'm not too worried. Timothy gets his; a huge stallion with no warning from the guides. I get mine, and of course, she (Violetina) comes with a warning: "She's feisty and sassy, and you can't go in front of other horses or she'll kick them." ...How did this happen to me?

Anyway, the ride was fine. Violetina only took off running twice because she saw some delicious grass she wanted to eat. She only tried to kick the guide's horse behind me once, which caused her horse to buck. Other than that, Violetina was fine. Of course, TImothy's horse was perfect. I was rolling my eyes the entire time during that trip.

Our horses didn't quite get along, and this picture was a real struggle for them.

After touring the vineyards via horseback, it was time for lunch and our wine tasting. We each got 2 glasses of their wine. We sat next to some awesome Australian girls who hated red wine, so that was 8 glasses for Timothy and myself.

 

After the wine tasting and lunch, it was time to go home. I was pretty tired; ordering around a fussy horse was not the easiest thing in the world.

The next morning was an early 30-minute train ride to Rome. After, we tried out the metro to a stop called "Colosseo." Walking out of the metro, this was my first sight:

It was truly remarkable.

Now let me give you the 411 on Rome. Since we drove the city constantly for a few days, we have a pretty good idea of it. From our hotel (Hotel Apollo, Via de Serpenti), every single monument was within 10 minutes via vespa. And yes, rent a vespa. That little gem got us around Rome so quickly and in style. It will be my first suggestion to anyone ever seeing Rome again.

Anyway, Rome, although a big city, is really not that big. It is SUPER easy to manuever, and all of the streets seem to run together. If you accidentally cross the river, no worries, you'll end up at the Vatican. If you accidentally take the wrong stop on the roundabout, you'll either end up at the Trevi Fountain or the Colosseum. Could be worse.

We rented a vespa, which is basically a mini scooter. I was so Lizzie McGuire up in Rome, it's not even funny. I sang the theme song quite often. The speed on that thing, mixed with the monuments and zooming life of Rome, was exhilirating. Yes, I was sure we'd die a few times, but hey, when in Rome.

Trevi Fountain

On that first day, I had a map of Rome, with 8 things listed for us to visit. Frommers suggested only 6 the first day, but since we're young, I decided on 8. With the vespa, we saw all 8 things, plus 3 more, within 5 hours. Well, Frommers, thanks for nothing.

When you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, you will return to Rome one day.

After doing all the stereotypical touristy things that first day, we booked our tour for Sunday at the Vatican.

Not knowing what to expect, I dressed in comfortable attire, but brought along some capris and a conservative blouse. Thank goodness for that. To enter the Vatican, women cannot show their shoulders, upper arms, or knees. Whew.

Upon arrival, we're given a real treat: after the tour, we can attend mass. I literally swooned. Now, I'm not a Catholic, nor do I speak Italian, but this is seriously one of the most amazing things ever. Mass? At the Vatican? We got our praying knees ready and away we went.

The School of Athens, or, The Philosophers. Raphael.

The tour was super awesome. We saw so many  eautiful works of art, and I couldn't wait to see my man Mike's flagship. I saw works by Francis Bacon, Raphael, Salvador Dali, and others. It truly was amazing.



The Sistine Chapel

Upon entering the Sistine Chapel, I literally lost my breath. The time and effort spent in this room by Michelangelo was obviously apparent, and actually, we felt a tad sad for him. If you don't know much about this, well, you're in for a treat. Michelangelo first refused to paint the Sistine Chapel and fled to Florence. The Pope basically said, "Paint it, or else" and he was forced to come back. Michelangelo once wrote a letter to a friend, discussing his suffering during his time painting it. After the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo sculpted David. The way David stands (see above), his body is facing towards Rome. His eyes are glaring in the direction of Rome, as a warning to the city. Cool, huh?

Sistine Chapel with the marble and iron gates that separated the workers from the wealthy

Judgment Day. Michelangelo. Sistine Chapel.

The Creation of Adam.

When I objected over a guy taking our picture, he said, "How many more times will you be here?" Fair point well made.

After the Sistine Chapel, how could it get any better? I am then reminded we are attending mass. It got better. Mass was...huge. There was a lot of cheering, for what, I don't know because it was all in Italian. It was well rehearsed, like most Catholic masses I've attended. The crowd knows when to speak. We just sat there in awe. It seemed powerful and enlightening, and it is an experience I will never forget.

After mass, we had the option of going to one of the many small altars and praying. We chose St. Joseph's and stayed for about 15 minutes. I prayed at the Vatican. What an aweesome day.

This really was a day I'll never forget. I even got holy water!

Just grabbing some holy water before I go!

Now that mass was done, our day at the Vatican was over.



Family, friends, I hope you enjoyed re-visiting our trip to Rome. It really was such a magical experience. I cannot decide which I love more: Rome or Paris. I'll let you know after this weekend...because I'm going BACK to Paris. Booya.

Vineyards and catacombs and bulls, oh, my!

Warning: Only one picture on this blog post. I have to wait until I get back to Lyon to post more pictures.

I'm super sorry for not blogging before now. My computer (a 2009 Apple Macbook) recently crashed, taking along just about everything with it. Luckily, I've posted every picture ever to Facebook (on private, of course), so no pictures are missing. Thank goodness.

Last weekend was the most exciting (and exhausting) weekend of my life. We began on Thursday; an eight-hour drive to San Sebaastian, Spain. Upon arrival, we learn it gets dark there around 11:30. What do we do? Go surfing that night, of course.

After renting our surf boards and buying our surf gear, I HAVE to ask the worker, "What aqua predators frequent these waters?" "Sharks," he said. "What kind?" I ask. This is an extremely relevant question. As an avid Shark Week-watcher, I need to know. He laughs and says JAY KAY, and I'm off to surf in potentially deadly waters.

Just being a diva/surfing.

Surfing class

Robb doesn't give us much instruction; just to "stand up" when it "feels right." Luckily, there's a beginner's surfing class right in front of us (see next picture), so we discreetly listen in on that.

Rules of surfing: Defeat the 4-foot tall waves that crash into your 8-foot-long surf board constantly to make it to the "chill zone". Here, there aren't many waves; you just wait for the perfect one. When you spot the perfect one about 30 feet away (Sidenote: what's the perfect one? It "looks" big. Yeah, great.), then you paddle as hard as possible toward the shore. The wave should lift you up on its white caps, then you stand, and keep your balance to ride the wave in. Sounds easy, right? False.

Just checking out the surf

High fives!

Just being adorable.

Expert?

I nosedived close to 5 times; "put more weigh on the back," I hear. Fine. Finally, I get up on the board. VICTORY, I think. Now, I have to keep balance, while avoiding the 1000 children playing in front of me. NOT an easy task. After about 10 wipeouts, the coast was clear.  The guys joked that everyone left the beach, afraid of me hitting them. I doubt this was a joke.

Timothy was awesome, of course. He stood up about 10 times and surfed his little heart out. It was really the most invigorating thing I've ever done. More so than any other athletic activity I've ever participated in. The RUSH you feel when you stand up on that board is unmatched. I can see why people risk getting their legs eaten off by Jaws to surf.

After surfing, we were exhausted. Plus, we had a LONG day of Running with the Bulls, so it was time to go home.

Hang ten!

The next morning, the four of us awoke around 4:30AM. We made the 1-hour drive to Pamplona to see the FAMOUS Running of the Bulls. Everywhere, people were dress in white pants, white shirt, with a red scarf and red belt. Everyone was hammered, as well. I mean, seriously intoxicated. It was 6:00am! So I had my cappucino and was just fine.

The actual running began at 8AM. Since none of the girls (plus Tim) were running, we purchased tickets into the stadium to check out the stadium events. Not having any real expectations, it was the most awesome thing ever.

Basically, people just run around and get mauled by bulls. Bulls buck and kick and run into people, and the crowd cheers with glee. I spent 1.5 hours dying laughing in that stadium. It was just about the best thing ever.

In the staidum

After the Running, there wasn't much to do. We forgot about "siestas" in Spain, which are their 5-hour naps from like 10am-3pm. So we left Pamplona and headed back to San Sebastien for more surfing.

After surfing a bit more, it was time for a night on the town with our group. About 12 of us clubbed around San Sebastien, to end our night semi-early for our 4-hour haul to Bordeaux in the morning.

Bordeaux, France, is the most famous red wine region in the entire world. As a recent red-wine-lover, this was a good thing. Also, it was Bastille Day, and everyone was partying.

The group with our flowers, and a random father and child.

On our tour of Bordeaux!

We enjoyed good food, good wine, and good people, for the entire weekend. On Sunday, we went to a Bordeaux wine tour in St. Emillion, which is a nearby wine region. The cellars were old and chilly, and the wine was fantastic. After purchasing a few bottles, it was time to head back to Lyon for class.

9 days and counting until I return to the United States. Do I HAVE to?!