Paris, Je T'aime...and Now Back Home

Well, I am back home and trying to recover from the ever-popular jet lag. It's a little strange being back, but I'm getting used to it. Here are some pictures from the end of my trip - Clermont and Paris! Enjoy!

The church in Clermont.

The street in front of the church.

My delicious crepe and hot chocolate!

The fete de la musique just getting started...

My favorite band I saw there! An African band. They were so my people.

The girls. All dressed up for our "family dinner" in the dorms.

The aftermath of our family dinner.

There was a carnival set up in the park in front of the Louvre in Paris, and it had a ferris wheel!!

Montmartre from the Musee d'Orsay terrace. I wish I could have made it up there on my trip!

I basically just walked up and down the Seine on my Saturday in Paris, and took an insane amount of pictures.

The carnival by the Louvre.

Les catacombes. I waited in line for AN HOUR to get in. And sidenote: don't go by yourself. It didn't register with me that I'd have to go through the entire thing alone...talk about creepy...it was still cool though.

Skulls and bones...

Cool archway in the catacombs.

Notre Dame and the Seine. I really wanted to go inside, but the line was sooooo long and wasn't moving, so I just decided to move on. Someday I will see the inside of the Notre Dame Catherdal...someday...

Pont Alexander III. I thought it was pretty.

And of course I ended my day at the Eifel Tower! And took tons of pictures of it. Here's just a few.

And the girls on our last night in Vichy. I just think this picture is too cute!

And that concludes my trip to France. I do hope you enjoyed my blog. I have another one, my original one (jeez I'm one of those people), oklahomagirlindc.blogspot.com, if you want to stay updated, for I do not know how much often I will write on this one since my trip is now complete.

Much love to you all, and thanks for reading!

Peace, Love, and Being Home.

La Praix et L'amour

That means "Peace and Love"

My teacher taught me peace and love in French because of an AOII shirt I have that instead of the O it's a peace sign and it's tie-dyed. She referenced Vietnam in explaining my shirt...but I didn't expect her to know what AOII means anyway. Anyway, I thought it was cool since that's the phrase I practically live by and because I sign all my blog posts "Peace, Love, and ...." Way cool.

Well, my suitcases are out and almost filled, and all I really have left to pack are my toiletries. I can't believe it's already time to leave! These past 4 weeks have gone by SO fast. I leave around 5 tomorrow night and will be in Paris for 2 nights. I have all day Saturday to explore the city and that excites me greatly. I plan on hitting up the Musee d'Orsay, perhaps the Catacombs, and Notre Dame since I've only just passed by it but never actually gone in it. Then Saturday evening I am determined to find a nice restaurant that serves duck for my last meal in France! I can't wait! I splurged on a pretty nice hotel, since it's PARIS, and I'm pretty excited to just chill out and be touristy before heading back home. My flight leaves Paris at around 11:40 Sunday morning and I should get in to OKC at around 5 something Sunday night. I'm sure I'll be a super happy camper by then too!

Not much else to report on around here. We've all just been chilling out for our last week. We had a "family dinner" last night - the "dorm kids" - me, Katie, Ashley, Sean, William, Matt, and Diana. We all cooked our own dinner, set up a table in the middle of the hall, got all dressed up, and shared good food and laughs. Then we headed outside to the fire escape (it's a cool spiral staircase) and took some group pictures. Some were successful, some not so much. Then we just hung out and met up with some other students at L'Academie later on. L'Academie is a cool bar/pool hall across from the Gare. They have some pretty delicious 1664 blanche (blond beer) and it's just classy. Tonight a group of us are going out to dinner since it's our official last night as a group, and then we'll probably hit up the infamous Tahiti Bar down by the river. Oh how I will miss that place. Then tomorrow Katie, Ashley, and I catch the train to Paris, William and Matt hit up Clermont, and the rest leave Saturday. :-/ I'm excited to get home but I'm going to miss all the crazy kids I've met here. Thankfully the good majority of us go to OU so I'm sure there will be many a reunions in store.

Well time to head out and finish packing/get ready for dinner.

La Praix, L'amour, et Fun Times in Vichy

Puy de Dome

I climbed up a volcano...and this is what I saw...


Hangliders at the top...


You can't really tell, but that is Matt and Tjanna climbing up the side of the mountain. They decided it would be faster than taking the trail.

Ancient Roman ruins at the top - the Temple of Mercury. I thought the random cartoon guy with random facts was entertaining.

View from the top.

All those white dots are a flock of sheep being herded into a different pasture. It was pretty cool to see.

Me at the top

My attempt at being artistic.

View again. I like the shadow of the cloud.

Me contemplating life at the top of a volcano/mountain. :-)

Overall it was quite fun, and I am very proud of myself for climbing all the way to the top, as it was not easy, especially since my asthma has decided to hate me this trip. And then on the way down, it was so steep you had to practically run, so Ashley, Katie, and I decided it would be fun to frolick and sing all the way down. And that we did, my friends. Good times. Pretty sure Sean caught it on video.

There's my daily update. Clermont is next! I know I'm a few days behind on everything, but you have to admit I've been doing a pretty good job of catching up, eh? Only 6 more days until I go home! Scary, yet exciting, thought!

Peace, Love, and Climbing Ancient Volcanoes.

Nice is Nice [Neece is Niice]

And now...I give you pictures from Nice. :-)

Flags on the beach, rocky beach, actually.

Beautiful water. :-)

Many people on the beach.

Me with Nice in the background.

My attempt at a panoramic view of Nice and the sea. We climbed up this mountain/chateau type thing and saw this.

Waterfall at the top.

Trying to get a picture of the cool fountain in the plaza.

My yummy dinner that night! Mm salmon.

A street in Nice.

Barack Obama!! He's everywhere, and since he was in France a few weeks ago the French became even more obsessed with him. Which is fine with me! :-)

The plaza had these cool statues of people that lit up in different colors at night.

A fish market that Ashley and I passed on our morning walk. There was also a farmer's market across the street. Very cool.

That's it for now. I'm off to Cleremont today! I'll update soon with that and the Puy de Dome.

Peace, Love, and Nice.

Geneve

Finally, for your entertainment, I bring you pictures of my trip to Geneva...2 weeks later. :-) Enjoy. Nice is next! Get excited.


The creepiest place in all of Geneva. What we walked through trying to find our hotel.

Beautiful Geneva street.

Me in front of the home of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I am so pleased. :-)

" Ou est la chat?" A cat sitting in a windowsill! I thought it was cute. :-)

The girls with Geneva in the background - Katie, Diana, Ashley, et moi.

A cute old couple feeding the swans and ducks.

The largest fountain in the world!

Cool statue.

Me with Geneva in the background. :-)

All of us in front of the United Nations Headquarters - Diana, Ashley, Matt, William, Sean, moi, et Katie.

The U.N. :-)

And finally...a glimpse of some scenery from the train back to Vichy. :-) I love the mountains.

That's all for now.

Peace, Love, and Swiss Chocolate.