J'adore Paris

Dear Internet,

What a week! I’ve had my feet planted in 3 countries over the past 6 days. A little perspective goes a long way, let me tell you.

Paris was, as always, beautiful. It’s hard to really hate Paris. Yes, some creepy men may follow you and it might smell a little like a Port-a-Potty at times, but you get over it once you see the art, eat the food, and visit the sights. This time was especially entertaining because it was my second time in the city and I was with a lovely group of friends. Since so much happened in such a short amount of time, I decided to divide up events by day. I like to be organized sometimes.

Day 1 Paris:

-       Left London at 5:30 AM (!) to get to Paris by train

-       Notre Dame. After a walk through my favorite cathedral in all of Europe (so far), we climbed the 633 steps to the top of the tower to get panoramic views of Paris. We made friends with the gargoyles too.

-       Visited the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company and almost got kicked out.

-       Lunch in the Latin Quarter (first French pastry of the trip!)

-       Saint Chapelle. At first, this place doesn’t look like much. Once you climb the stairs to the second floor, prepare to be blown away! All 4 walls are covered in some of the best stained glass in maybe the whole world.

Pretty great, huh?

-       Crepe in the Latin Quarter. We just had to!

-       Walked from the Latin Quarter down to Love Lock Bridge, the Louvre, Tuileries, and Champs Elysees to…

Love Lockdown

-       Arch de Triumph. We climbed up to the top to see the sun set over the city and the Eiffel Tower light up.

Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower

-       Dinner at the amazing Maison de la Truffe. Went to this truffle themed restaurant on a whim.  Black truffle and foie gras pasta. Best meal in Paris!

The meal to end all meals

Day 2 Paris:

-       Musee de Rodin. Rodin was the famous French artist who sculpted ‘The Thinker’ amongst other amazing works. He focused less on the human body and more on the emotion humans project.

Joel put a ring on it

-       Napoleon’s Tomb. Just across the street from the Musee de Rodin, this golden covered dome holds the famous dictator’s remains. Everything is over the top, from his tomb to the golden statues.

-       Musee d’Orsay. Holds some amazing impressionist paintings from the likes of Monet and Degas.

-       Laduree. If you’re ever in France, this is a MUST. The salted caramel and vanilla macaroons are out of this world. I die every time.

-       Sans Coeur Chapel. Otherwise known as the big white church on the hill. It was raining when we went, which took away from the beautiful view. Last time I was here the sun was rising over the city and my heart melted.

-       Wandered around my favorite section of Paris, Montmarte.

The streets of Paris

-       Best crepes of my life (second to my sister Bayli’s)! Fried apple crepes with vanilla ice cream. Cooked thin, just like I like them.

Day 3 Paris:

-       Louvre. I found my twin! My favorite piece in this whole museum is Winged Victory. Makes my heart skip a beat every time I see it.

My twin?

-       Musee de L’Orangerie. Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ line the oval shaped rooms. I sat in front of one for almost 15 minutes they were that beautiful. It made me miss my Aunt who recreated them for her house.

-       Angelina’s. Another signature French restaurant. The hot chocolate is to die for. Literally melted dark chocolate poured straight into a saucer.

-       Opera Garnier. Probably my favorite sight to see in all of Paris. I want to become an opera singer every time I step onto the main staircase. It truly is a magical place!

-       Eiffel Tower pictures at dusk. We met the most unintentional hipster dad from Nashville while taking pictures. He was one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. I wanted to be his best friend.

-       Dinner at Au Petit Sud Ouest. Located right by the Eiffel Tower, you’d think this was a tourist trap but it actually has some of the best duck and foie gras in the whole city.

Just some cuties at dinner

Day 4 Paris:

-       Versailles. Freezing but worth it.

-       Thrift shopping in the Jewish Quarter. Utter madness! I actually feared for my life at one point.

-       Le Soufflé. The waiter cracked open my soufflé and poured melted dark chocolate inside. HEAVEN.

Day 6 Paris:

-       Slept in (yes, this is noteworthy!)

-       Walked around Eiffel tower

-       Rode a carousel. Just because I’m 20 doesn’t mean I can’t still act like a kid!

-       Lunch at Au Petit Sud Ouest. Because good restaurants deserve to be visited twice.

-       Train ride home

If you’re clever, you noticed that I skipped Day 5. That’s because Day 5 was spent in Belgium! I loved it so much that I’m going to write a blog post devoted just to my time spent there.

I don’t know when I’ll get to go back to Paris, but this trip was definitely one for the books. Nothing beats good times with good friends and good food in a good place. The sad thing is as much as I love London, it was snowing when we got back. As we all know, I hate snow. Time for another trip? Barcelona sounds like fun…Until next time my darlings!

Love,

Courtney

Drookit

Hello there Internet,

SCOTLAND! That's all I need to say. But I'm sure you'd like to hear more than that, so let me tell you all about it. To get to Edinburgh from London, it takes 8 HOURS. On a bus. With 50 people. So pretty much it was a long day. We made stops along the way to break it up thankfully! Fountain's Abbey was our first stop in York, which is this run-down yet really cool monastery. It was very Skyfall with the fog and everything. It was a perfect photo opportunity.

Fountain's Abbey

Amanda and I 

Morgan, Tavia, Me and Amanda

That night we made it to Edinburgh after a very long, very uncomfortable 6 hour drive. I was really looking forward to a hot shower, soft bed, and silence. What I got instead was a hostel. Having never stayed in a hostel before and having heard horror stories from friends, I freaked out. The fact that our room smelled like hairy man BO didn't help. I tried to take it in stride and think of it as part of the experience, but the amount of drunk men hitting on us and fungus living in our shower made me vow to never stay in a hostel again as long as I can help it.

Streets of Scotland

Hogwarts?

The next day we woke up early to climb the hill to Edinburgh Castle, the castle that inspired JK Rowling's Hogwarts. Again, it was crazy foggy and raining. Which gives me a chance to explain the title to this post. Drookit means soaking wet, and soaking wet we were! Part of me wishes it wasn't such terrible weather so that I could get a better view from the castle, but what's Scotland with sun? Not Scotland!

Sydney and I

After, we trekked down the hill to the National Gallery. Normally this wouldn't inspire me as something to write about on the blog, but for being so small it was incredible. I was standing next to Degas, Monet's, and Van Gogh's all in the same room. I was a bit starstruck.

Just chilling with Dega's Ballerinas

The rest of the day was spent exploring the city and trying to figure out what to do that night. Edinburgh is considered a really haunted town, so a lot of our group went on ghost tours that night. Considering I'm a HUGE whimp when it comes to scary things, I opted out. Instead, we went to this lovely restaurant called The Outsider that placed us at a table right by a window looking up at the castle all lit up in the dark. We ventured in search of sticky toffee pudding after we had gorged ourselves. If you don't know what that is, you're missing out! It's probably one of my new favorite desserts. I'm in search of the perfect recipe for it. We rolled around for a little bit, stuffed to the gills with STP, and then went to The Jazz Bar. A local told us about how cool it was, so we knew it was a must-do. Thursday night acoustic night meant there was a lot of local raw talent playing. We heard some really talented people, all with thick Scottish accents!

The rest of our trip included long coach rides, cathedrals, running around drookit, homemade churros found at markets, warm Starbucks, snow hikes to Roman walls, Chinese food, island castles, interrupted sleep, and at last a warm shower. Scotland was one for the books; I hope I can go back one of these days! Until next week my darlings.

Love,
Courtney

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Hey there Internet friends,

It has been a great few weeks up in London. The sun teased us a few times, which made us want spring to come faster. On one of these sunny days, Tavia and I went to the Orangery, a teahouse in Kensington Gardens. I think I might adopt this idea of afternoon tea and scones out in the sun. It was perfect!

When in London...

Sadly, the sun went away just as London Fashion week started. There was quite the buzz going around London with all the celebrities strutting about. Of course the day I got sick was the day that there was a Burberry show in Hyde Park, literally a stone’s throw from my apartment. My sister was not happy with me when I told her the news. I redeemed myself by getting tickets for a fashion show a few days later when I was feeling better. The best part? All the freebies!

Just at London Fashion Week. No big deal.

Last week we visited Canterbury. Situated in this little town were the remains on an old castle and the most beautiful cathedral. If there’s one thing I wish the States had that Europe has, it would be all of these ancient churches. They’re nothing less than breathtaking. Added bonus, we met some Mormon missionaries while we were here! One of them was from Singapore, which made me a little homesick for my days spent in the Philippines.

Canterbury Castle

Canterbury Cathedral

Saturday we took a guided tour of Parliament, also known as the Westminster Palace. No pictures were allowed, so I have nothing to show for it. All I can say is that I fell in love with the details. So many little intricate details! You can sit in on the House of Commons, which I think I might do one of these days. Apparently you can lobby with MP’s in the hallways before or boo and hiss if an MP makes a comment you don’t agree with!

After Parliament we took a river cruise down to Greenwich. I had been there a few weeks earlier when my parents visited, but the weather was much more enjoyable the second time around. Greenwich is the ultimate Saturday destination with markets, museums, and most importantly SUN. We briefly visited the Maritime museum, straddled the Prime Meridian, and strolled through the market.

2 friends, 2 hemispheres. Prime Meridian.

Next week we make the 8-hour coach ride to Scotland. I’m not excited about the length of time it will take the get there, but I can’t wait to get my hands on a little bit of my heritage. I’ve got a wee bit of Scott in me you see. Stay tuned for pictures of my great Scottish adventure!

Love,

Courtney