20th birthday in Paris!!!

I recently celebrated my 20th birthday (about a week ago) in Paris, France! I have to say that this was absolutely the best birthday I’ve ever had and a fantastic way to say goodbye to my teenage years.
About 20 of my friends from my study abroad program accompanied me and my friend Sabrina (who was turning 21 the day before my birthday) to a 4 star hotel in the business district of Paris. The whole weekend was magnificent – I ate nutella crepes nonstop, drank French wine and champagne, and saw all my favorite places in France!

I started my birthday off by going to Notre Dame, one of my favorite places in the world. The architecture conveys so much passion and devotion that must have gone into constructing this church. Standing there, looking at the breathtaking stained glass gives me a sense of tranquility and clarity. If I lived in Paris, I would be in Notre Dame every day just drinking in the beauty.




I also went to the Champs Elysees where there is a Christmas market and the Arc de Triumph where the Christmas spirit is nearly palpable.



I went to Montmartre – one of my favorite areas of Paris – and sat inside the Sacre-Coeur for a while.



On the way back to dinner, we encountered a band playing in a metro station. There was a huge crowd and a ton of strangers started dancing together. It was so much fun and there was so much positive energy. I felt as though it was my own personal dance party in the metro. I couldn’t stop smiling. :)



The best part of my birthday though was the evening. On 9:20 all my friends and I jumped on the metro and got to the Eiffel tower just at 9:54pm (the time I was born). I stood under the Eiffel tower and turned 20 there. I popped a bottle of champagne under the tower as a fantastic light show began and music played. My friends and I all watched the light show with awe – it was fantastic. We danced under the tower until we got too cold to stay any longer and went off in search of some other place to dance.

Upon returning to Italy, I had so many birthday wishes from my friends and family back in the US. My brother even wrote a special blog for my birthday :) check it out here:

The whole experience was so memorable – I feel so lucky to have celebrated my 20th birthday in the city of lights and have received so much love from the people in my life. Thank you to everyone for making it so special.

Thanksgiving in Paris

Ok, so I know I'm almost a month late on the update, but I finally have a few hours to catch up on all I've been up to these past few weeks!

This is the first holiday season that I have not spent with my family (being in Europe, its a bit difficult to celebrate with everyone in America). This last Thanksgiving, I went with a few friends to Paris for a long weekend. While I didn't have any turkey in honor of the holiday, I did eat some pretty delicious foods: crepes, duck, rabbit, and French wine were just some of the delicious French dishes I enjoyed.

Here's a picture of my Thanksgiving dinner: Duck and potatoes - so delicious!



The Thanksgiving trip to Paris was my second time in the city (the first being over three years ago). I hit up all the normal touristy areas and re-visited some of my favorite places in Paris such as the Louvre, L'arc de triumphe, Les Champs Elysees, and of course the Eiffel Tower. While walking down the Chaps Elysees one evening (which is beautiful - all lit up for Christmas), my friends and I stumbled upon a special event with a famous French singer who I had never heard about before named Sliimy. We got to hear him sing a bit and snapped a few photos.








Here is my favorite sculpture at the Louvre: Psyche and Cupid. I just think the lines are so beautiful and there's a feeling of pure and innocent love to it.



I also visited the Musee d'Orsay for the first time and spent a few hours admiring all the Van Gogh paintings and Rodin sculptures.






I stayed in the Quatier Latin (Latin Quarter) near St. Michel. The Latin Quarter is crammed with fantastic crepe and gyros/kebab stands as well as a fun variety of bars and little dance clubs.

Now, with any big city, there are bound to be con-artists and Paris does not disappoint. There are gypsy women who have English speakers read letters that tell these women's supposed sob stories and then beg you for money. There are men who offer to spin you a bracelet from thread, but even when you refuse, they offer to show you and begin weaving thread around your wrist. When they've finished they hold on to your wrist by the bracelet and refuse to let go until you've paid them five euro. The scam that I personally encountered was one where a man bends down to the ground and appears to pick up a ring (typically a gold band) and then asks if its yours. When you say no, they say (in French or broken English) "Oh, have it, it's a gift from the angels...but I haven't eaten in days. Please give me some money for this ring". They refuse to leave you alone until you give them money or their friend has picked your pocket. I, however, having no patience for these things, eventually threw the ring on the ground at the mans feet before anything could be taken from me.

Apart from the frustrating scams, I felt so at home in Paris -I felt so at home in Paris. My French is still leaps and bounds ahead of my Italian and I loved being in a country where I can effectively communicate with the locals.

I'm aware this entry is a short one, but I will be following this post with another one about my 20th birthday in Paris!

C'est la vie

Today some family friends from France came to our house for dinner and catch up. We had some amazing discussions about Europe. I am now itching to get to Italy. They were describing all the amazing things to do and see throughout Italy and Europe.

Aside from seeing all the beauty that Europe has to offer, I am so excited to meet the people there. All the people I have met and spoken to from Europe are just so cultured and aware of the world around them. I cannot wait to be absorbed into that lifestyle!

More specifically, I adore some of the French mentality about life. Today, we were discussing how good things can come from bad, and our French guest made a comment along the lines "ah yes, well you know...sometimes thats just life." Now put a lackadaisical French accent on that and you have the key to my esoteric heart. It's true, everything can really be that simple - when something bad happens, thats just life. And when something great happens, well thats just life too. I love the complexity one can derive and apply from that simple statement.

I also got to exercise my French. I am glad that after 5 or so months without French practice, I'm still able to hold my own with a native French speaker.

Oh! An important note - my laptop is broken. Well, the wireless internet refuses to work (I'm using my family's computer). So tomorrow I plan to spend a good hour or two on the phone with tech support. Oh and my cell phone never wants to send or receive picture messages. On top of that, I must spend a few hours sorting out all my papers I need for my visa appointment with the Italian consulate - this includes spending a while on hold with my school's financial aid office as they attempt to sort out what money they will decide to give me for the school year.

I will also be planning a trip or two up to northern California to visit a special someone. :)
So that requires some travel arrangements.

So much to do! And all I want to do is laze around on the beach...c'est la vie, non?