my last day in france

today was my last day in paris.

my heart is breaking into a million little pieces.

we took our last two finals today, and i was so very pleased with how easy they both were! seriously, i was done with both of them in like a half hour, each. tops.

on my way home from school, i looked up at the hotel de ville. it's one of my very favorite buildings in all of paris. it's just one of those buildings that you look at and you can't look away. it kind of makes you stop breathing for a second. and my eyes teared up. natey and maddie gave me a big sydney-sandwich hug, and they sent me on my way home.

i got to my stop and went into the monoprix by my house. (monoprix is like a slightly fancier version of target and i love the place) where i was supposed to only buy a few little things for my family. but what do you know? i was still feeling pretty sad and ended up accidentally purchasing a dress? i have no idea how it got into my shopping basket.

i swear. retail therapy works wonders, people. and i don't even regret it.

after lugging our GIGANTIC suitcases through the metro, olivia and i got to dr erickson's, where we all met up for a dinner cruise on the seine. it was perfect. we sailed around paris and saw it shimmer.

i know that paris originally got the name "city of lights" from all the gas lamps…but it has done a really fantastic job of living up to that title. everything was just so beautifully illuminated tonight. (and the dinner and company weren't half bad, either!)

after our boat ride, we all walked over to the eiffel tower to see it sparkle one last time. as we were walking to the tower, annie and i remembered our first night in paris. we weren't tired yet, so we decided to go on a walk to the eiffel tower, not knowing that it sparkles on the hour. we were walking through the park when suddenly through the trees, it just started sparkling. it was the most amazing surprise ever. tonight, as we were walking to the tower, it once again started sparkling. we had come full circle. and we unashamedly cried and cried as we walked through the streets of paris. because this place is just amazing.

once we were all under the eiffel tower, we stood in a circle with our arms around each other and spent a good hour sharing all of our favorite memories of our time together. we might be the most precious study abroad group that has ever existed.

i have come to love each and every once of my classmates so much. i can honestly say that each of them has influenced my life in a major way. sound cheesy? well it's true. i honestly don't know what i am going to do without seeing them for five weeks. after spending every day together for three months…you become each other's family. no doubt. i'm going to miss them. more than i even care to think about.

and i'm going to miss paris. i'll be able to see everyone when we're all back in utah. but paris, on the other hand, i won't be able to see again quite as soon. i'll miss everything about it (except for the smell of pee in the metro stations and all of the smoke from the cigarettes). but other than that, i will miss absolutely everything. when i am home and have some time to myself, i am going to write an epic love letter to paris, just so i can remember how much i love this place.

so tomorrow morning i leave paris. it's been the best three months of my life.

i'm so grateful for all that i learned about myself. about france. about french. about culture. about art. about history. about people. about making friends and being a friend. about knowing what's important in life. about the gospel. i wish i could put into words the things i have learned and come to understand. perhaps another night when i don't have to get up in...oh, 3 hours...would be a better night for writing that.

but for now, here's to byu study abroad, fall 2012. here's to the hurlbuts and dr erickson. here's to all of my classmates. here is to my paris family. here is to my real family, who i get to see in just a few hours!! i love you all.

and here's to paris. 

à bientôt. tu me manques déjà. || see you soon. i miss you already.

on coming home

i can't believe i leave paris in 3 days. THREE DAYS. where did this semester go? i really don't get it.

i don't know how you can leave a place like paris. it's kind of terrifying.

but at the same time, it's so exciting. i get to see my family. i get to see america. it's christmas. i can't wait.

at the beginning of the semester, dr h had us read this poem by joachim du bellay. i'm going to post it because it captures exactly what i'm feeling right now.

Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage,
Ou comme cestuy-là qui conquit la toison,
Et puis est retourné, plein d'usage et raison,
Vivre entre ses parents le reste de son âge !

Quand reverrai-je, hélas, de mon petit village
Fumer la cheminée, et en quelle saison
Reverrai-je le clos de ma pauvre maison,
Qui m'est une province, et beaucoup davantage ?

Plus me plaît le séjour qu'ont bâti mes aïeux,
Que des palais Romains le front audacieux,
Plus que le marbre dur me plaît l'ardoise fine :

Plus mon Loir gaulois, que le Tibre latin,
Plus mon petit Liré, que le mont Palatin,
Et plus que l'air marin la doulceur angevine.

-Les Regrets, sonnet XXXI, 1558

now, i realize most of you won't understand what it's saying. but it is so beautiful. it's talking about (in very basic terms) how like ulysses, who has traveled the world, how is he supposed to return home after all that he has seen?

but at the same time, he has never seen anything more beautiful than his little hometown, with the black slate roof tops and smoke coming from the chimneys. it is such a comfort to him, and there is nothing like coming home.

i can't wait to go home. to see the vineyards and the green palisades and my family, all waiting for me with open arms.

t-minus 3 days, guys :)

for dr erickson's grading purposes

dr erickson, here are the links to each of my entries for french 345! enjoy!

to anyone following my blog...this is not going to be helpful for you, unless you find it helpful, in which case...cool.

PARIS WALKS
walk 1
walk 2
walk 3
walk 4
walk 5
walk 6
walk 7
walk 8
walk 9
walk 10
walk 11
walk 12
walk 13
walk 14
walk 15
walk 16

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
activity 1
activity 2
activity 3
activity 4
activity 5

GROUP TRAVEL JOURNAL
pilgrimage with dr hurlbut
normandie
chartres
fontainbleau and vaux-le-vicomte
the alsace 

VOCAB LIST
list of weeks 1-11 comprehensive

my conversation journals are hand written. 

parisian necropolis : cimetière du père-lachaise

23 novembre 2012

did this walk with cori, olivia, mallory, carine, and caitie.

i think this was both the coolest and most confusing walk that i have been on. for sure père-lachaise is a place that people should visit. it's beautiful and gray and kind of sad. but it's also so confusing. i can't even begin to tell you how turned around we got on those little streets (yes, this cemetery has streets). they're not very well labeled.

we saw soooo many graves of famous people. i can't even begin to remember all of them (thank goodness i have a list). i'm only going to talk about the ones that were the most impressionable for me!

georges seurat
ok so who doesn't love seurat? mr pointilism himself is buried in paris. his grave was awesome - it was the chapel kind, with a small stained glass window and name plates for all of his deceased family members. it was super cool because just the night before we were in the orsay looking at his pieces! crazy. i love how everything i do in paris is so connected.

georges-eugène haussmann
remember my grand bouelvards walk? and i talked about haussman who basically leveled paris and rebuilt it all for napoleon iii? yep. saw his grave. that was pretty fun.

so for this next grave to be fully appreciated, i have to back up. when we first entered père-lachaise, two guys walked up to us. they had kinda ratted hair, some grungy clothes. they looked like the nomad type, if you know what i mean. one of the two said to me, "hey, do you know where jimbo's grave is?" so i showed him on my map. he said they were from new jersey. i said i was from san francisco. he said, "oh yeah? what part of frisco? i've done the bumming around cali thing." it didn't surprise me. he then proceeded to ask, "isn't there someone else here who is pretty wild?" so i responded, "you mean oscar wilde?" (i found that ironic because i honestly don't think he meant to do that. at all.) anyway. back to jimbo.

jim morrison
jim morrison was a member of the doors, as we all know. for some reason, i was expecting his grave to be a whole lot more exciting than it was. the best part of it all, though, was the lovely harmonica version of light my fire. i was trying to figure out who it was, and surprise! it was my friends who had asked for directions. they had jumped the little fence around jimbo's grave and were playing the song in his memory. a small rock pilgrimage. honestly, it was the best thing i've ever seen.

a few days later, i saw harmonica boy in the marais. now you tell me, what are the chances of that actually happening? because i honestly have no idea what they would be. next to impossible, i'm assuming.

frederic chopin
this man was polish - born in warsaw - and lived in paris. he is one of the world's most well known composers. it was cool for me because i have now seen his two resting places - here at père-lachaise, and the church where his heart is buried in warsaw.

thédore géricault
this was kind of an epic grave. géricault is depicted as lounging across his grave, full sized, with his palette in his hand. there is also a low-relief of his piece raft of the medusa on his grave.

oscar wilde
one of my all time favorite quotes is by this guy. how can you not love a man who once said, "with freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?" he also wrote pieces like the picture of dorian gray and the importance of being earnest (a personal fave). anyway. the tradition of this grave is to kiss it with freshly applied lipstick. but now there is a plexiglass guard around the whole thing so people can't actually kiss the grave itself. 

holocaust memorials
these mean so much more to me, now that i have been to places like auschwitz and birkenau. i feel like i can more fully appreciate these memorials, now that i have a greater understanding of the pain and suffering that those who were murdered felt.

so anyone visiting paris...go to père-lachaise. it's like a fantasy land for ghosts. if i could put photos up on my blog, it would blow you all away (all 4 of you who read this, that is! :) ).

saint ouen's labyrinth : navigating the world's largest flea market

24 novembre 2012

took this walk with alicia, carine, and olivia.

this walk was super exciting. i didn't really have my book out to follow all of the instructions - we didn't want to seem like complete tourists. some of the markets were a little more sketch than we were expecting, but they were so fun!

we explored through multiple different marchés, the marché malassis, marché dauphine, marché des rosiers, marché serpette, and marché paul bert. my favorite one was the marché des rosiers. there were so many fun antique things - and some were even reasonably priced! it was a great place to find some souvenirs and presents :)

i loved this walk, mostly because we got to explore and see things that we wouldn't normally find in central paris. so many handmade and antique goods. it was also really great people watching. i loved being able to search through things at my own pace, and enjoy myself.

very fun walk!

time travel, tricks, and treats around saint-sulpice

23 novembre 2012

did this walk with alicia. surprised? you should be.

we started by walking past the first art deco hôtel built in paris called the lutetia. don't worry, if you want to spend a night there, it's only 2500 euros.

then we walked to the place alphonse deville. the buildings just kept getting older and older the farther we walked down the street. it was crazy! we started in 1720 and moved backwards from there. a little mindblowing to realize that these buildings are so old.

then we walked past the théâtre du vieux colombier. it was built in 1913 and then was renovated in 1993. from the théâtre, we could see saint-sulpice, which was cool! i guess its the church in the da vinci code...but i wouldn't know cause i've never read it. i know, i'm lame. ha.

we then took a little detour to pierre hermé, which was easily my favorite part of the whole walk. i know - i am a foodie. don't judge me. i just love my pastries, okay? you would, too, if you could taste these things. leash and i both got two pastries. and i may or may not have gotten some stuff to bring home for my family. i had an ispahan - raspberry macaron with whole raspberries in the center - and their signature macaron - passion fruit chocolate. SO HAPPY.

after our pastry stop, we made our way into saint-sulpice. it's the second largest church in paris, second to notre dame. the interieur is beautiful, and i could have happily stayed there for a while, just soaking it all in.

then we did some more walking through little side streets, discovering even older buildings! our last stop was l'abbaye saint-germain. it was built in the 6th century. THE SIXTH CENTURY. paris is so old, sometimes it's hard to comprehend. our book told us to go into the gardens and look around, but it was raining, so we were lame and skipped that part. plus, it really only looked like there were two trees and some mud, so it was alright.

this was a fun walk, especially the pierre hermé part. but i highly recommend that anyone visiting paris see saint-sulpice! it's pretty cool.

follow the money : palais royal, bourse, covered passages

23 novembre 2012

took this walk with alicia, as usual.

definitely my favorite part of this walk was the beginning at the louvre des antiquaires. it houses the finest and most expensive antique shops in paris. and i loved it. leash and i window shopped for quite a while. there is an amazing antique jewelry collection in there. i think that everyone should stop in, just for a look. it's incredible.

from there we made our way to the palais royal. these apartments used to house members of the royal family back under louis xiii. then the comédie-française was built there in the late 18th century. the comédie-française is the most important of france's national theaters. the apartments of the palais royal are now super ritzy apartments. there is a beautiful garden in the center of the building, and it was fun to walk through all the fallen leaves.

then it started raining.

we were supposed to go in the bibliothèque national || national library, but it's currently under construction, so that was sad.

we then found the la bourse, the french stock market. it's basically the equivalent of the new york stock exchange on wall street. outside was a fun little flea market. i didn't get anything, but i think alicia bought a ring. i can't remember haha.

after walking past the bourse, we found our ways into some covered passages that are awesome. they are all filled with shops of various sorts. annie, sage, alicia and i wandered through them for a good 45 minutes, browsing and enjoying ourselves. the passages we went through were called passage des panoramas and passage jouffrey. super fun!

thanksgiving in france

this year, thanksgiving was different. i was actually dreading it a little bit. it was the first time i had ever been away from my family...and i wasn't super excited about that.

so on the thursday after our trip to the alsace, we all got together at dr erickson's for a thanksgiving lunch. we couldn't do a dinner because of a previously scheduled evening class for art history in the orsay, but lunch was actually perfect for us. 

we all signed up to bring something different. i made mama's carrots - the cooked ones with brown sugar and butter. so yummy. they were gone waaaay too fast. 

when olivia and i walked out of our apartment building, the air was crisp and the sky was clear. 

it actually felt like thanksgiving.

i know it's silly to say, but it felt that way. we got ourselves donuts for breakfast from this pastry shop on rue cler, which i firmly believe has the best donuts in paris. personal opinion, though. and then we went shopping for our food stuff. 

we showed up at dr erickson's and played wii. olivia kicked my butt, which was to be expected. i mean, she has lapped me at super bijou quête* only like 6 times. 

*super bijou quête is the only game on our paris phones. it's called jewel quest (?) in english.

then we cooked my carrots. nateybabes came and i helped him make his green bean casserole, which was exciting, because who knew cream of mushroom soup would be so hard to find in paris? and so different from american cream of mushroom soup? it turned out to be delicious, though, so no one should be worried about that.

when everyone was together, we played a few card games. sage taught us all how to play the game scum. that was super fun. 

and then we set the table to eat! we couldn't have turkey, unfortunately. it's kind of a rarity in paris, i guess? plus it would be pretty hard to transport a 20 pound bird through the metros. ha. but we did have roast chicken. we had five roast chickens, in fact. and they were delicious. 

we didn't have any stuffing. we didn't have any yams with marshmallows, or grandpa ed's cranberry sauce, or pumpkin or pecan pie. but we did have our paris family, all gathered together. it was kind of precious. it was the perfect day. we ate all of our food. we laughed and talked and genuinely enjoyed each others' company. we went around the table and all said something that we were thankful for. 

and we had dessert. that was great, too. we had magnum ice cream bars, american brownies from a mix that alicia's mom sent her (thank you mama eyre!), and some sort of raspberry dessert.

and then we continued to play cards. we played cuilleres || spoons, but remembered that that game creates a lot of tension, so we went back to playing scum. haha. and people talked and laughed and we just had fun all together.

after our art history class, we got to go back to dr erickson's and eat the leftovers for dinner. it was an almost perfect day.

the only thing that would have made it perfect would have been my family. i sure do miss those funny people. (can't wait to see them in TEN DAYS not that i'm counting.)

here is a list of some of the things i'm thankful for this year (let's see if i can write this without crying):

♢ my family ♢

i miss them. i love them. i'm grateful that they love and miss me. i'm grateful that they are so supportive of me and that they are stuck with me forever. sorry i'm not sorry. :) i'm grateful i get to see them so soon. i cannot wait to hug every single one of them about 40 bazillion times. and i'm grateful for the tears that i know i will cry when i see them. because let's face it, i'm a tenderheart and i will cry. sorry i'm not sorry about that, either, guys. 

♢ the world's best mom ♢

she may not realize it, but she is my best friend. she is the most kind and giving person i know, and i am so glad that she puts up with all the times i call her for help. i'm grateful that she is always willing to have fun with me, and that she loves downton abbey as much as i do. :) she's really the best, and i love her.

♢ the world's best dad ♢

i think he's a spiritual giant, and has been such an example to me in that respect. i love his sense of humor, and all of his "dave-isms." i'm grateful that he sings at the top of his lungs with me and enjoys tobiko. and i can't wait to get eggnog shakes with him.

♢ the world's best brother ♢

i look up to that kid so much (and not just because he's 8 inches taller than i am). he understand the meaning of hard work. i'm grateful for his example of achieving goals. i don't know anyone as driven or motivated as he is, and i'm grateful that i can look to him as an example because heaven knows how easy it is to be lazy. and i'm grateful that he will drive places with me, even though i listen to music that isn't cool.

♢ the example my family is to me ♢

thanks for encouraging me to go after what i want. thanks for teaching me to not be a jerk. thanks for showing me that true happiness is founded upon the gospel of jesus christ. thanks for helping me to build my own testimony, one that i can't wait to share with the people of the world.

♢ my paris family ♢

i am convinced that paris is magic. the city itself is amazing. but my experience here wouldn't have been half of what it has been without the people that i'm with. the friends i have made here have really become my family away from home, and i am so grateful for them. thanks for putting up with me, for making me laugh and smile, for knowing how to have fun, and for just being great people. 

♢ the hurlbuts ♢

dr h & jennie were the greatest directors anyone could have ever asked for. i could not have gotten a better introduction to paris - and all of france - from anyone else, and for that i am grateful. i'm so glad they made their apartment feel like our home. i'm grateful for dr h's jokes and for jennie's love and care. i know that they cared about each of us individually, and they were like second parents for us! i'm so glad we got to know them.

♢ dr erickson ♢

um, hello? also the greatest director ever! dr erickson makes me smile all the time. he loves paris so much, and even though having to switch directors half way through our program was rough, i am so glad that dr erickson was the guy who got to take over. he has helped me to remember to look at paris with fresh eyes everywhere i go. he has helped me to understand the french language better. i love the way he talks about his wife. it is the sweetest thing i have ever heard, and i want to one day find a man who will talk about me the way dr erickson talks about jean.

♢ paris ♢

i love this city more than i can even begin to tell you all. i love the history that is here. i love the people. i love the food. i love the culture. i love the art. i love the museums. i love paris in the fall. i love absolutely everything about it (except for the chicken liver incident). i am so grateful that i have had the opportunity to get to know it. that i can say "i have lived in paris." that i can talk about paris as a home, not just some city that i have visited. i'm grateful for the cultural differences, and that i got to make some awesome betises || mistakes and learn from them (i will never eat in the metro again, i promise, please stop giving me dirty looks) (always say bonjour, say bon soir after 16:30 even though i can never remember that) (i will never leave the house again with wet hair, i swear on my life). i'm grateful to have been a part of this city in some small way. i'm grateful to have explored a new place so in depth, that i can begin to know it and understand it. i'm grateful for the magic that is here, and that i get to be a part of it. i hope this isn't just rambling. because i feel like it is. i hope you know what i'm trying to say, because i don't even have words to describe how thankful i am for the past three months.

♢ the lamppost at place de la concorde ♢

one day i was feeling super sorry for myself. i was pretty homesick about half way through the program, and i was just a little down in the dumps. i took myself on a walk before class, and i ended up wandering through place de la concorde. i was kinda looking at the ground when i almost walked into a lamppost. so i looked up at it. it was massive. it was green, with really intricate decorations. it was even decorated on the undersides of it. (who else would decorate the underside of a lamp? only the french.) and it was gilded. i started wondering, "do the french even know how lucky they are to live here?" and that's when it hit me "sydney freaking hughes, why are you feeling sorry for yourself? look at where you are. do YOU even realize how lucky you are to live here? you're in paris. go enjoy it." i'm grateful for that little reality check. that lamppost in the southwest corner of the place will forever hold a special place in my heart. 

♢ the gospel of jesus christ ♢

i am so grateful that the gospel of jesus christ has been restored to the earth. and that i have it in my life. i'm grateful to be a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. i'm grateful to have a testimony of it. i'm grateful to have a personal relationship with my savior, who died for me. who has felt all of my pains, whether they are because of sins or not. i'm grateful to have someone who understands me so completely and loves me so fully. i'm grateful to my heavenly father for all of my blessings. i can't say enough to express my gratitude. i'm grateful for his never ending love, and for the chance that i have to be here on earth. and that i can return to live with him again. i'm just grateful.

♢ and last but not least ♢

let's go back to my family. because i didn't say enough about them, and i want to end on them. i know i am not a hughes on accident. i'm grateful that i am a part of the big, wacky, and a little bit (or lotta bit) weird roos and hughes family mix. it's the best mix of people that ever got mixed, and i love every single one of my family members, immediate and extended. i'm grateful for the temple, and for the blessings received there that can let me be sealed to my family forever. i can't imagine being stuck with a better group of people. i'm grateful for grandma coco, for raising her kids in the gospel and leading them all to where they are today. i'm grateful for grandma carole jean and grandpa ed for joining the church when my dad was only 13, and for not looking back. all of my grandparents mean the world to me, and i'm so glad they're mine! :) i'm grateful for my aunts and uncles, who are some of my very best friends. i'm grateful for cousins who are more like siblings than cousins. i love all those weird and wonderful people ♡

  

i think i am the most blessed girl in the entire world. i don't know what i did to deserve such a wonderful life, but you better believe i am stinkin' grateful for it.

(in case anyone was wondering...i did not make it through this post without crying. so...yep. if you thought that i would cry, then give yourself three sparkle points. you totally deserve them for calling it.)

and i totally would upload some photos of thanksgiving if blogspot would let me. but it's still being grumpy so...sorry!

the alsace

19 - 21 novembre 2012

we went to the alsace! the alsace is on the eastern border of france, just across the rhine river from germany and switzerland. the region has been fought over many times, and ultimately is now a part of france. politically, it is one of the most important regions in the european union. pretty cool. it is also known as the birthplace of both christmas and the bretzel || pretzel.

19 novembre

we met super early at dr erickson's apartment and got on our bus to drive to the alsace! we love buses. we feel so at home on the bus :)

after a long bus ride, we got off the bus and into our hotel. we were given some money for dinner and were sent into strasbourg. once in strasbourg, we all headed to the strasbourg cathedral. there was a thick fog that was hanging low, so we couldn't even see the towers. it was so amazing. after looking through the cathedral, we decided to explore. it was kinda hard to see things, because it got dark at like 5, and the fog was so thick, but we explored petite france which was cool. it was all sorts of old buildings that were hanging over little cobblestone streets. we also ate bretzels at a little bakery we found. everything was decorated for christmas, which was super fun. sadly we missed the big christmas markets, but it's okay because we got to see most of the decorations.

we got dinner at this restaurant that was amazing. i got a tradition alsacian dinner of spaetzle and sauerkraut. the spaetzle was good, the sauerkraut was...well, sauerkraut.

that night, we sat in our hotel room and laughed really really hard because i just have a knack for saying things that are completely innocent but come out all wrong. story of ma vie || my life.

20 novembre

got up early and ate breakfast. i love hotel ibis and their breakfasts. it's so much good food. haha. then we went back into strasbourg. we took an hour long boat tour of the city (there is a river that runs through it), and that was fun to see all the major sights. after that, we explored a bit more. we had bretzels again, because that's just what you do in strasbourg. i also got this pastry that i thought was going to be delicious. it was made with creme des marrons || chestnut cream. it was, however, incredibly un-delicious. it was the first thing in france (besides fish) that i actually didn't like. i was surprised.

then the bus picked us up and we went to kaysersberg! it was a super cute little town that was COMPLETELY decked out for christmas. did i mention that the alsace is the birthplace of christmas? i can't even tell you how cold it was in kaysersberg. i was wearing a shirt, a sweater, a sweatshirt, a pea coat, and a scarf. i was also wearing leggings under my jeans. and i had gloves on. i was frozen.

we found a wonderful little "stroll" to take up to a 13th century castle on the hill overlooking kaysersberg. it was so beautiful! kayserserberg literally looked like home. i couldn't get over it. it was such a bright green and the hills were covered in vineyards. (the alsace is also a well-known wine region in france.) it made me miss the valley so much! oh i loved that place.

at dinner that night back in strasbourg, i sat near dr erickson and sage and cori. dr erickson told us all about how he met his wife. it was the best thing ever. dr erickson loves his wife so much, and i've mentioned this before, but i hope that one day i can find a man who adores me as much as dr erickson adores jean.

that night, we watched music and lyrics in sage and annie's room. alicia and then tried to watch anastasia in our room, but we were both falling asleep so we turned it off.

21 novembre

we left the alsace. triste! || sad! when we got on the bus, alicia and i opened up my computer and realized that anastasia was still loaded! so we watched it. we were so happy! and it was so exciting when we realized that the bridge where anastasia kills rasputin is in paris! and we've been on it! (don't worry, we know it's just a movie. but STILL. it was exciting.) and then the whole trip, i did homework. who's proud of me? i am.

we also stopped in reims, where we got to take a look at the reims cathedral. this is where kings and queens were traditionally crowned. it's the coronation cathedral! we got lunch at this little chinese restaurant. it was so AMAZING to be able to have some other taste in my mouth besides sandwiches and cheese (although those things are amazing).

after we got back on the bus, i successfully got natey to watch some fun episodes of tv with me. we watched my favorite episode of the office called the injury (if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it because seriously, it makes me cry every single time), an episode of say yes to the dress, and an episode of mythbusters. i'm pretty sure we covered all the important tv shows.

and then we were back in paris, just in time to go home for dinner with our host families.

such a wonderful trip! thank you, dr erickson, for planning such a good one!

paris saint-germain soccer game

17 novembre 2012

on saturday evening, i went to the paris saint-germain soccer game with alicia, annie, kayla, maddie, natey, noah, and maddie. it was such a blast!!

the tuesday before the game, we met up at the psg (paris saint-germain) store and bought our tickets. they were way cheaper than we were thinking, and we got seats all together. so on saturday after learning how to make macarons with a woman in the stake (yeah. we did that.), we headed off to the parc de prince.

the soccer game was super hardcore. there was one section of fans that i swear never stopped yelling. i LOVED it! the huge stadium was so alive. people were jumping up and down, yelling in french, and everyone was just so excited to be there. i loved that.

while we were there, the things that i noticed the most were the pride and the lifestyle. soccer in europe is such a source of pride for the people. it's like americans and their sports teams, only i feel like it's even more important. maybe that's just me. and it's a way of life. people at the stadium were all about soccer - nothing else. there were entire families, people from 7 to 70 in that stadium. it's part of these people's lives - for their whole lives. i love it!

sights and smells around the madeleine

14 novembre 2012

before we started this walk, alicia and i had to stop in gap to buy scarves. when we got out of the metro at the stop for the madeleine, i swear it was 17 times colder than when we left. and i left without a scarf. i should know by now to not do that here...and i've learned my lesson, i promise.

just outside of the madeleine is a little flower market. it smelled so pretty! i love the flower markets here in paris. they aren't as plentiful as i had imagined they would be, and they are nothing like the flower markets i saw when i was in poland (the polish are obsessed with flowers and use them for every occasion), but it was still pretty great.

 the madeleine itself is a massive church. it has these monumental corinthian columns that surround it. it's pretty unusual for a christian church, but pretty fantastic.

when you step outside of the church, there are awesome views of place de la concorde and the dome of the invalides. it's so fun to be able to put together a little map of paris in my head and know where things go.

the next stop on our list of places to go was ladurée, which is a famous pastry shop. it's especially well known for it's macarons. they compete with pierre hermé to claim the best macarons in paris. i personally like pierre hermé better. but that's just me. we didn't get any pastries because...well i'm not sure why, now that i think about it. that was silly of us. oh well.

after hitting up ladurée (or not hitting it up, as the case may be), we went to the chapelle de l'assomption. it's not a super famous church at all...it's not very easily accessible to tourists. you don't really see it if you're not looking for it. leash and i stopped in for a minute. it was cool because they have a really large polish congregation that meets there, and we had just been in poland. however...it was completely under construction. as in scaffolding everywhere inside the chapel. and i don't think we were even supposed to be inside. so that was awkward.

after visiting the church, we went to the fragonard perfume museum. it is super tiny, and super smelly. now, i love a good perfume as much as the next person, but my nose was going crazy in this little place. it was fun to see all the different perfume bottles, and we enjoyed identifying some smells, but i had to get out of there before too long.

and that was the end of the walk! it was fun and short, and cold, oh, and smelly. but it was really fun!

"i'm trying to tell you guys!!" || musée rodin, invalides, tour eiffel

13 novembre 2012

i took this walk with alicia, annie, and sage. it was one of the best walks! i mean, they're all great. but i loved this one because we got to talk the whole time. it was super fun.

we started this walk on the pont alexandre iii ||| alexander iii's bridge. this bridge is, of course, where anastasia killed rasputin once and for all by stepping on his talisman. "this is for my family! and this is for dmitri! and this? this is for YOU!" and then he dies all dramatically. good movie. you should watch it if you haven't seen it before. it's also the bridge that her father, nicholas ii, built to symbolize the friendship of russia and france. it's a very nice bridge.

after crossing the bridge, we walked over to the musée rodin. i am absolutely in love with that museum. i think we were there at the perfect time. the garden was cold, but it wasn't unbearable. the leaves were all yellow and were just beginning to fall on the ground. and of course, we had to stop at the thinker and take the classic "thinker" photo. the whole museum is inside a small château built in the 1720s. it's gorgeous. easily one of my top favorite museums in paris.

after visiting the musée rodin, we went to the hôtel des invalides. this huge building - part museum, part veteran's home - was built in the 1670s. the dôme of the invalides building was dedicated to the god mars during the revolution, and was later over-hauled by king louis-philippe because of political pressure. he had napoleon i's remains placed there. i have never seen a tomb quite so momentous. it was really quite ridiculous (and i mean that in the kindest way possible). one day when my blog lets me upload photos again, i will fix all of these posts and put in some photos. i'm really sorry it's not working. sometimes the internet really stinks.

anyway, part of the invalides has been tranformed into the musée de l'armée. it's also still used as a veteran's home, which i think is way awesome. the museum is really cool. and massive. it's filled with war artifacts. i think the thing that i will never forget about that museum was napoleon i's horse. yes, his horse. the french had that horse taxidermied after it died and it is on display. it was more than a little creepy. but also kinda cool. in a morbid sort of way.

another fact that is kind of horrifying is that during wwi, at the battle of verdun, the french lost more men in that single battle than america has ever lost in all of its foreign wars combined. pretty sobering. during the entire war, france lost over 4 million men. that was 11 percent of the entire population. it puts things into perspective - made me realize just how big of a scar this war left on france.

after visiting this museum, the walk led us over to the champ-de-mars in front of the eiffel tower. its where military exercises were conducted in the past and is now just a large park. we didn't go up to the top of the eiffel tower, though, because we've done that already with dr hurlbut and jennie for an fhe activity! that was super fun, and the views of paris are fantastic from the top.

the tower was originally built in 1889 for the exposition universelle to demonstrate france's engineering power. it was hated at first, and it was built to be removed, but it was saved because it functioned as a broadcasting tower. it has since become a symbol of paris and is now the most recognizable building in the world.

varsovie avec la famille jagard || warsaw with the jagards

7-10 novembre 2012

i still can't believe i had the opportunity to go to warsaw and see the jagards! it was the best weekend ever. i say that about every weekend here, but it's so true.

so wednesday morning, we had art history. cori had her french class after that...and at 3:30 we all met up at the institute. (all of us being me, alicia, cori, and carine.) we got our boarding passes printed out and then hopped on the train that took us to cdg (charles de gaulle airport).

everything went so smoothly with airfrance (except for carine having to throw out her toothpaste at security). so glad we went with them and not stupid ryanair. (confused? see my rome post.)

we got on our plane and were off to varsovie || warsaw.

jon picked us up at the airport, where we all piled into a taxi and drove to their apartment. i was so confused by everything in poland. language-wise, i mean. because honestly, i have never been anywhere with a language so foreign. in italy, i could at least understand what was going on and what signs were telling me (thank you, sylvia jimenez-martin for making me take spanish. i'm so glad i did that - not just because it helped in rome - but because i honestly love it). i couldn't even guess at any of the words, except for toalety, which is close enough to toilet for this girl to understand. i kind of loved not knowing anything. it made it that much more of an adventure!

when we stepped into liz and jon's apartment, i just wanted to break down and cry. it was the happiest day of my life. i hugged liz - a super big hug. i just loved being in a home again. don't get me wrong,  though i've at my struggles with my host mom, i do enjoy being at her apartment in paris. but this was different. i was in a home where i knew people loved me and wanted me to be there. it was the best feeling in the entire world. we talked for a while, liz showed us her collection of 40 pounds of apples that she bought for 6 american dollars, and we went to bed. and i was probably the happiest girl in the world.

on thursday morning, i was up way before any of my friends. so i took myself a little shower, and then i became acquainted with miss ania. ania was born just before liz and jon ran off to warsaw just a little over three years ago. i hadn't been able to meet her before they left, so this was so fun for me! that little girl immediately stole my heart, with her love of toy story, climbing, sparkles, and dora the explorer. this girl loves dora and insists that she speaks spanish, which is so fun. "i speak spanish! abre!" (which means "open.") within five minutes of meeting her, she had showed me all of her toys and all of isaac's toys, too. isaac, the cutest and snuggliest 18 month-old also had me wrapped around his finger. that little guy would just give you a look, with just the slightest hint of a smile, and it could melt any heart, i promise. seriously, liz and jon got themselves some cute kiddos.

we had a picnic on ania's floor for breakfast! it was super fun. and then we got started with our day. we all bundled up as much as we could (for me, this included one of jon's furry bomber hats and believe me, i looked good) and headed out! we got us some polish money - złoty - and then bus passes, and lunch. our lunch was this traditional polish soup with white sausage and hard boiled egg? i'm not sure what it was exactly, but best soup ever.

and then we headed off to the warsaw uprising museum. this museum is so fantastic. it was all about the uprising movement in warsaw. the polish had a huge underground army based in warsaw, and when the russians were close enough, they decided to make their move against the german army. they assumed that the russians would help them in their efforts, as they were part of the allied countries...but that didn't happen. the russians sat on the other side of the river and let the poles get slaughtered. it was a devastating history of a city that could have been spared from destruction. but it is also a heroic story of people fighting for what they knew was right.

this is when old warsaw was essentially razed. it was reduced to about 10 blocks of buildings, nothing more. liz explained to us that some of the insurgents had broken into the office of some of the german officers and stolen the blueprints of old town before the building was destroyed. when the war was over, those blueprints were used to reconstruct the city exactly as it had once been. i was wondering about warsaw a lot. i knew that it was such an old city, but the buildings i was seeing weren't actually all that old. it all made sense, once i understood the history of the uprising. i actually really loved old town because of the history there. it is so sad that we couldn't see the authentic buildings, but i loved how the poles came together and rebuilt their beloved city just as it had once been because it meant that much to them. it makes it that much more special. something that was fought for and lost, and rebuilt because of that deep polish pride. i think it's there. i wasn't in poland long enough to really feel out the polish pride, but it wasn't quite as apparent as the french pride. it seemed like a quieter pride, but it's there.

after wandering around old town and freezing half to death, we met jon for dinner at this traditional polish restaurant. it was so much fun! the salad bar consisted of lots of weird pickled things. i tried them all. aren't you proud of me? i ate it all and actually really loved it. the polish pickle things better than americans. sorry bout it. for my main course, i had pierogi - traditional polish dumplings. oh my goodness, so good. i've bookmarked a recipe for making them when i get back. i have my doubts that they will be any good...but i really want to try it. just for kicks and rires || giggles in franglais, which i am alarmingly good at.

my favorite part of dinner was when jon was telling us about how fortunate he and liz were to have ania and isaac. at this point, liz had taken ania to use the bathroom before leaving. he said something along the lines of, "and now we have two fortunate incidents!" just as he finished that sentence, ania came running through the restaurant and launched onto his lap, yelling at the top of her lungs, "DADDY I POOPED IN THE TOILET!" it was so perfect. it couldn't have been timed any better. i still laugh about it, almost three weeks later. (yes, i am behind on blogging, okay? and yes, i have been back-dating things so everything would be in chronological order. don't judge me.)

we also got hot chocolate at this place called wedel's. when my aunt lisa and uncle mike came to visit liz and jon two years ago, they visited this place twice in one day. i frequently hear about how delicious this place is, so i was really excited to be able to try it. and it lived up to all the hype auntie lisa and uncle mike gave it. seriously, so good. i got milk chocolate with hazlenut. OH MAN. so good. i was in heaven. after leaving wedel's and buying our train tickets for our adventure to auschwitz, cori, carine, jon, and the kids headed home while alicia, liz, and i stayed out to wander a little more around old town. it was so much fun to just talk to liz and see where she lives. she showed us her favorite spots, and i really loved seeing warsaw from her perspective. we also got to hear the story of how she and jon met and fell in love, which was super fun. and about how they came to live in poland. it was just such a good time, wandering a new city with some of my favorite people. it's one of my favorite memories from this entire study abroad. if i could upload photos, i would post one of the three of us on the old city wall. it's precious :)

on friday morning, mama syd was in full gear. it was time to navigate from warsaw to oświęcim and then back to warsaw. it was just the four of us americans, navigating all the way across poland and back. and the only things i could say in polish were "yes" "no" and "thank you." it was only a little bit daunting. not gonna lie. liz had shown me the night before where we needed to go, and she wrote on our tickets what times we needed to be at the different stations, but it was still a little nerve-wracking being in charge of getting us there and back in one piece.

our first train left at 6:15 in the morning, so we took a taxi from the apartment to the train depot. we slept a lot of our first train, which took us as far as krakow. we had an hour between trains so we got to explore krakow for a little while. it wasn't nearly long enough, though, because by the time we made it to the old city center, it was pretty much time to head back to the train station. we got on our train to oświęcim and were merrily on our way.

in poland, the way the train tickets work is pretty old fashioned (in my mind). you get on the train, and then the conductor walks around through the different cars and punches your ticket. in my head, it's like the movie white christmas. such a good one. anyway, when the conductor got to us, he said something in polish that i didn't understand. i asked him if he spoke english. he said "nie" which means no, and then tried talking to us again in polish. but louder. because speaking louder will make me understand, clearly. so i speedy quick grabbed the extra cell phone that liz gave me before leaving the house and called her. she talked to the conductor over the phone for us, which was extremely silly, but it totally worked. she said that we had gotten on the wrong train. apparently it would end up going to oświęcim, but it would just take a little longer. so really...it was the right train, but it was making a few extra stops. we paid a few extra złoty for our tickets and just kept riding. at one point, our train turned back around and we went back through the krakow station. so really, we could have spent another hour exploring old krakow! we were all okay with it though, because the situation was just so funny and ridiculous.

once we got to oświęcim, we took a cab to auschwitz. now bear with me, people. this part of the post is going to be a little heavy. and a little words. i'm sorry i can't upload any photos to break this up for you...it's really driving me crazy. anyways.

when we got to auschwitz, we were a little disappointed because we had just missed the last english tour by about 30 minutes. but it was okay, because it allowed us to explore the place on our own. this is going to sound weird, but i loved auschwitz. it's so pretty. in a very haunting way, of course. it's a painful beauty that makes you want to cry. the red brick buildings, mixed with the birch trees turning yellow, and a light mist that covered everything. combine that with the well done and disturbing exhibits in each of the buildings, and you have auschwitz. in each building, there were photos of the prisoners. their mug shots lined all the hallways. i hated it. but it was so incredible.

there were two parts in particular that i will never be able to erase from my memory. it's different for everyone, of course. but these are my two poignant memories. in the first block we went into, there were lots of posters and information. nothing too crazy. but as we turned around the corner, i heard cori gasp. it was the kind of gasp that you make when you have the wind knocked out of you. when i made my way to see what was there, i had the same reaction. behind a barbed wire fence, there were prisoners' jumpsuits, all set up on wire frames so they were upright. they looked like they were hanging on a person's body, hunched slightly, but upright. no heads or anything. but behind these jumpsuits were the first of the mugshots that we had seen. they just stared right back at you. all of them with shaved heads, regardless of age or sex. their eyes were the haunting part. some of the people stared back at the camera with a "come at me bro" look in their eyes. some of them had a "yeah, let's get this over with" look. and others just looked terrified. they didn't know where to look, or didn't want to look. they were was fear in those eyes, the kind of fear that makes you gasp like the wind just got knocked out of you. and it hurt to look. it was like i was invading their privacy or something. i just couldn't do it.

the other part that i will never forget was the shooting wall. it was partly reconstructed, but that doesn't make it any less powerful. at this wall, so many people were shot, point blank. they were tortured and humiliated and murdered on that wall. and now on that wall is a pile of flowers. and rows and rows of lighted candles. all in honor of those killed there. this place is where people were stripped of their clothing and put on parade before dying. it's where people stood naked in below freezing weather and had water thrown on them. they were left to freeze. they were hung and they were shot and they were lost. and it was horrible and touching, all at the same time.

after auschwitz, we went to birkenau. birkenau is also referred to as auschwitz ii. it was built as a death camp, where the prisoners were shipped in on trains and unloaded. they either went straight to the gas chambers or they went to the barracks. the size of these barracks could comfortably house 50 horses. instead they housed 400+ humans. there was no insulation, and the fireplaces would not have kept anyone warm. i was freezing at the beginning of november in shirts and sweaters, leggings, and a scarf, pea coat, and furry hat. i can't imagine what the prisoners must have felt like in their bunks, starving and freezing, awaiting an imminent death. it was too miserable. it was also a very haunting place. looking out over the whole of birkenau, i was surprised at how large it was. enclosed by barbed wire fences and the yellow polish forest, all i could see were red brick chimneys. the germans tried to destroy the camp before the red army came in to save the people, but for whatever reason, the chimneys remained. it was a reminder of all the lives lost. more than i could count. more than i will ever know.

after this experience, i was able to reflect on just how wonderful the atonement is. after a summer of heartache - both for myself and others - i learned firsthand how the atonement can cover all pains. the prisoners all across europe in concentration camps felt so much pain, and i'm sure they all felt so alone. but i realized that christ was there for them, just has he is there for me. he felt all of their pains, and he understood what they were going through. he understood the persecution and hatred more than anyone else who has ever lived. he understood being misjudged and having to pay the price for it. it was comforting to me, to know that he suffered equally for all of god's children. and that those who died were not actually alone.

after our time at auschwitz and birkenau and a delish roadside dinner of hot dogs (fun fact, there are no "polish dogs" in poland) that were seriously the best hot dogs of our lives, we were back on the train, but this time to katowice. our train was supposed to pull into the katowice station at 14:26 or something really exact like that, so at the exact time, we got off at this one station that had the word "katowice" in it. when we realized we were standing on a platform with only 3 other people, none of whom spoke english, and there was no other platform for an express train to warsaw...we decided we were at the wrong stop. trains in poland don't have screens displaying train information like in france, so we tried to talk to a man and ask him where katowice was. but...he didn't speak english. and we didn't speak polish. so we called liz again, who talked to the man. and we got on the right train. unfortunately, because of the mix-up, we realized we would be late to our connecting train to warsaw. we ran through the katowice station to get to where we were supposed to be. i was praying the whole time that we would be able to make it, somehow, someway, onto that train. and do you know what? it was a christmas miracle, because the train was late :) and we made it onto the train and into warsaw, all in one piece. it was so great. but really. it was a miracle.

on saturday, we got up, printed our boarding passes, and jon and ania took us out to old town again to have pączki, traditional polish donuts. SO GOOD. they were warm and sticky and delicious. i got mine filled with chocolate, and so did ania. i'm telling you, she's a girl after my own heart. when i asked her if she liked it, she just smiled and nodded really fast, her little face covered in donut. it was a happy happy day. we also did a little more exploring, bought a few souvenirs for our families, and had italian for lunch.

then we had to be off to the airport to catch our flight back to paris. we made it to the train station, but knowing we didn't have much time to catch our flight, we decided it would be less stressful to take a taxi rather than the train. because we could understand the taxi, and couldn't quite remember what jon told us about the train. oops. so we took the taxi all the way to chopin int'l airport and made it just in time. and we spent our remaining złoty on chocolate. which, by the way, is especially delicious in poland. there's really no way of knowing what you're getting...but it really doesn't matter, because all polish chocolate (from my limited experience) is dang good. and then we took the plane back into paris.

i loved my weekend in poland with the jagards. it was so refreshing. and it was so wonderful to see some familiar faces that i haven't seen in three years! oh, i love those people. so much fun. and it was so fun to see them with kids. i loved seeing that. they were just meant to be parents. it's so fun, knowing them before having kids, and then seeing them with two little guys running all over the place. i loved it.

liz, jon, ania, and isaac, thank you so much for sharing your house and country with us! i loved seeing where you live, but most of all, i loved seeing YOU! thanks for being so kind and generous, and i can't wait to see you again. love you!!

sorry, still can't post photos. oops.

salon du chocolat || chocolate fair

3 novembre 2012

on saturday morning, we all met up at dr erickson's house and headed off to the salon du chocolat! it was a massive chocolate fair that lasted for 5 days. i didn't really know what to expect...but i was so pleasantly surprised!

inside there were hundreds of booths, all selling chocolate. each booth had something different. there were chocolate pops, chocolate bars, hot chocolate, chocolate fountains, chocolate pillows, chocolate cookies, chocolate chocolate chocolate.

there were all different kinds of chocolate. chocolate from around the world, chocolate with special ingredients, vegan chocolate...you get the idea.

it was fun sampling things. i loved that part. i also bought some specialty chocolate! delish!

i loved it because you could see just how prevelant and important chocolate is in the french culture. i mean, they had a 5 day fair celebrating and promoting it, for heaven's sakes! it also showed me that chocolate is a huge part of cultures all around the world. i loved that one delicious food can bring together people from all walks of life. it just goes to show you that good food can unite the world :) cheesy? yes. do i regret saying that? pas du tout. || not at all.

i wish i could upload photos to show you how great it was! i swear i'm working on fixing that. it's just taking forever to figure it all out. sorry!

montmartre

30 octobre 2012

i did this really fun walk with natey and alicia!

nate and i met up on line 12 and went to our metro stop at jules joffrin. alicia met us there and then we took the bus up to sacre coeur, the huge cathedral that overlooks all of paris. 

from the basilica, there is the most amazing view of the entire city. i can't even get over it. it was so fun to look out over paris and pick out places that i know. it made me feel like i am beginning to understand this city. i can't say i understand it - not completely. i think that it would take years to even begin to understand it. it is so complex. my host mom says that even she doesn't know everything about it, and she has lived here her whole life (minus 15 years in nyc).

anyway. i feel like i'm finally beginning to understand this amazing city.

i loved being inside sacre coeur. it is such a massive church. it was built after the franco-prussian war of 1870, when france lost. it was a complete disaster. napoléon iii lost his power and was ultimately defeated at waterloo. (yes, click on that link, you won't be sorry.) ashley benning says that it is her favorite place in paris. i lit a little candle for her there :)

then we wandered into the église saint-pierre. it has been around since 1147. that is a long time, if you ask me.

we also found the place du tertre, which was a really fun little square where street artists sell their pieces. some of them weren't that impressive...but a lot of them i absolutely loved. i may or may not have bought a little tiny one for myself. i just couldn't resist!

we also found the musée du vieux monmartre, but we didn't get to go inside because it was closed (a lot of museums are closed on tuesdays - boo).

just a little ways away from the museum, there was a little vineyard. nothing too impressive, but a vineyard nonetheless. it was so awesome. it was a little piece of home for me in the middle of a big city. i loved it.

we saw lots of little places where people like gertrude stein and pablo picasso loved to hang out or eat. it reminded me of the movie midnight in paris. i wish i could have seen paris in those times. especially after seeing peoples' houses, like renoir and van gogh. i would have loved to casually run into either of them.

awe also found a park, with a statue of saint-denis holding his head. he was beheaded by the romans in the 3rd century, and legend has it that he carried his head down the north side of montmartre before collapsing. craaaaay craaaaaay. alicia and i played on the teeter-totter at the park. and then we went on it with natey, who flung us into the air. i feared for my life a couple of times and could not stop laughing. sometimes i think i am still five years old at heart. and when i say sometimes i really mean all the time.

we wandered around a few more streets, up and down some hills, and eventually we found the outdoor-dance-hall called moulin de la galette. renoir painted the piece, bal du moulin de la galette, from a dance here. it's in the orsay, and we actually looked at it a few weeks ago in our art history class! i love how everything here connects in all of our classes. it's so cool to actually SEE history as i am learning it. i love that about paris.

at the end our our walk, we found the moulin rouge. it wasn't part of the walk, but since it was only a few blocks away, we decided we needed to go see it. it wasn't anything super impressive - in my mind - but it had to be done because it's such an icon.

good walk! :)

sorry, still won't let me upload photos.

rome

rome may be one of my proudest moments ever. i'm not even kidding a little bit.

wanna know why?

read on.

when dr hurlbut was with us, we had a rule about traveling that only allowed us to travel to either 1) french speaking countries and 2) london. i'd already checked london off the list.

but then dr erickson came along, and he didn't have the same rule as dr h. and because we only had so many weekends without art history, we decided on a sunday that we would go to rome. monday night we bought tickets. sort of. there were some struggles with stupid ryanair (the airline) but it all got figured out. we got a hotel. tuesday we argued with the airlines and i made an "itinerary." wednesday we had a group meeting. thursday morning at 6 am we set off for beauvais airport and off to rome.

because we had so many problems with stupid ryanair, and no one really knew what they want to do in rome, i decided to just make an itinerary. i went to one of my favorite bookstores - gibert jeune - and picked up a rome travel book and a map. i asked people what they loved in rome and started planning. my itinerary wasn't super exact…i planned things we wanted to do, but not exactly when we wanted to do them. i decided to just let that play out as we got to rome. but i found out about roma passes (museum discounts, metro use, etc), mapped out where things were on my handy map, and made sure everyone knew what times we needed to be at certain places.

i felt a little silly doing it. but it was actually super helpful. i felt a little bit like ashley benning, aboot, inc. and that made me happy.

everyone decided to call me "mama syd," a nickname that only grew more and more appropriate as the week wore on.

thursday morning we met up at porte maillot stop super early. i think we were there at 6 am. woof. from there, we caught a bus/shuttle to beauvais airport for our flight to rome!

our flight was fairly uneventful…except alicia fell asleep with her mouth open, and it was the funniest thing i have ever seen.

when we got to rome, we hopped on a bus that took us to the metro station closest to our hotel. from the map, i was worried that it would be really far way. turns out it was only like a block and a half away. (it turns out rome is totally a walking city. it's way smaller than any of us thought, and way smaller than the map makes it look.)

we checked in, then got lunch. we had our first italian pizzas. turns out the personal size pizzas are bigger than my head, so that was fun. then we bought roma passes and got on the metro.

our first stop was the colosseum. i navigated us there from the metro (which was kind of a joke because you could SEE it from the metro exit since it's colossal, you know). we got in free because of our roma passes, which was cool, and then i proceeded to find 10 euros on the ground. best. day. ever. and of course we had to sing a little lizzie mcguire. this is what dreams are made of, people.

we also hit up trajan's column, the pantheon, the trevi fountain, and the spanish steps. it was a really big day. i think my favorite of all those places was the trevi fountain. rome has such a fun night life, and the trevi fountain was so alive. it is just so huge. i mean, the thing is MASSIVE. i don't know what i was expecting, but it wasn't nearly that big in my little imagine-ings. i just loved how it was so lit up and the water was so loud. and the people were so happy. rome was such a happy city.

we had dinner at some restaurant near the spanish steps. it was awkwardly not delicious like we were hoping...but it's all good because we more than made up for it later on.

on friday morning, we got up, had some breakfast, and headed off to the vatican. kind of mind blowing, going to the vatican. it's only the home of the largest christian institution in the entire world. with an amazing collection of art, to boot.

the vatican museums were so much more than i was expecting. i think that because the louvre is the biggest museum in the world, i have just always expected to see pieces that i've learned about there. a silly assumption, but one that i have nonetheless. but because of that assumption, the vatican was one big huge surprise for me. honestly, the only thing that i really knew was there was the sistine chapel. other than that, i just kinda went along with the tour. it was so fun to find things that i just had no idea at all were there. like the scraper, or laöcoon, or the school of athens. i think that's what made all of rome so incredible. it is a city of surprises.

we accidentally went through the vatican museums twice. i mean, i guess it wasn't really on accident. we had gone through once before, but we missed the school of athens. and how do you go through the vatican museums without seeing the school of athens? so we went back through. twice in one day. who does that? i guess we do.

after the museums, we headed over to st peter's basilica. i also had no preconceived ideas of what the basilica would be like. we wandered there in the rain and made it inside. when we walked inside, my jaw literally dropped. it doesn't happen often. but my mouth was gaping open. so much marble. so much gold. so much over-the-top beauty that i couldn't even handle myself. i'm almost tearing up writing about it. scratch that - i am tearing up. i want to go back there so badly!

inside the basilica, everything was decorated in marble. all of the walls and columns and ceilings. everything. all surfaces had some sort of ornamentation. carvings, gilding, painting, mosaics. pretty much it was all there.

and do you know what else was there? michelangelo's pietà. that made my eyes water up. it was great. cori and i were really having a hard time keeping it together because of all the surprises. it was so great. we also found moses, and that was exciting. the altar of the cathedral was UNREAL. so big and gold. oh i loved that place.

my eyes watered when i had to leave. they really truly did. i was so sad.

and then we went and had dinner. we went to a little restaurant near our hotel and i had my first real italian pasta. chicken alfredo. it was SO GOOD. i was really quite happy. and we had tiramisu for dessert.

after dinner, we weren't quite ready for bed, so noah, cori, alicia, and i headed back over to the trevi fountain. it was pouring rain, so we conveniently took shelter in a gelato shop. it was run by an older gentleman and his family. he was so funny - the classic italian selling gelato. it made me so happy! he was so kind. when he handed me my gelato, i asked him if the family made the gelato. he said that his 25 year-old son made it all by hand. then i tasted my gelato. and before i could even stop myself, the following question came out of my mouth : "do you think your son would marry me?" he laughed and he said that if i wanted to be the stepmom of his son's two kids, then it would be okay.

after climbing on the trevi fountain (i mean what?), we went back to the hotel and slept. and in the middle of the night, we were all awakened by the most horrifyingly loud thunder any of us had ever heard in our lives. it was like all of the thunder in the heavens came together and let loose right above our heads. i swear the hotel was shaking, it was so loud. but because i was still so asleep, i couldn't quite get myself to react to it properly. i mumbled to alicia, "was that thunder?" and she mumbled back, "yeah." and that was about it. in the other room, everyone was screaming. good to know that alicia and i are such sound sleepers.

on saturday, we went to the piazza dei campidoglio. this little plaza was designed by michelangelo, and was used as a model for the joseph fielding smith building (jfsb) courtyard at byu. dr h told us about this piazza and how he had suggested that it be used as the model for the jfsb. we decided that it was a must that we go there to take a photo or five for him. 

then we wandered over to the bocca de la verité. this is an old face. you put your hand in its mouth and if you are a liar, it supposedly bites your hand off. think roman holiday, here, people. i preteneded i was audrey hepburn and it was pretty fantastic. 

and then we accidentally found the circo massimo, which only was the arena where chariot races were held. not really a big deal or anything. that was pretty much how rome was - one surprise after another. all just popping out of no where. it was so much fun.

then we went to this little church - the santa maria della vittoria. this is where bernini's the ecstasy of saint theresa is. cori and i had another one of our moments. and then we headed off to the borghese gallery.

i had heard of the borghese through friends and the internet. i knew it was one of the museums in rome that we couldn't miss. i knew that apollo and daphne by bernini was there. so pretty much it was a given that we had to go, even if that was the only piece worth seeing. but boy, were we in for a surprise.

we had to book our tickets for the gallery 2 days in advance. it is super strict on numbers of people who can come in, and you can hardly ever get last minute tickets to enter. luckily, because we have some handy dandy art history student cards, we got into the museum for free! sweet.

when we walked into the gallery, we saw these HUGE heads. i'm talking about 5 feet tall stone heads. it was pretty impressive. we walked through the adjoining rooms of the gallery when we saw this marble statue that looked familiar. turns out it was david by bernini. not really a big deal. but seriously. it was.

and then we saw apollo and daphne. that piece is so amazing. there are two images in my head that will forever be associated with the borghese and rome. one of those images is of the toes of daphne, turning into roots. the marble is so thin that you can literally see through it. it was so delicate and precise. i can't get it out of my head.

and then we wandered into the next room where i kind of looked up, but not really. i could tell there was a big statue looming overhead but i hadn't examined it yet. we got up to the name plate. cori nudged me and asked if i recognized it. i said no, because the name was in italian. and then i took a second look at the name plate and wanted to facepalm myself. i looked up. because really? the rape of persephone was in the borghese? who knew? i almost cried. i love this statue. the second image i have in my mind of rome and the borghese is hades' hand grabbing persephone's thigh. it does not look like marble. it is actually a human hand grabbing human flesh.  i can't get over it.

and we saw about 16 other bernini statues. it was crazy. and then it was time to leave rome and return to paris.

on our way back to our hotel from the borghese, we were all starving. we couldn't find a cheap-ish restaurant and we all were getting grumpy. i made the mama syd nickname permanent when i remembered that i had some candy in my purse. thank goodness for flexi-fizz. i don't know what we would do on trips without that stuff. i gave everyone two pieces of candy to tide them over until we could find some pizza (which we successfully found). behind me i heard kayla say, "she really will make a great mom one day." it made me laugh. so now i will always and forever be mama syd.

after a wonderful two and a half days in rome, we had to return to paris. i've always heard people say that "italy is great...but it's dirtier and poorer than france." it may be true, but i was so so sad to leave italy. i was sad to leave the warmth. i was sad to leave the surprises and the discovery. i was sad to leave the italian people who were so open and friendly. i was sad about leaving the art and the food and the culture. i was sad about all of it.

in some ways, italy really reminded me of home. in my head, i've come up with this comparison that may or may not be completely accurate, but i've decided that france is like the east coast of america, while italy is like the west coast. it's chill and relaxed. it's got an "anything goes" feel. france is a little more proper, a little more upscale. 

they are so extremely different from each other, but i have really come to love the "east coast" of europe that i call home. while i was so sad to leave italy, i was excited to make my way back to my little piece of france. 

but rome will always have a very special place in my heart. :) 

SORRY EVERYONE MY INTERNET WON'T LET ME POST ANY PHOTOS BUT I PROMISE I TOOK A LOT OF THEM IN TRUE HUGHES FASHION LOVE YOU ALL.

les grands boulevards || the grand boulevards

23 octobre 2012

yay grands boulevards!!

this walk was super cool. it's in a super ritzy part of paris. during napoléon iii's empire, he asked baron georges-eugène haussmann to help with the new layout of paris that napoléon had in mind. much of paris was leveled. a new network of streets and over 40,000 new buildings were erected. streets were widened, buildings were made equal. haussmann tried to keep things very uniform. when looking around paris, i can definitely tell the difference between haussmann's style and previous architecture. it's really cool to be able to see the difference between them.

this walk started on the boulevard haussmann, behind the opéra garnier. all the buildings are uniform. we found printemps, which is a departments store that is made up of several buildings connected by covered walkways. it's super fancy - i can't imagine the money people spend there! crazy! when we originally did this walk, it was october. i have since returned a few times and now there are christmas decorations in all the windows and the shops. so good. so happy. i like to walk through with my christmas music on. :)

the next main store we found was the galéries lafayette. it's very similar to printemps - several buildings connected. we went inside the store and went straight to the center of it. when i looked up to the ceiling, i saw the most amazing stained glass dome i have ever seen. it was so wonderful. i was obsessed.

after we explored the galéries lafayette, we went to the opéra garnier. we didn't go inside (we were waiting for phone calls from the airline about some tickets for our upcoming trip to rome), but i went inside later and it was amazing. such a breathtaking building. this building was originally built for opera, but it is mostly used today for ballet. the phantom of the opera is based in this building, and there really is lake under the opera house! it's really small, but it's there.

then we walked down the rue de la paix. it is lined with fancy shops like cartier. that was fun. we also saw the place vendôme, where people like chopin (who's heart is buried in warsaw - saw it when i went there!), puccini, danton, and john law. it wsa turned into a royal square later, and now it is private residences. the column in the middle of the square was erected in 1806 to celebrate napoléon's victory at austerlitz.

then we turned down rue saint-honoré. we went into l'église saint-roch. i knew i recognized this church - and it turns out it is the church where sasha's dad charley went to church when he lived in paris as a boy. i was here 5 years ago when we visted the de limurs! crazy. it has been so cool to be able to piece together where things were and understand paris for myself, instead of blindly following charley and gretchen around. i've loved it! anyway, this church was built in 1653 by louis xiv.

down the street, there is a statue of joan of arc just outside the tuileries gardens in the place de pyramides.

this was a fun walk! good times :)

galéries lafayette

galéries lafayette

adorable baby clothes on rue saint-honoré

saint-roch

cartier - the mother of all engagement rings. i hope any interested boys are taking note of this ring.

londres || london

18 - 20 octobre 2012

sage, annie, alicia, and i spent a weekend in london! it was so much fun.

after class on thursday, we took the RER (train) to gare du nord, where we took the eurostar through the chunnel to london. it was a super easy trip. the ride was about 2 1/2 hours. i love trains.

when we got into london, we obviously had to make a stop at king's cross...because of platform 9 3/4. duh. we wouldn't be real harry potter fans if we didn't.

then we found our hotel. we had to navigate through the tube, which is definitely not as efficient as the paris metro (sorry all you london tube lovers, but it's the truth). we cleaned up a little bit, and went out for a night on the town!

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT : dear sage's mom. you are the most wonderful person ever for our hotel. thank you, thank you, thank you! it really means a lot to all of us! we had the best time ever and you made it all possible :)

we went to picadilly circus, where we were going to see les misérables. annie found a super good deal for tickets online before we came to london, so of course we booked the tickets asap. we had dinner at this place called "ed's diner." it had real american food. like real american hamburgers. and milkshakes.

i had a cheeseburger and a chocolate malt with extra malt. i am definitely ed hughes' granddaughter. :)

after dinner, we made our way to the queen's theater for les mis. i can't even tell you how amazing it was. we were all in the very last row of the highest balcony, but it didn't even matter. i had never seen les mis before, and didn't really know what to expect. i can honestly say that it was one of the most amazing musicals i have ever seen in my life. there were a few times when all four of us had tears in our eyes. it's not much of a surprise that my eyes were watering...haha. i am definitely carole hughes' granddaughter :)

after the play, we just stumbled upon m&ms world. I WAS SO HAPPY. because who loves m&ms?

if you guessed that it was me...then you guessed correctly. because i love m&ms. maybe a little too much. it's probably a good thing that i don't have access to peanut butter m&ms here in europe...but i sure do miss them.

"i just bought 10 pounds worth of m&ms. that could be monetary or weight. that's fun." -sage

anyway.

on friday, we got up, had breakfast, and did some sight seeing! we went to abbey road (where we just so happened to be wearing the same colors at the beatles...best accident ever!), big ben, westminster abbey, and then we went to this awesome little pub for lunch over by the national gallery. we all got fish and chips. SO GOOD. i don't normally like fish...but i make an exception for fish and chips.

this was where the pea and pepper incident took place. my life has been forever changed. (annie, sage, alicia...if you're reading this, i am laughing while typing this.)

after a super struggle with british money, we decided spur of the moment to see if there were any tickets for some other musicals available for that evening. we found a little ticket stand and found out that there were 4 seats available for wicked at a really reasonable price. so obviously we jumped on that!

we also explored the national gallery, which was super fun. after our art history classes, we were having the best time ever picking out different styles of art, recognizing other artists' influences, and just have fun enjoying the amazing collection they have.

then we wandered back over to picadilly circus, where we thought our theater was. we got dinner at a little cafe and enjoyed being dry for a while. (it was pouring outside.) when it was getting close to show time, annie decided to look up directions to the theater.

and that's when we realized : we were going to the wrong theater. there are TWO apollo theaters in london - the apollo VICTORIA and the apollo QUEENS. we wanted the apollo VICTORIA, all the way across town. we had fifteen minutes to get all the way across town. FIFTEEN MINUTES. absurd.

so we got out of our seats. we ran outside. we sprinted to the tube. we (im)patiently rode the tube to our transfer. we sprinted through that tube station. we (im)patiently rode that tube to the station we needed. we sprinted through the station to an information desk where annie asked "WHERE IS THE APOLLO VICTORIA" using her indoor voice, of course, and then we sprinted to the theater.

it was only a little bit stressful. and we made it with two minutes to spare.

so we sat, drenched in sweat and rain, and watched wicked. alicia had never seen it before, so it was really fun to see her reactions to things. also...i just really love that musical. so i was really happy :)

after our evening out with elphaba and glinda,  we called it a night.

on saturday, we got up, ate some breakfast, and went to the tate museum of modern art. it was kinda weird...but i liked it. i mostly loved the bookstore because it reminded me so much of my parents. they would have loved everything there. i wish they could have seen it all.

then we wandered a little bit more and found the globe theater, a random pirate ship, the thames river, london bridge, and the tower bridge.

and then we just happened to find harrod's. i love that place. it is massive. and so expensive and so beautiful. my favorite parts were the shoes (duh), the evening gowns (we're talking gowns that were at a minimum £3,000), and of course, christmas world.

(side note : it is christmas EVERYWHERE in europe.)

after picking our luggage up from our hotel, we got fish and chips again at a little pub called the grazing goat. i thought that was kinda fun. they were the best fish and chips ever. i loved them.

when we were at the train station waiting for our eurostar, we realized we had a few extra pounds on us...so naturally we bought some candy. british chocolate = happiness. like bubble chocolate and wispas and such. and shortbread, too.

i loved going to london. even though it made me a little homesick to hear people speaking english (even though sometimes i couldn't understand them haha), it was one of the best weekends EVER. i feel like i say that about every weekend, but it's the truth! they're all just so good! and you can never go wrong with a little london town :)

alicia, me, sage, and annie at platform 9 3/4.

on my way to hogwarts, where i clearly belong.

best chocolate malt ever at ed's diner.

les mis!

phone booth and big ben

buckingham palace in the rain with alicia.

sage, annie, alicia, and me

after sprinting across london. we look good. we know.

always keep in mind that there are TWO victoria theaters in london.

the jolly footman at harrod's

reminiscing on BSE 2008 with my pal "flappin' jack"

best fish and chips EVER