j'adore paris.

well, the trip to paris was amazing and full of interesting and great food, a million works of art, incredible churches, creepy men, a lot of stairs, great views of the city and sore feet. but, i LOVED it!!!!

if i tried to break it down day by day it would probably make me remember how stressed and tired i was each day, so i'll categorize my adventures and everything that i loved (and hated?) about my four day trip to france!

tour de eiffel

view from notre dame

museums:

museums in paris are better than anywhere else. i am personally a fan of impressionist art. if all art was impressionist, i would be happy. and what better place to see impressionism than in paris? there isn't a better place, so i was happy. the louvre was really stressful. too many people, too much to see, too much to learn. so...here are my top 3 museums:

1. musee d'orsay: no question. this was my absolutely favorite thing that i saw. as i was thinking my trip from three summers ago, i immediately remembered that the orsay was my favorite thing in france. the museum is huge and completely full of impressionism. some of my favorites? monet, manet, renoir, pissaro...etc. i bought two prints of my favorite works so that i can frame them and put them in my room. i am very, very excited.

2. l'orangerie: this is a very small museum, but definitely breathtaking. monet's waterlilies are displayed there, and they are incredible. he had these two oval shaped rooms built for him that perfectly fit these 8 huge panoramic paintings. i could stay in there all day, they were so beautiful.

this was one of my favorites. but, they were all favorites.

3. musee rodin: i loved how some of the sculptures were on display in the gardens and also in the house. all of his sculptures are great.

cathedrals:

i love gothic architecture. it blows my mind thinking about how they had to lift all of the materials and had to design the huge, beautiful churches. in france we saw some really great ones:

notre dame. great at night, great during the day. always beautiful. i also loved climbing the towers and getting a wonderful view of the city and seeing the famous bells.

chartres. clearly, incredible.

sainte chappelle. the upper chapel has walls that are practically entirely made of stained glass, on all four sides. it is gorgeous, especially with the sun shining in!

food:

crepes, pastries and croissants have been the basis of my diet for the past few days, seriously. i ate five huge crepes and now think that nutella and banana crepes are my favorite food. i wish that they were healthier. oh, and this is a big deal.... i ate escargot! amazing, right? even i can't believe that i, leslie paige macfarlane, ate a snail...that was green. WOW. i feel very accomplished and proud of myself.

yes, i promise that i ate it. there are six witnesses.

definitely the most delicious ice cream in the world AND it was shaped like a flower!

top five other favorite things that don't really fit into a category:

1. seine river cruise: a beautiful way to see paris by night.

2. eiffel tower - amazing view! and since it is march for march i had to take the stairs. ugh.

family at the top.

3. arc de triomphe - stairs, again, but a great way to see the city.

4. versailles - i wanted to go last time i was in france, but ran out of time. it was so fun to see!

5. the SUN! it is refreshing to know that it is spring in some other part of the world while it is cold and foggy in london.

well, paris was wonderful! we saw so many great things. i loved going back and seeing new things and other different but great things. oh, i got to witness my dad almost beat up a guy for trying to steal his wallet, that was scary. and i made it through border control! yay. when i saw the immigration officers i got really nervous, but i didn't appear to be a threat, so they let me through. our semester here is over in less than a month! it is really sad. i am super lucky and get to stay here two months longer than everyone else, but it is still going by way too fast! i have to start getting busy with my london to do lists before i completely run out of time.