A Very British Thanksgiving

First off, big thanks to the Greene family for adopting me this holiday season :)

Liv and I took the Eurostar from Paris Thursday afternoon which was supposed to get to London around 630. Unfortunately, we were delayed 45 minutes or so because of immigrants trying to sneak in to the chunnel. So we missed the cocktails and chowder, but we still made it to Liv's just in time for the main meal! We sat down around 8:30 for dinner which would have been blasphemous in the US haha but it was good because I was actually hungry again.

Mrs. Greene made the whole meal with all the works, turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and carrots! There was no bread and the stuffing had cranberries and walnuts in it so michael and brian may have not survived but I was a very happy camper. Mr. Greene made a toast when we sat down to dinner which started off with "To religious persecution!" I nearly died laughing. I think that was the first time I heard that one. Sounded like an Uncle Steve joke. Then for dessert there was pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and an apple berry pie. I had the pecan and apple berry with some homemade whipped cream which were both delicious.

Friday morning Liv and I set out to explore London. She lives in Kensington so we walked her dogs around her neighborhood with her Mom in the morning then stopped at a café for brunch near the high street. I must talk about Liv's dogs for a second because they are SO cute. Maisey is the softest dog I've ever held. You pick her up and she just molds in to whatever shape fits your arms and licks your face. Rolo is an older king charles but still adorable and they cuddle together in their little dog bed :)

Café Phillies: This is the café we had brunch at in Kensington. We had really good scrambled eggs with avocado and smoked salmon, along with a berry smoothie. The café also baked their own cakes which smelled amazing although we didn't have any.

After brunch we took a red double decker bus (yay!) to the corner of Hyde Park (I think..? Liv directed me everywhere...) It was unusually warm that day but "spitting" (as I've discovered it always is in London). From the bus we walked through all the touristy sites like...

Buckingham Palace: If I were to live in a palace I'd probably pick a different one but Buckingham is still pretty dang cool. We missed the changing on the guards but the little guys were still there marching around.

Westminster Abbey:

Me: "What's that building?"

Liv: "Oh I have no idea" *looks at google maps* "Shoot it's Westminster Abbey"

We were going to go inside then found out it was 17 pounds... haha nope!

Big Ben: The clouds started to part just as we were walking by Big Ben so he looked pretty fabulous. Though Liv told me he's not doing so hot and there's a huge debate whether they should spend the millions of pounds to fix him or not :(

Also saw the London eye from a distance, went in a telephone booth, walked along the river and through Picadilly, then took the tube to Shoreditch!

Shoreditch is the cool new area of London that I would equate to Brooklyn. There are a ton of cool concept stores, trendy cafés, graffiti wall murals, and vintage shops. Liv had never been and we both loved it! There was this huge vintage market in the basement of some store that we combed through for a while in search of costumes for our Oxford bop to no avail. But I did buy a cool pair of sunglasses! We also tried to get our nails done at this funky salon that was also a café and cinema but they were all booked.

Dock Kitchen: Liv's family took us out to dinner Friday night to this nice mediterranean restaurant along the canal. I had ceviche and sea bass which were verrrry good. They also gave us stellar flatbread with olive oil to start. For dessert they messed up my order but Liv's pistachio and nutmeg cake was very good. The restaurant also had a really cool ambiance with brick walls, fun lights, and huge windows. Would be really cool to sit outside there in the summer I'm sure.

After dinner we met Liv's other sister and her friend at this pizza restaurant in Kensington for a drink - pizza also looked really good!

Saturday morning Liv and I slept in then went to the gym and came back to her house to make some scrambled eggs. Felt like I was actually at home having a nice lazy morning it was incredible. After that we walked to a costume shop in Kensington to get our gear for white and black swan. Then we took the tube to Sloane Square for tea. (But first we waited at a bus stop for a solid 15 minutes before realizing the bus we needed didn't stop there...)

Saatchi Gallery: My one request while in London was to have tea. So Liv took us to this cool modern little restaurant in a courtyard behind Sloane Square where her sister is going to be having her rehearsal dinner next may. The tea was delicious! They had finger sandwiches, scones, and some little cupcakes/macaroons. We also got a few sides of veggies that went well with the sandwiches. I got sencha green tea. The jam and clotted cream on the scone was the real winner though.

After tea we met up with Liv's friend Megan to drive out to Oxford! The drive was really quick, about an hour to a park and ride just outside town where we took a bus for about 10 minutes to the center. We met at her friend CJ's "accommodation" aka dorm room to cook dinner. We had chips and guac and made fajitas while drinking wine in their kitchen - everyone was so nice and fun and I got to learn a bit about Oxford life haha. It was cool to see what a British university is like. Then we got ready and went to the "bop"! Bop's are basically a party that each college throws, usually twice or three times a term. There are 30 colleges at Oxford and this one was thrown by Christ Church which is apparently the most famous for their bops. One year apparently a guy lit himself on fire in the middle of the costume (to be fair it was part of his costume). This year the theme was "celebrity duos" so Liv and I dressed up as white and black swan. We had originally planned on wearing nice dresses since they were the only things Liv had... but then we were told to "wear nothing you care about" and "there will be jelly involved". So we each borrowed tshirts to wear over our dresses. Thank god we did because my white shirt was tie-dyed pink by the end of the night. I only got to see Oxford at night but it was GORGEOUS. Straight out of Harry Potter. The courtyards were majestic looking and there was a huge christmas tree in the middle of them. The bop was in what was probably a common room or event space in one of the dorms. It had wooden floors, a little stage with lights and speakers at one end, and a bar at the other. They serve "bop juice" which is basically punch (don't ask me what's in it). You pay 1 pound for 3 drinks (if i had to guess it was some sort of alcohol with red bull in one cup, orange juice in another, and a cola in the third). But since the party is run by the students it's all your friends behind the bar. So I paid for our first round of drinks and then the guy with the blue frozen glasses and orange carrot nose is just like "nah nah no more, free drinks all night!" The party ended at 12 pretty early but then everyone was in the dorms for a lot longer. They're dorm rooms are again BEAUTIFUL. The one we were in had two single rooms and then a common area with dark mahogany walls, sofas and chairs and huge windows. Looks like some prime minister's office - not a college kid's dorm room. 

Sunday morning was pretty rough - but Liv made it up to drive us home to London in time for me to catch my flight. So I thanked the Greene's again for having me, ate some thanksgiving leftovers of turkey soup and stuffing, then headed to the airport! I bought some Cadbury chocolate on the way out of course.

This was my last big trip (though stay tuned for Strasbourg on Friday!) which is pretty sad. Can't believe my semester in Paris is coming to an end. But London was a great last weekend trip and I know I will be back :)

Paris Paris Paris

It hit me today that I have less than four weeks left in Paris :( I'm kind of getting nostalgic already and feeling the need to do all of my favorite things as much as I can and check off all the things I still haven't done!

Monday after class I headed to the latin quarter to get a crêpe from Aup'tit Grec where I got that amazing crêpe a few weeks ago. I showed up at 11 right when they opened and they still weren't ready for customers... but the man was very nice and offered to make me a crêpe as long as it wasn't too complicated. So I got one of the fixed ones (feta cheese, eggplant caviar, lettuce, and tomatoes). It was very good but I was sad he wouldn't let me add an egg, my last one was better. Though I still think Aup'tit Grec has awesome crêpes, something about the batter...

Strada Café: Spent Monday afternoon studying in this café in the latin quarter. It was very full (probably all americans) but most everyone was studying so it wasn't too loud. My cappuccino was good, food didn't look great, but it was a nice study environment. Everyone was very nice and there were huge windows everywhere.

Monday afternoon I went on a run even though it was FREEZING. And then Margot made pork with a mushroom cream sauce for dinner accompanies by a green bean/pasta mix and a salad. Then we had some cheese (camembert and something else I don't know), followed be crème anglaise with crispy crêpe crackers for dessert!

Tuesday morning had endless macro again, so we decided we deserved another ~Parisian~ lunch and a glass of wine before phonetics. Hey, we only have so little time left.

La Jacobine: This restaurant is right across from cept-figue down the adorable couloir in Odéon. It was rainy and gross and cold today so I was so happy to sit down here. I got a salad which was filled with delicious vegetables, chicken, AND a slice of quiche! In the salad! Bread was also very good and my white wine was nice.

Gosselin: On my way home from phonetics I was hungry so I stopped in the boulangerie across the street for a little snack. I decided to get some choquettes which I have seen everywhere but didn't know what they were. They were SO good. Arguably one of my favorite pastries. They're little cream puffs (but no cream in the middle, misleading) with large chunks of sugar on the outside. They were a little salty but mostly sweet. And they were bite sized so it was a perfect snack before dinner.

For dinner Margot made a Tartiflette for dinner which she said is a classic winter dish that people often have in the mountains when they're skiing. It's kind of like a casserole with potatoes, ham, onions, and reblochon cheese melted on top in a gratin form. It was delicious! And perfect for the chilly day! Then we had it with a salad and fruit for dessert.

After dinner Pierre helped me with my art history essay and reworked my grammar. It was sooo helpful. I had a bunch of little mistakes but mostly it's just interesting how french people just phrase things differently from americans. It was also funny because the american keyboard is different from the french keyboard so it's tough to find the keys and such. But Pierre caught on to the accent shortcuts really quickly!

Wednesday I went to class then pilates, then stopped at cojean for a quick lunch. Had a meeting with a tutor for one of my econ classes but she also scheduled 3 other tutoring sessions at the same time so it was a bit of a mess.... after art history I came home for dinner then Natalie, Liz, Wheeler and I went to go see the hunger games! French movie theaters are so nice the chairs are so cushy and I hadn't had popcorn in forever so I was v happy. Not to mention I've been waiting to see the hunger games forever (although I will admit the whole series tanked a bit toward the end, i'm still loyal and enjoyed the movie)

Thursday was Thanksgiving!! I went on a run in the morning before phonetics but then phonetics was cancelled lol

Du Pied de Fouet: Since phonetics was cancelled Natalie, Liv, Wheeler and I decided to have another relaxing lunch at this café/brasserie in the 6th (friendsgiving!). I showed up at the wrong restaurant at first (ugh apple maps) but made it there eventually. It was small and our waitress was pretty pushy/rushed. But my salad was good.

After lunch I went to La Durée to get some macaroons for Liv's family and we were off to London!

Bleu, Blanc, Rouge

Coming back to Paris after the weekend was a little rattling, but it did feel like coming home. The city has been through a lot and is still going through a lot. I don't want to use my blog to discuss the attacks in detail because I have so much to say and I know I won't be able to say it eloquently here. Instead, I'll continue to use the blog to record the highlights of my study abroad. Because despite all that has happened, Paris is still the glorious city it always has been and continues to persevere to keep living life and enjoying all it has to offer. "Même pas peur"

Monday was a bit of a strange day, as everyone was still a bit in shock and not very sure how to react. The streets were as empty as I'd ever seen them. Every student on the way in to school now has to show their student ID and get their bag checked. However, my professor said nothing about the events of that weekend. My french friend in my class didn't even mention them, and instead cheerily asked how I was doing.

a little uplifting graffiti on the steps of pont jacques <3

Matamata Café: This is a new zealand style café in the 2nd arrondissement that Liz recommended to me a while back. I decided to try it out and loved it! I've been there 3 times since haha. And I've run in to Liz every time I've gone. I got a yummy lentil, sweet potato and spinach curry that came with a little side salad and toast. Their coffee is also very good and I got a peanut butter chocolate gluten free cookie which was also delicious. There are a few small tables upstairs and one large table downstairs with comfy chairs. It's a little dark in the basement but not as bad as arobase. And it's usually just people working so it's quiet! Though the café can have a bit of an eclectic playlist going at times haha.

Monday evening we had a meeting with our program directors but they didn't really have anything new to say. Then we had dinner with our host family, I did some work and went to bed.

Tuesday morning came yet another 3.5 hour macro class and by the end Natalie, Ben, and I were pretty beat. So we decided to treat ourselves to a nice little lunch before phonetics.

Cept-Figue: The three of us made our way down the little "couloir" in Odéon to get to Ben's favorite restaurant. We decided that a "couloir" is really the only way to describe it because it is far too narrow to be a street and far too cute to be an alleyway. I got an avocado and cucumber tartare along with a chicken salad and we split a bottle of wine. Perfect way to relax on a chilly day before phonetics. Definitely loosened us up a bit too. Our phonetics teacher did say that two glasses in is when you'll be at the height of your speaking talents!

On our way to class I stopped to get a "Latte noisette caramel" ....from starbucks. But I have to say this christmas drink is actually very good and not too sweet for me. The red cup is also a nice little pick me up so I've gotten it a few times since then (sue me).

After phonetics Ben, Natalie, Evan, and I went to La République to see the memorials. It was my first time venturing to that part of town since the attacks and I wasn't really sure what to expect. We were shocked at first by all of the television vans surrounding the plaza. In the center of La République was a beautiful memorial with lots of flowers, candles, signs, stuffed animals, little knick knacks, and lots of people. Seeing the memorials really made me feel better about everything going on. The sayings on all of the signs were very powerful and showed the strength of Paris. "Même pas peur" (The same, without fear) ; "Nous devons apprendre à vivre ensemble comme des frères, sinon nous allons mourir tous ensemble comme les idiots" (We must learn to live together like brothers, otherwise we will all die together like idiots) It really showed the unity of the city and how we're all in this together. We took our time reading all the signs, taking it all in, lit a candle, and then headed home.

Wednesday I went to class. Then I can't remember UGH. Then maybe I went to matamata? I had art history in the evening again then went home for dinner.

Thursday it was rainy but I didn't realize so I set out to go for a run then realized it was FREEZING. But Pierre already saw me leave for a run so I couldn't wimp out. So I went back grabbed a vest and continued on my way. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was but it was pretty wet and cold.

Then I was lazying around the apartment before phonetics so Pierre invited me to have lunch with the family! It was the first time I was invited for lunch at home. We had chicken, potatoes, and fruit for dessert. My family is still bent on teaching me how to cut the skin off of my fruit using a fork and knife and I'm awful at it. (They say all the toxins are in the skin) So everyone sat there for a good 20 minutes while I tried to eat my pear with a fork and knife. But they were all very nice and patient and chatted with me while I struggled to eat my fruit.

Thursday night my friends and I planned to make dinner again at Liz's apartment! So after phonetics Natalie and I headed to "trick or treat" (store that sells all american food items) to buy brownie and cookie mix to make slutty brownies. We also stopped at la fromagerie de grenelle which we had been to before to get cheese. I tried to ask for an aged goat cheese and kept saying "un chèvre plus vieux" which does mean older so I had no idea why it was so difficult for her to understand me. Natalie couldn't even help out because we just could not comprehend another way to pronounce "vieux". We had just learned it in phonetics for heaven's sake! Ben later informed me that french people refer to aged cheese as "bien âgé" duh. French is so contextual if you don't use the EXACT phrase everyone uses you're screwed. Then we went to Nelly Julien to get baguettes! The baguettes céreales were awesome (basically whole grain). We also stopped at starbucks for another caramel hazelnut latte ugh sorry ruining the french-ness.

Dinner at Liz's was very fun once again :) Stocked up on wine from franprix and Liv and Ben brought back pasta from Italy for us to cook! So we made a salad with tomatoes and avocado to start, followed by pasta with tomatoes and zucchini, and chicken on the side. Then of course came the cheese course, and slutty brownies for dessert! Liv and I were in charge of the slutty brownies and forgot to put the timer on (whoops) so we took them out as soon as we smelt them and they looked great.... turned out they were goop. But really who's going to complain about gooey brownies? The gooey-ness also went really well with the speculos butter we found in Liz's cupboard tehe.

awful photo

Friday morning I stayed in bed until 1 watching Gossip Girl cause it was rainy and gross... but then I got hungry and finally made moves to go meet Liv, Liz, and Izzy at Matamata. I got a quiche for lunch/brunch and then did some work for the rest of the afternoon. Stopped in to a cute little boutiquey vintage shop next door on the way home, go back to look at rings!

La Bayadère Ballet: Friday night EDUCO bought tickets to the ballet at the opera. Originally some of my other friends were going too but they last minute cancelled so I decided to go alone because I've been wanting to see the ballet for a long time. I was a little rushed getting ready, picked up a salad from mucha café, and then headed to le palais garnier. I get in the doors just in time as the buzzer is ringing to signal the start of the show. I get upstairs and can't find my door so I ask an usher to direct me. She responds frantically "Oh non! Vous êtes au mauvaise opéra! Vous devez aller au Opéra de Bastille!!!! Vite vite!" aka. I was at the wrong fricking opera house.

L'Opéra!...... de Palais Garnier.... ugh.

Luckily, there is a direct metro line from L'opéra de palais garnier, and l'opéra de bastille. However, I still arrived 20 minutes after the ballet started. It took me a while to find the entrance which put me in an even better mood! Once I finally got there a very nice security guard opened the door and apologetically denied me entrance. I was not completely surprised, but was nonetheless pretty frustrated. He couldn't be lenient at all either because of vigipirate (the security system in Paris that was on high high alert because of the attacks the week before). He said that I could enter during the first intermission in a half hour. I completely understood and was glad he was being careful but was still pissed. He looked so sorry and worried because I probably looked incredibly distraught and on the verge of tears. He pointed me to a café across the street. I sat down outside and ordered a glass of wine for myself. The waiter responded "petit ou grand?". "grand" (I needed it). They also brought me nuts and olives so I had a nice little time at the café by myself looking artsy and reflective downing my fat glass of wine. However, I was not so pleased when the bill came and I discovered a "grand verre" just meant a "twice the price glass". Anyways, I finally made it to the ballet and sat with some very nice girls on my program. The first act was apparently hard to follow so I didn't miss much plot-wise. They caught me up so I was all ready to go for the rest of the show! It was very beautiful and brought me back to my ballet days. The story line is still unclear but I think it was something like there was a prince who was promised to be wed to this princess (who was a witch with a b), but he also loved this servant girl. But then the servant girl gets poisoned. But then I think the prince ends up with the servant girl in heaven or something (again, unclear, no words at the ballet). The third act was definitely my favorite. All of the ballerinas were dressed in big elegant white tutus and were moving perfectly in sync. On the way home I really wanted a crepe so I stopped for a ham and cheese one from a stand in bastille. It tasted like play dough. Oh well, you win some you lose some. Unsure if I ended up over or under that night.

Paperboy: Saturday morning I met Liv, Sarah's friend Nina, and some of her friends from the University of Edinburgh for brunch. I got the Paperben which was SO good. It was eggs benedict with your choice of avocado, salmon, or bacon (I got avocado), with a caramelized banana. And it came with a hot drink, smoothie, and bread basket complete with butter, jam, and the house-made peanut butter(!!). I got a matcha latté cause I figured why not and it was pretty interesting... and the smoothie was some delicious orange lemon ginger apple thing.

After brunch I walked through the Marais a bit and did some shopping (Nina Kendosa is a great store). But then it started raining so I headed home and lay in bed for pretty much the rest of the day haha. I also stopped by a little sandwich place near me to hang with Evan, Ben, and Ryan while they ate lunch. Oh and I did laundry (exciting!)

Chez Graff: Liv and I had date night at this restaurant in my neighborhood that we have been meaning to go to since basically our second week here. It was amazing. We literally got there when they opened at 8 and left as they were closing around midnight. We got a bottle of white wine from Languedoc which might be one of the best wines I've had (or at least that I've ordered myself haha). It was fruity but not too sweet. Our waiter was also so nice and gave us great recommendations. I got an artichoke and kale soup to start, Liv got ceviché, and we shared duck croquettas. Then we both got the pork for our main dish. The pork was very well done and came with mushrooms, haricots cocos, onions, and some other veggies. Then for dessert we split a Paris Brest and some chocolate mousse. A paris brest is an almond and praline pastry that kind of looks like a bagel and has a flaky texture, filled with cream. We hung around for a while talking and I guess stayed in to the next seating because our waiter politely asked us to move to a smaller table (and gave us a free glass of wine for our flexibility ;) ). LOVED this meal, highly recommend.

Prescription: Bar in the 6th close to Odéon that doesn't have signage from the outside. There's a bouncer at the door that was a little cheeky (in a funny teasing way), but he let us inside. He gave Ben and Ryan a little trouble but luckily Liv and I walked by the door right as they arrived. The place had a sort of modern speak-easy type feel. It was dark with wooden walls/ceilings and cool wallpaper in some parts. There were a lot of little armchairs around to sit with friends. There was also a second floor with another bar and a similar set up with another bar upstairs. The light fixtures also had cool old school hats hanging from them. The place was small and it was pretty full but not too full which was perfect. The also had the BEST cocktails I have had in paris so far. They were delicious, but also strong. I'm not exactly sure what I got first haha but it was some sort of lemon/limey, rum type drink. After that I got a caprihna and we also all shared a punch bowl of the house mojito. It didn't really taste like a mojito but it was also very good. And it was pink, the waitress said there was champagne in it? and probably something else. The waitresses and bar tenders were also so nice and were excited talking about their drinks and stuff.

After that Liv and I went in search of crepes to no avail :( ben and ryan ran away from us lol so we ubered back to Liv's apartment. Her host mom is away for a few days so I stayed with her saturday night. We stayed up for a while snacking in her apartment haha then I went to bed on her trundle.

Le Sésame: Café/brunch place in the 10th on Canal Saint-Martin. Liv and I tried to go to HolyBelly but we didn't really expect to get in (2 hour wait HA) so we settled on Le Sésame. We split bagel sandwiches, one with goat cheese and grilled vegetables, and one with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and arugula. Bagels were alright. Also got the smoothie of the day which tasted healthy. They had a really good kiwi jam though, so I'd say that was the highlight. Not the best brunch place I've been to but it was definitely good and there wasn't a long wait which was clutch.

Sunday afternoon I went to a Ballet Barre Fusion class with Affordable Yoga and Fitness which ended up being awesome I really liked it. It took me forever to get there (metro problems, I hate the Saint-Lazare/Saint-Augustin station) but it was a great workout and really fun and different.

Le Solférino: Sunday night I didn't really want to leave home cause it was freezing but I was hungry so I ate dinner alone at the café across the street. I just got grilled chicken with green beans which was dece. Nothing to write home about but fast and the waiter was also pleasant.

Guess that pretty much means I'm all caught up now! Let's hope I don't get behind again yikes.

xoxoxo

Sevilla: aka Sun, Siesta, and Sangria

As any other family vacation starts, Thursday began very early with lots of tired people and Mom ushering us out the door to make our flight on time. Although Vueling seemed to be a pretty low budget slightly frightening airline, and we discovered that Charles de Gaulle terminal 3 is pretty ratchet, we got all our bags on board, made our flight, and got to Seville without a problem! (Sevilla? The constant debate... to spell in english or in spanish? I'll go with spanish from now on)

Our airbnb was so nice, huge apartment, very airy, and everyone got their own room! Our airbnb host (Roberto) was also very nice and promptly set us down with a map and wrote down all of the places he likes to go.

Casa Blanca Tapas: Recommended by Roberto, this place was not far from the apartment on the main pedestrian street with a few little tables outside in the sun. It was definitely busy, but we managed to get a table standing outside and got to enjoy the beaaaautiful weather while munching on tapas. All of them were quite good, until we got aggressive and ordered the monkfish meatballs, but in hindsight that just never would have been a good idea. Brian bartered with a street vendor for a pair of nice "and totally real!" ray bans. The guy asked for 20, Brian insists he only has 10, "sorry man that's all I got", the guy settles on 10. Brian turns to Dad, "hey can you spot me 10 euros?"

La Fiorentina: Ice cream place also recommended by Roberto that proved difficult to find but was well worth it. I had this awesome ice cream that tasted just like blueberry muffin batter. Soooooo good.

Dad=ice cream :)

After ice cream we tried to find the wine store Roberto suggested but discovered it was closed for "siesta" so we took that as a sign to return home to nap ourselves. And nap we did (it was wonderful).

We slowly got moving around 8 for a drink in the apartment before meeting Maddie for dinner at 9.

Mamarracha Tapas: Oh mamarracha...... This place had been recommended by Leona and looked really good so we show up around 915 expecting to have to wait a little while. We put our names down and the waitress says it'll be at least a half hour. We say no problem! and get drinks from the bar. The sangria was probably the best I'd ever had I loved it. But half an hour later we checked in on our waitress and she said another 30 minutes. After another 30 minutes she said ANOTHER 30 minutes. After that we noticed they were just letting tons of 2 person groups in and there was no concept of saving spots for a party of 6. So we had a few tapas at the bar and called it quits 2 hours later to head to a paella place Maddie recommended around 11. I thought the paella was very good but of course the boys weren't fans and thought it was too "fishy".

After dinner the parents headed home again and Michael, Brian, and I went out with Maddie to meet up with some of her UNC friends and courtney! We started out at this bar called "the room" and quickly discovered how cheap drinks are in Sevilla. Tells ya just about how the night was gonna go! The room closed soon after we got there so we went to another bar called Rocky Roll that was playing good music and we took these funny shots that they then set on fire and you inhale the smoke (it apparently gets all the alcohol out of the glass?). They also had huge red bull vodkas that put the mix to shame. Strangely enough they also played hitler esque videos on the wall in the background.... but that was kind of brushed over. We also found Andrew Kohler's dopple ganger - mind blown. Then after rocky roll we went to Tokyo, a club across the street. Danced there for a while had some fun then made moves to go home around 4:30! We were only a mile or so from our apartment so we decided to walk. About five minutes in to our walk we find a kebab restaurant that was still open. Brian takes a bite of some irish guy's kebab (unclear, see Michael's video). Keep walking. 20 minutes later realize we don't know where we're going. I plug our address in to my phone. We're 2 miles away... oops? So then began the long journey home that took years, with the boys throwing burritos in the streets, brian going shirtless and nearly faceplanting, and maddie missed her train! Though the walk took forever it was a lot of fun and pretty cool to see the Sevilla streets deserted at night.

brothers!

The kiddies slept in on Friday morning since we didn't get home until around 5:30. We walked through the alcazar gardens which were beautiful on our way to a tapas restaurant in Santa Cruz that Roberto again recommended. However this time the tapas were not as great and the novelty of a bunch of plates of fried potatoes and meat had worn off.

Plaza de Espana: After lunch we walked through a lot of pretty lush parks to get to Plaza de Espana. I wasn't really sure what it was and I'm still not totally sure (it was built for an exposition of sorts?) but it was beautiful! A huge castle with a huge fountain and lots of pretty mosaics like I saw in Barcelona. Spanish architecture is very pretty and bright.

After that we finally gave in and decided to rent bikes to fulfill the empty space in our hearts from epernay. It's one of those 30 minute city bike systems which seemed easy enough. But then it took forever to actually set up and pay for everyone's accounts. But it's ok cause then we had bikes! They actually became very handy later in the trip and were very fun to ride. We took them to the town center to go to the top of this hotel that Roberto recommended, but it was too hot and crowded so we left (Roberto's recommendations getting worse and worse.....). We decided to sit at a café in plaza de san francisco instead to grab a cup of coffee. Pretty plaza - then we siesta'd!

beautiful orange trees everywhere!

Friday night we decided to round two Mammaracha cause the little taste we had was so good the night before. We got there right as it opened and were seated right away woo! The waiter recognized us and was like "quick! come this way i have a table for you!" The tapas were incredible and we could properly enjoy them sitting down with tons of space.

Rayas Ice Cream: Of course we needed to get ice cream after dinner! This ice cream was good but not as good as la fiorentina, it was very rich. And Michael spilt his and it got in my hair so that put a damper on things. (He would say it's my fault. I would politely disagree).

Friday night when I got back to the apartment is also when I heard about the attacks on Paris. It was overwhelming and escalated very quickly from a shooting, to a bombing, to a full on terrorist attack. It was very hard to piece together being in another country. I was very lucky to be with my family during this time and not in Paris. However, there was a part of me that itched to be back and was worried for the city and all of my friends there. Once I established that everyone I knew was safe I felt a bit better, but there was (and is) still so much that was unclear, so that put me in a bit of a daze for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning we were all more energized and awoke semi early (1030 haha) to have some toast and fruit for breakfast in the apartment before heading out to do some sight seeing.

The Grand Alcazar: Islamic mosque turned in to a Catholic Church. Incredibly beautiful building but the gardens are even more incredible. Mom and Dad wanted to get audio guides so I got one too while Brian and Michael continued to make fun of us. (The audio guides were rather dorky, obnoxious, and baton shaped). I could definitely see the Islamic influence as the architecture reminded me a bit of Istanbul. They also filmed some scenes of game of thrones there!! So that was pretty cool. Michael, Brian, and I got lost in a labyrinth. And there were lots of orange trees!

Rio Grande: After La Azotea we biked across the river to have lunch at Rio Grande. We were pretty sick of tapas and wanted to eat at a nice sit down restaurant so this was it! My swordfish was alright. Dad definitely got the best dish. Some bacon wrapped beef thing with a risotto.

Bull Fighting Arena: After lunch we took our bikes back across the river to the bull fighting arena. We took a tour of the arena, but since it was no longer bull fighting season there weren't any fights. Not that I'm really sure I'd want to see one anyways - it's absolutely horrible what they do to the bulls. The arena reminded me a bit of the colosseum. But it's crazy cause it feels like you're getting a tour of something ancient but it's still being used today. We saw the gate where the bull enters, the gate where the dead bull is pulled out, the winner's gate, the entry gate, and the gate to take matadors to the hospital in case they get hurt. Yes, there is a gate specifically for each of these things. I also found out that matador means killer. There was also a little museum where we learned about the history of bull fighting and how it fits in to the culture and the different forms of bull fighting. There apparently was a matador that started fighting bulls at age 9!

3rd day means 3rd siesta! Watched some gossip girl before headed out to a casual dinner saturday night.

La Azotea: This was the tapas place maddie recommended we go to the first night but we didn't. We should have cause it was so good! (Although mamarracha was great, and I would say better, but this was a very close second) I had a white wine sangria (per mom's suggestion) and our waiter was very nice. We got lots of good tapas like croquetas (of course, they eat them with everything), some good salads, some burgers... and I can't remember what else.

the cathedral looked prettier at night than this but hey

La Carboneria: Mom was insistent that we see flamenco before we leave. And I must admit I really wanted to see it as well. This place is known for good flamenco so we walked there after dinner, got a mojito and sat down. But apparently there were no flamenco dancers that night :( only weird guys playing guitar and singing in the corner. So we left shortly after it began in favor of some Hagen-Daaz ice cream on the way back to the apartment. Because no day with the Kosniks can be spent without ice cream!

The family left early sunday morning :( I was sad to see them go, we had such a great time and I'm so happy you guys came to visit!!!! I can't wait to see you again at Christmas!! :)

Since the family was gone I spent Sunday with Courtney! Went on a run by the river in the morning then Courtney took me to

Metropol Parasol: aka the mushroom building. Has a cool view of sevilla! That was pretty much it, we took the elevator up and came down lol.

Alfalfa: Then we went to this tapas place for lunch that was also very good and courtney says it's always packed. Had some warm cheese and good bruschetta before walking around some more.

Montaditos: Courtney took me here to grab some nourishment for the plane ride home. It's basically a sandwich tapas restaurant. They have 100 different types of mini sandwiches - and they were all 1 euro each! They even had chicken! Should have come here with the brothers they would have loooved it.

Then Courtney put me in a cab and I headed to the airport to make my journey back to Paris! I had an amazing weekend in Sevilla but was ready to get back to Paris to see how everything was and to get settled again.

Kosniks à Paris (plus Emma!)

Got home from Barcelona really early Monday morning and was sick and tired with no voice (classic).

To be honest I didn’t really do much from Monday to Wednesday except sleep, study, and in general get my life together. But that’s needed sometimes.

4 pm Thursday marked the end of our midterms week so we were all finally care free abroad-ers again woo!

Frog & Princess: We celebrated with a little walk through the gardens and happy hour at Frog & Princess. They had fun cocktails (I got a mai thai which came in a tiki cup), and American food!!!! It had been far too long since I had eaten nachos.

Bistro d’Henri: Emma arrived in Paris late Thursday night so the whole durham crew (ben, evan, and Elizabeth) + me welcomed her with a yummy classic French dinner at this restaurant Ben had been raving about since his grandma took him too it a few weeks prior. It was a cute little cozy bistro down a little street in the Odéon area. Ben, Evan, and I all wanted to get the duck, but there was only one left so we played rock paper scissors for it and Evan won L But I ended up getting grilled salmon with ratatouille which was veeery good. We also got the house wine cause it was cheaper but that was a mistake cause it was bad. Awesome ambiance though and very good food!

Then we picked up some refreshments and headed to Emma’s hotel room where we got a noise complaint (oops) and then headed to ~le mix~ (where else?). We showed up expecting the usual hopping international students night but were surprised when we were greeted with a rather empty looking mix with lots of older strange looking men dancing to techno music. But don’t worry, they soon after switched to American music and the club filled up. Can’t say the people that came were any less weird though (see selfie with my Moroccan friend)

Saturday morning I went on a quick jog and went to Snack and Chill to register for classes because the internet was down in my apartment. I got a bagel sandwich and it was actually quite good (and had avocado!)

Saturday afternoon I met up with Emma and Liz and we walked all around the 8th. Went to the top of gallery Lafayette and had lunch at la duree! For lunch we split a sampling of croque monsieurs, an omelette, and a club sandwich. We of course got macaroons for dessert in addition to this amazing framboise religeuse. I had seen religeuses in so many patisserie Windows and this one was to die for it had a rose cream and was quite delish. Then it started to sprinkle but Emma and I walked up the champs elysee passed all the Christmas markets being set up, went in to the Louis Vuitton store which was absurd, and took a selfie in front of the l'arc de triomphe! 

view from pont alexandre III

Le Coupe Chou: Friday night I had dinner with Emma Katherine, Katherine's friend from high school Lizzy, and Liv at this nice restaurant in the Latin quarter. It was cozy and traditional, but actually very spacious. My duck was alright, and the cheese was pretty good. Seemed like a good restaurant I just ordered the wrong thing. Wait staff was really night

After that we went to a few bars in the Latin quarter which was pretty happening at night with a ton of students I don't know why I hadn't gone sooner!

Student Bar: yes this place is literally called student bar. Fun environment but my caprihna had gummy fruit in it and tasted awful. There was also unknown gunk falling from the ceiling. Probably needed to be already drunk to properly enjoy this place.

L'antidote: since student bar kind of sucked we moved to this small bar and it was actually really great! They played good music and had good looking drinks with glow sticks in them. They also had a ton of different flavored vodkas. Couldn't really stomach any of that that night haha but would definitely go back.

Emma and I on a street in the Latin Quarter - christmas lights up already!

Friday night I slept over at Emma's in her big cozy hotel bed :)

Shakespeare & Co. : Saturday morning we slept in a bit and met up with katherine and Lizzy and the Shakespeare coffee shop. I really liked this place! Definitely British, not French. They speak English oops. But the coffee was good and I got a yummy granola bar thing. It was also pretty nice out so we could sit at the wooden tables outside.

Then Saturday morning the fam came!!!! I rushed over to hotel Raphael where I was greeted by my fantastic family in a luxurious hotel room straight out of Versailles with a bottle of champagne and home made cream puffs. Off to a fabulous start I would say.

Le Coq: the hotel recommended this cafe near the trocadero for lunch so of course mom hated it. Dad tried to speak French and the waiter promptly responded in perfect English "cinq." "So.. Five". However I thought the wait staff was nice, my pizza was quite good, and it was a beautiful day to sit outside.

After that we walked around the 16th a bunch near the flanagan's apartment. Then I left everyone to nap while I met my friends at the Eiffel Tower for a good old picnic with the twinkly lights. Doesn't get old.

Relais de l'entrecôte: to start the Kosnik vacation off right we had to have a massive steak for dinner. It was SO good. Waitress comes around and asks how we want our meet cooked. Dad responds with "wine list?" The steak was great, fries crispy, and genius how they save half of it to keep it warm to eat for later! They're also definitely running a business - move people through there quickly.

The rents went home after dinner al Michael Brian and I made our way to the odeon area to find a bar to get some drinks before ~le mix~. I showed them chez george and frog & princess but they were both packed so we left in favor of a fairly empty Irish pub. I think it was called o'neils. The waitress was very nice although I don't think the poor girl understood any of the drinks we asked for. Emma also stopped by and hung out for a while which was fun to see her before she left. After o'neils we Brian Michael and I hopped in a cab over to le mix. There was a short line but we didn't have to wait too long. Liv and Liz tried to sneak us under the rope cause the place was packed but the security guard got mad lol. As always the mix promised us a night of ratchet new friends, weird sippy cup drinks, fun dancing, and good music. Brian and I went down the slide, and Michael took his shirt off, so I think everyone had a good time haha :)

Michael's new friend

on top of the world... or at least the table

candid!

Pizza Pino: this is the only pizza place open late in Paris (until 5 am!) but we never go cause it's so out of the way on the champs elysee. But that was right near our hotel so it was the night! Michael Brian Liv Liz and I headed to the champs and chowed on some pizza around 430 before heading back to the hotel. We almost went to McDonald's as well but thankfully Michael and Brian dropped the idea.

Pitzman's: Sunday morning we all took the subway over to the Marais and walked around a bit before deciding to get some falafels. The lines at every falafel place were huge, l'as du falafel especially (I had never seen it that long) so we decided to go to Pitzman's. The "bible" said she actually preferred Pitzman's over L'As du Falafel and I do have to say it was really good. Though I still am loyal to L'As. Line took forever cause the guy was so slow (may have altered by opinion)

After falafel's Dad went to go do his train project thing and Mom, Michael, Brian and I walked over by Notre Dame, Le marché des fleurs, and stopped for a little coffee at Shakespeare & Co. where we ran in to Liv! We were pretty tired and very happy to sit down, so we ubered back to the hotel to chill before dinner.

Le marché des fleurs
not pictured: all the gross dog toys or whatever else they were selling next door

Sunday evening we had the most incredible picnic on the roof of the Raphael hotel. The sunset was beautiful and we had an amazing view of Paris! We had a lovely spread of cheese, baguette, crackers, nuts, and wine. My favorite "eiffel tower picnic" I've had :)

Bistro de Breteuil: Dad picked this restaurant near les Invalides for dinner on Sunday and remembered it as a great traditional very french restaurant. My oh my has it changed. The menus were on iPads and there were fireworks shooting out of the plates of oysters! Our waiter William was endearing and funny at first... until we realized he was a bit of a snobby jerk. Other than that the meal was very nice. Started out with some apératifs (a good kir royal), followed by an artichoke and smoked salmon entrée for me, then magret de canard, and a clouftis with fall fruits for dessert. My duck was alright. Mom told William I hated in while I was in the bathroom so he then proceeded to hate me. He probably spat in my clouftis (which I proceeded to order after he recommended the chocolate cake to me, whoops)

Monday morning I had class (ew), but afterwards I ran and met the fam at a bistro near the grand palais for lunch. Pretty sure it was called "Le Grand Palais". Good food and a very nice waiter.

Picasso Mania: I had been wanting to go to this exhibit for a while since my art professor had been raving about it and said how hard it was to get tickets. What I didn't realize was that it wasn't really of Picasso's work... but all the artists that have been inspired by him. Which was weird. Though I still enjoyed the exhibit. At least for the 30 minutes I got to spend in it before Dad, Michael, and Brian practically dragged Mom and I out of it.

me mom and picasso!

mésdamoiselles d'alabama

Had a nice walk home from the grand palais to the hotel where we again at wine and cheese before meeting the host family for ~apéros~! Meeting the host family was a grand old time. I think everyone really hit it off. Michael and Brian even got Pierre to pull out his hunting gun (yikes). It was really great to have both families in the same place and I'm glad everyone liked each other so much :)

La Ferme Saint-Simon: My host family recommended this restaurant for a nice occasion, so we decided to go to celebrate Dad's birthday and I'm SO glad we did. I would say it was my best meal in Paris so far. At the very least the most gourmet. We did the tasting menu (despite Michael's pickiness, thanks for sticking that one out bro) and they kept bringing course after delicious course. We got to try a bunch of crazy things I don't even know what they all were but they were good. Started with an oyster in some sort of cream sauce, then there was an artichoke and egg dish, and monkfish at one point, and lamb, and some type of soup, and so many things in between! The chef even came out to wish Dad a happy birthday. I'm so happy that I got to celebrate with you thanks for waiting for me! :)

my lighting wasn't that great so i made Brian photograph the rest of the meal (though I'm not sure he did)

Happy Birthday Dad!

the cutest little madeleines you ever did see

me and mom in front of my door!

Tuesday morning I had class again (ugh) and felt like I was going to pass out half way through so I went home and napped (lol). Then I met everyone for lunch at Aux Ducs de Borgogne where we got yummy crepes before walking to my school. I took them through the Luxembourg gardens and by Saint-Sulpice. It was a beautiful day so it was a nice walk. I was late to class and had to ditch but they got to see my school's area a little bit.

Le Coq Rico: Tuesday night we headed to Montmartre for dinner. I had been dying to go to Coq Rico and Michael and Brian were begging for chicken so it was perfect! And it was SO good. Basically you choose what type of chicken you want, which comes with a salad, and your choice of side (mac and cheese, french fries, mashed potatoes). They bring out the steaming chicken to show you before cutting it up for you in the kitchen (disclaimer: not for vegetarians). It literally made my mouth water. We also got a delicious chicken cream soup. Afterwards we grabbed gelato from Amorino and walked to Sacre Coeur to see the view of the city at night!

Wednesday was the long awaited Epérnay day! Dad took charge and led us to gare de l'est early Wednesday morning. Though we almost missed our train, we didn't, and were on our way. After a little nap on the ride over and a little Starbucks action I was much more energized.

Moet & Chandon: We started the day of right with our own private tour of the Moet et Chandon cellars! The cellars were incredible. It was cool getting to compare them to the Vouvray I saw back in September, which were nowhere near as big. Our tour guide was also really cool, very put together and pretty haha #life goals. I also learned a lot about champagne, and geez it takes a lot of time and effort no wonder it's so expensive. There are three types of grapes used in Moet & Chandon: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are red grapes! I might be dumb but I didn't know red grapes were used in champagne. Dom Perignon only uses Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in their champagnes. They have to be careful not to crush them too hard so that they don't get any of the skin in the juice and it stays white. Moet & Chandon also has two types of champagnes: an impérial and a vintage. The impérial is made every year and it's always made to the same quality, to maintain the moet & chandon taste and quality that they have had for hundreds of years. The vintages are only made in years when the creators think the harvest was especially good, so they're really special. Dom Perignon is ONLY vintage, so it's only made in years when the harvest is deemed good enough. Again, no wonder it's so expensive. I don't think my Andre is made with that much care. We finished up the tour with a tasting of the moet imperial and the moet imperial rosé. They were both delicious obviously. If I had to choose though I think I would pick the regular champagne.

where the vintages are kept ~exclusive~

plaque that talks about how napoleon visited the cellars!

Yes that number does mean there are 10,720 bottles in this alcove
the name on top is also the code name for the type of champagne before they give it a market name which is pretty cool and secretive

After the tour is when our dream trip hit a little road bump. Since it was a holiday in France basically everything was closed. Including the place that rents bikes :( after wandering around a little trying to find another option we decided to walk to lunch. However, when we arrived at the address there was no restaurant to be seen. We double and triple checked the address and we were at the right number on the right street. And then we realized that the restaurant was in "Ay" not "Epérnay".... Seriously what are the odds that two towns next to each other had streets with the exact same name? Apparently pretty high since we found out later that there are actually THREE towns in the area, all with the same street in them.

christmas decorations going up in epernay too!

So we walked the 20 minutes back to the town center, and Brian chased down the only cab in all of Epernay. It literally must have been the only cab in Eepernay because he wouldn't take all 5 of us in the 4 person car. Said his colleague would come pick my Mom and I up. And instead another 20 minutes later he returned after dropping off the boys to pick us up. Smh.

Vieux Puis: Gotta say, Dad picked a very nice place for lunch. It was in a quiet part of town, there were only two tables in the restaurant. Us and a table of four women who curiously resembled "le petit cercle". They gave us a yummy sweet potato soup taster to start and then I got a fish as my main course. I forget the type of fish but it was good. The apple tart I had for dessert was better though lol. And of course the meal was accompanied by champagne. 

We walked around Epernay for a bit after lunch but it was pretty dead so we headed back to the train station not much later to hang around for a bit before heading back to Paris. There was a beautiful sunset on our train ride home. That night mom and I just chilled in the hotel room. I got to use the gym in the hotel which was much more exciting than it should have been. And the boys had a little boys night of their own off at some café.

And so finished the end of the Kosnik vacation à Paris. Sad to see it go, but couldn't be too sad because we had Sevilla to look forward to!