Paris in Pictures

The remainder of my time in Paris went by too quickly, but it was still a blast. Here are some highlights:

 Spending an entire day at the Louvre definitely wasn't enough, I'm going to have to make a trip back soon.

 

The Rodin Museum was also quite incredible

My new favorite painting, by Van Gogh

Visited the Catacombs deep under Paris- so cool!

 And, a necessity during the cold winter months, a delicious cup of hot cocoa made by pouring steaming hot milk into a cup filled with melted chocolate. 

Christmas in Paris

(I realize it's way past Christmas, but I'm just trying to catch up!)
On Christmas day, while most families were hiding away in their homes staying warm, my mom, my brother and I decided to take a walk out into the Jewish Quarter of Paris, le Marais. It was probably the liveliest street for miles, complete with musicians and huge groups of people eating and wandering about.

 

And, of course, the best part of Christmas came after dinner when my family and I celebrated the holiday in a traditional french way: avec une bûche de Noël!

The Holidays Continue

For Christmas this year I absolutely refused to return home. It's not often you get the chance to live abroad for the year, and there was no way I'd ruin the experience by spending my break speaking English and buying not-as-good croissants. Lucky for me my family didn't seem to mind the idea of coming to France for the holidays. Even luckier for me, my mom thought Paris for Christmas wasn't such a shabby idea- I completely agreed.

Okay so I am absolutely in love with Paris,
Maybe it's just because I was a tourist with not a care in the world, or maybe it was the Christmas spirit- either way I picked out about a thousand perfect apartments I plan on living in someday.

The North Pole of France

*Way* back when the Christmas spirit was in full swing I discovered a city more magical than Saint Nick himself: Strasbourg. Noel capital of the world.
I, along with six other girls, ventured out to the city by train one weekend to experience Europe's largest Christmas markets- and boy was it incredible.

We actually decided to live life on the edge and couchsurf our way through the trip, which made me a little nervous at first, but it ended up being a really great way to meet people (and practice a little french). In fact, one of the girls hosting us happened to be a lovely American working through the Teach English Abroad program. Not only did she show us around Strasbourg, but she also helped us navigate the train ride into Offenberg, Germany!

The following are a large amount of photos of my trip to Strasbourg and the mini surprise adventure into Germany:

Largest live Christmas tree in Europe

A lesson on gaining weight

It's probably about time I make a post dedicated to french desserts, especially considering how often I indulge myself (let's just say I put the cookie monster to shame). I am a firm believer that dessert is necessary at least once a day- I mean if I don't reward myself for eating veggies, who else will?
The greatest (in my humble opinion) patisserie in Bordeaux would be San Nicolas, which happens to be situated right near my walk to and from the tram. Probably not the best coincidence.
The lady I usually see there is wonderfully nice and never fails to honestly tell me which dessert she would pick that day and why (which is usually the dessert I end up getting).

  



The 48 is another patisserie/boulangerie/sandwich shop which happens to actually be right across the street from my house. It's a chain store and the prices aren't bad- but the flavor is nothing compared to that of San Nicolas. And besides, the women who work the counter always seem like they're counting down until the end of their shift. But as far as pastries go, if I'm really dying for a sweet thing The 48 works fine.

Now a major surprise comes in the form of a well known American fast food joint: McDonald's. Here they're actually pretty popular- and pretty decked out. I'm talking two to three stories with comfy chairs, nice decoration and free internet galore. And though I have yet to try any of the actual food, I did once go to the counter dedicated to desserts (oh France). I got a slice of flan, and I must say, it was really quite good. Please note, that is a real plate, not paper or foam or anything weird.

Finally, I think it's very important to talk about a little place called Fauchon. Why, you may wonder, is it so important to bring up Fauchon? Would it happen to be because their kitchen is located three houses down from yours and that every day you walk by the wonderful smells of baking goodies and get to peek inside and watch high class chefs moving about? Yes. Yes indeed.
After a few months of smelling the smells and wondering what expensive cake tastes like, I finally took the plunge and bought myself one of their beautiful treats. Cost me almost seven euros, but sometimes in life it's necessary.

It was really good- I'm not saying it wasn't... but it definitely wasn't the greatest thing I've ever tasted. I think that was what I was expecting, so my artwork cake was actually kind of a disappointment.

At least I will always have San Nicolas