Tell 'em, Webster.

sad: adj.; affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness; causing or associated with grief or unhappiness; of a dull, somber color.

Guys. I am SAD. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to get back home and spend time with my friends and family and get back into a routine, BUT I just love this city, y'all. It's so great. I love everything about it. Tonight, Audrey and I climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (I can check that off my mini list!) and watched the sunset, only to find ourselves tearing up while we thought about leaving Paris. It just feels like I literally flew into Charles de Gaulle yesterday. Really.

On a happier note, we're going to FAJITAS tomorrow night! YESS. I am so pumped. Clearly. For the past three Friday nights we have been eating at Fajitas so we had to go again before we left, even if it was on a Thursday night this time. AHH I can't believe this trip is almost OVER!! Woah. So bizarre. OK. Have to write a paper. Can't procrastinate any longer!

*definition taken from merriamwebster.com

They don't have this here.

Wish they did. SO BAD. I could really use a can of this "unique sparkling soft drink" right about now.

Can't believe this.

I can't believe I only have a week left in the city! It makes me so sad, but at the same time I am so excited to see my family and friends (and the people at Sola Nail Salon). I'm making a list of things I HAVE to do this week. We've done so much here but at the same time I feel like I will never be able to see all of Paris and it's wonderfulness. Hmm, wonderfulness is an actual word. Interesting. So, because I just LOVE lists, I'm going to make a bucket list if you will for my last week in Paris.

1. Get some ice cream at Berthillon. (Like how my number one thing is food related?) It's a wonderful ice cream in Ille Saint-Louis near Notre Dame, I can't wait to try it. I also want to walk around Ille de Cite and Ille Saint-Louis and go inside the shops. I love that area of the city but I haven't been able to explore it too much.

2. Get one last steak frites meal at Le Relais de l'Entrecote. (Once again, food related. haha.) This place is SO good and we are all so excited about going there for our last meal this week!

3. See the Champs Elysees from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I have never been to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and have always wanted to go. I hope the weather will be nice for this, I heard it's a beautiful sight.

4. Go on a boat cruise on the Seine. One of my friends did this last week and she said it was absolutely spectacular. I can't wait to take pictures!

There's my condensed version. I also want to do the classic things we've done all month such as eating dinner at Fajitas, getting crepes at Henri's, hanging out at the Pont des Arts, grabbing macarons at Laduree and going for a few more runs in the Luxembourg Gardens. It is going to be tough to leave.

I would give a lot for these luxuries right now.

How glorious does that look to you? A private bathroom with CLEAN appliances.

Fried. Okra. Oh my goodness. I never thought I would crave, out of all things food-related, fried okra. But I am. I can't even look at that picture anymore.

Mashed. Potatoes. Not just any mashed potatoes though. ONLY my mom's or my Granny Pearl's.

BUT.

Guess what? I know a lot of people would kill for this luxury:

Watching the sunset from the Pont des Arts in Paris.

Needless to say, I miss everyone in good ole Alabama but I DO love Paris. And the food! Well, most of it. :)

Just procrastinating. Like it's my JOB.

So, I have my final tomorrow morning. As in, 10 hours from now. The worst thing? Ok, there's two bad things:

a) I don't know French. Not very well at least.

b) The test is STANDARDIZED. Yes, that's right. I have the same test as people who have taken four or more years of French.

c) I HAVEN'T STUDIED.

But you know what the good things are?

a) I AM IN FRANCE.

b) I am a REGULAR on the Metro. And a regular at McDonald's when dinner at the residence includes the infamous mystery meat.

c) I have fallen in love. With the city, of course. I love being able to go for a run in Luxembourg Gardens, go to museums anytime I want, see so much history all around me, AND eat as much Nutella as my heart desires.

I'm going to miss it TOO MUCH. In other news...my great friend/future roommate PAIGE is coming to Paris this weekend!! I am so excited. I'm going to take her to Notre Dame, dinner at the best Mexican place in the WORLD, take her to Montmartre so she can see a great view of Paris, then we're ending the night with a "party bus" for our friend Daniel's 21st birthday. I'm so excited, I can't wait to be a Paris tour guide!

Ok, this is getting serious. I need to study. Now.

Before I go, here is the most random assortment of pictures. I don't even know why I chose them. Hope you enjoy!

Jamie. My other twin.

Happy Birthday, Scott!!

I love these people.

Bastille Day!

At the market.

Macarons from Laduret. DELICIOUS.

I'M ENGAGED! Totally kidding. This is our new friend Mark. I'm wearing his signet ring (I'm dead serious) so people will think I'm someone famous. That's legit.

OK SERIOUSLY leaving now. Bon soir.

Oh, and here's some more pictures..

Why am I such a terrible blogger?

I thought this blogging thing would be simple. I just had NO IDEA I would be busy every hour of the day in this wonderful city. We have been doing so many fun things, and since I LOVE lists I'll make one now that sums up the past week and a half of our program.

1. Musee D'Orsay: BEAUTIFUL. Wonderful. Such a great museum. We went to the D'Orsay our first day in Paris and I loved looking at the works by Monet and Degas and Van Gogh, it all seemed so surreal! We also went to the Pompidou and Le Musee D'Art Modern, which are two modern art museums, and to Musee Rodin which is a museum of sculptures. I really like going to these museums. They are relaxing yet you feel so cultured after you visit each one! :)

2. FIFA. Fan. Fest. The World Cup was coming to a close when we came to Paris, but we were able to watch a few matches on a big screen at the Eiffel Tower! We set up a picnic and had fun and just hung out. It was great.

3. New friends. I am LOVING the people that I have met on this trip. Each one of us is so different yet we all mesh very well. I miss my friends and family, but these friends have been so great and I can't wait to continue my friendships with them in Auburn!

4. Bread. Bread. And more Bread. I don't think the French know what a low carb diet even is. I have never eaten so much bread in my life. But hey, I'm not complaining! My favorite pastries so far have been Chausson aux Pommes (an apple croissant) and Pain du Chocolat (chocolate filled pastry). YUM.

5. Class. IS. Hard. I didn't think my French class would be THAT hard, woah, I was wrong. I can hardly speak French, but my teacher speaks ONLY French. It's a learning experience for sure. But through this I have decided that this immersion into French is great for me AND that I'm going to get a French minor!

6. My last point doesn't really have to do with anything about the past week and a half, it is just a thought of mine: I CANNOT believe I am in Paris. I am a student here, living life, going to class, learning how to conquer the Metro, and just loving every minute of it.

Miss you all, sorry I'm such a terrible blogger. Happy Bastille Day!

It's a day late, BUT..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYES!!!!! Everyone, meet Hayes. Hayes is my dear friend that I just happen to babysit. She is hilarious, watches Disney Channel movies with me, AND likes chocolate as much as I do. She rocks, and yesterday was her birthday. Hope you all don't mind this little post to my friend. Here is goes.

Dearest Hayes,

I am so sorry I couldn't post this yesterday, there's hardly any internet here and it's been hard to blog! Anyway, how was your birthday? I hope it was AWESOME. Did you swim? Have a birthday party? So sad I couldn't be there for it. Well, I think you are great and I just wanted to wish you a very happy 10th birthday! Double digits WOOOHHOO! I will see you soon, I miss you!

Love,

Elizabeth.

for you, Mother.

Just a few snapshots from our first day and a half in Paris. I have taken wayyy too many pictures already, causing me to be very behind on my posts. Happy Wednesday!

NOLA.

Before I start on how great Paris is and all of our exciting adventures, my dear friend Camilla told me I needed to explain just how long my trip to Paris really was. My plane was scheduled to leave from Atlanta to Paris at 6 pm on Friday, so the plan was to get up at about 8 am and drive to Atlanta with a few hours to spare so I could relax before my flight left. HOWEVER we had a little issue that we found out about at 7 pm on THURSDAY NIGHT that could have caused some major traveling issues. My passport was close to expiration, BUT my professors said it would be completely fine if I didn't get it renewed because it would be nowhere near expiration when we returned to the US. Well, it wasn't completely fine. Apparently there's a rule about going to Europe which states that your passport can't expire less than six months from your departure date. I was in a panic. Mine expire(d) in a few months and our only option was...NOLA. That's right. My mom, John and I headed out at 1 am on Friday morning and took my car to New Orleans. My mom and John had figured everything out so it wasn't too difficult to get the passport renewed and it only took two hours. I got on a connecting flight from New Orleans to Atlanta AND was early to my plane from ATL to CDG! It was a whirlwind and I am STILL exhausted, but I am so glad I made it here safely!

In other news...

We went to FIVE museums yesterday. FIVE. How is that even possible? I will share more on our day later, I have to go take my placement test for my French class here (yikes). Before I go, I'll share a piece of artwork we saw yesterday, which was fi

tting because it was Independence Day. More pictures and stories to come. Happy (belated) 4th of July. I love you, America!

*this work is titled "John's Flag for Dea" by Sturtevant. We saw this at the Musee d'art Modern de la Ville de Paris. The background is newspaper with a painted American flag slightly covering the text of the paper. So neat.

We're Here!

Bonjour! [My goodness how cheesy can I get?] We made it to Paris after a LONG trip. I'm praising the Lord Audrey and I arrived safely. Today, as we fought some serious jet lag, Audrey and I walked through our neighborhood in Paris and became acquainted with our surroundings. We went to the Eiffel Tower tonight, and enjoyed a chocolate crepe and a cafe au lait [YUM] by the Seine. Paris is wonderful, and the best part is that it doesn't even get dark until 10:00 [WOOHOOO]. But, I'm losing the battle of me vs. jetlag. So, goodnight. Stay tuned, I PROMISE there will be an exciting blog post at some point, never lose hope.

One Week.

OK. Here's the deal. I am going to Paris in ONE WEEK. I am studying abroad and going with my best friend from my hometown. We have planned this since we were in 7th grade and it's actually happening! This is so weird to me, in a wonderful way of course. I am super excited about going to Paris AND this blog. I hope you enjoy the pictures, ramblings, and my account of everyday life in Paris.

p.s. I know I should probably be reading travel books and planning like no one's business, but instead I'm watching Disney Channel Original Movies [which have nothing on the great DCOM's like Brink!, Halloweentown and Smart House] and taking hilarious pictures using Photo Booth with the kids I babysit [HEY Hayes and Bo!!]. I'm also desperately searching for inexpensive tickets to see Ray Lamontagne in Atlanta. Wish me luck.