They don’t have geese in France but there are some swans. 
July 20, 2009
Amsterdam
Last weekend, I took a break from Paris and visited Amsterdam, Holland.
The train ride was four hours, but I slept most of the way, leaving Paris at 6:25 a.m.
I have to admit, Amsterdam was nothing that I really expected it to be. It was gorgeous. One of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. The hostel was less than perfect, but I didn’t spend much time their anyway. 
I took a walking tour of the city, which lasted about three hours. Amsterdam is relatively small for a major city. It was comfortable. Amsterdam didn’t stress me out like Paris did. I didn’t think everyone was trying to pickpocket me. I didn’t worry about getting lost. People were friendly. That night, my roommate and I did a Red Light District Pub Crawl. It was a blast! I met a lot of cool people. 
One of the things I find most interesting about Amsterdam, is the insane amount of culture in the city. Amsterdam is actually one of the oldest cities in the world and has experienced a lot of change. My tour guide said that’s why Amsterdam is so tolerant on “alternative” lifestyles — the people of Amsterdam have always had to work together as citizens of Amsterdam, not as Catholics or Protestants or straights and gays. It is also home of a few museums, the most note-worthy being the Marijuana and Hemp Museum, the Van Gogh Museum and, of course, the Anne Frank House. 
It has been a dream of mine to visit Anne Frank’s secret hiding place for years. I can’t believe I got to go. I was awestruck. I saw everything. The front offices, the store rooms, the bookcase, the bedrooms, bathroom and Anne Frank’s original diary (on loan from the Netherlands Historical Society). You really aren’t supposed to take pictures in the house. . . but I had to. 
It was so mind-blowing to see all the places I had read so much about. Anne’s movie star collection was still glued to the walls in her room. Surreal is the only way to describe it, to see something so real that you once could only pretend was real. It was unforgettable. 
Those were pretty much the highlights of Amsterdam (although the food was also great). I realize I’m pretty far behind on the blogs, but I will be catching up on everything I haven’t included sometime this week!
July 8, 2009
Update.
Blogging is very hard here! I mean, I guess it really isn’t, I have just been SO tired. We really are trying to accomplish everything. I have been in Paris for. . . 5 (almost 6) days and I feel like I already HAVE seen everything. Not even close. But we went to the Musee D’Orsay and it was cool. Not really my kind of art but very interesting, none the less.
Carrie, Adrienne and I outside the Musee D'Orsay
On the bright side, I got to see Degas’ ballerinas, which made me think of my sisters!
We’ve also been to a few churches! I already mentioned Notre Dame, but we also went to Saint-Chapelle, a smaller church. The church was smaller but the detail was absurd. The whole upstairs had stained glass windows that told the story of the Bible. It was very beautiful. The only thing I could think about was the fact that somebody made that. Somebody stained all that glass. Somebody carved all those beams and statues. By hand. How?
Hi Lindsey!
I got to see Jim Morrison’s grave yesterday! It was so cool. The cemetery he is buried in, Pere LaChaise, is SO cool. I took so many pictures. I couldn’t believe how crowded it was (as in graves, not visitors). We wanted to see a few other famous Frenchies, like Oscar Wilde, but it started raining so we split. AND GOT ICE CREAM. The only truly great french food is dessert.
Incredible ice cream! If you're going to get rained out, at least make it worth it.
Don’t get too excited — the main staple of of diet is une baguette avec jambon et fromage, aka a ham sandwich. Cheap and easy, but more importantly, cheap.
Today we went to Versailles, an intense Castle owned by Louis XIV and his family before the French Revolution. Pretty much everything in France is beautiful but Versailles took the cake. Seriously. Like, golden gate in the front. Endless rooms and an even more endless garden. We spent almost 7 hours there and didn’t get to see everything. My favorite part was the garden, even though it rained. The flowers reminded me a lot of my parents — I miss home every much! I found a really cute mini flower pot-thing that I thought would be great for Mom’s office (even though she kills everything in her office, hahaha), but Judith assured me seeds would not make it through customs. 
I really want to find nice things for my family. I would hate to come all the way to Paris and bring them back some shitty keychain. Either way, I have some time and plan to do some (semi) serious shopping before I go back home!
Versailles
Chapel in Versailles
The garden outside Marie Antionette's house
More of the garden. My favorite place.
[/caption]
I think I’ve written enough for now. Homework time!
July 4, 2009
My First Full Day.
My French lunch!
I didn’t wake up until around noon today, but we went to the flea market! It was really fun. It market was in northern Paris so we took the Metro. It was really easy and we got to see a lot of the city. I bought a few things for some of my friends — not much but I’d say I made significant dent. Things are expensive here. I think I am going to start going to Shoppi, an inexpensive supermarket down the street, because eating in cafes is outrageous. I am trying to take pictures of all the new things I try. I had crepes last night, but mostly I have been eating baguettes with ham, and sometimes lettuce and tomato. I would like cheese but french cheeses scare me a little, and “swiss” cheese to them is not the same thing in America. It is complicated, but that language barrier isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I know more French than I realized and although I may not always be able to understand, i can ask questions and usually get a response in short english or a point.
The city really is as beautiful as everyone says it is. Like, any idea that has ever been put into your head abot Paris . . . it’s true. Except that the French hate Americans and are mean. I have come across many people and interacted with a good number of them. They are very helpful.
Right now, the weirdest thing for me is the idea that I have a whole month here. I don’t have to rush to get everything done and see it, because I have time. It’s nice, even though I am slightly concerned about money. However, I have been taking like 100 pictures a day, so by the end I’ll have beat mom by quite a bit. hahaa
<3
July 3, 2009
Finally.
I made it, FINALLY. I’ve been trying to upload a picture I took today, but it hasn’t been working. I’m going to try again after I finish writing this post. I got to the dorm around 2 p.m., which is something like 5 a.m. in Ohio. There was nothing planned until the evening today and although everyone was going out, I stayed in and slept for a few hours because I knew I would be very unpleasant if I didn’t. After that, Megan and I went out looking for a grocery, a used book store and a patisserie (kind of like a deli?) I bought a baguette sandwich for like 2.5 Euro, which I thought was pretty good — in price and taste.
We took a boat tour of the city on what I believe was the Seine River (possibly Canal. . . or something like that). Paris is a beautiful city, but I’m not really sure if I like it that much. My french is rusty and I am homesick after the awful traveling it took to get here.
Hillary — E-mail me some pictures! Text them to my e-mail address.
Anyway, tomorrow is Saturday so we have the whole day off again. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. . . I really just want to take more pictures and maybe do some shopping.
Also, I found out great news today — I can buy wine from the duty free store to take back to my parents! Great news, much less expensive than shipping.
bon soir.
July 2, 2009
Hi Mom.
This is a billboard for The Little Mermaid on Broadway. I hate TLM, but I know Mom does not.
July 1, 2009
Of Course.
Well, I haven’t made it to Paris just yet. Screw Continental.
I have to spend two days in NEWARK, NEW JERSEY because Continental Airlines overbooked their flights. Hopefully I will get to visit Jane tomorrow. That would help . . . a lot.
Some birthday — New Jersey all day and a plane ride all night. This would happen to me.
June 26, 2009
Gabbi Wants to Come to Paris too.
I haven’t packed anything yet. I don’t have anything together. As in, I do not even have a rail pass yet. It hasn’t sunk in that I’m leaving yet. Like, I don’t believe that I’m about to be in Paris for a month. A month in Europe. What could be better? Three days. I hope I’m ready.
June 21, 2009
Just for the sake of having a photo.
I know this isn’t exactly a photo of France, but I wanted to practice linking my blog and flickr. This isn’t the best picture, but I lost everything on my pc and my new camera doesn’t have a memory card yet.
June 21, 2009
“America is my country and Paris is my hometown.”
–Gertrude Stein
I had a very hard time naming this blog. It still isn’t exactly what I want.
I’m still debating using “Even Dogs Smoke in France.” — Ozzy Osborne.
Only a week and a half left. . .
