Keep Calm and Travel On!: Bonjour Ya’ll!

As the end of the term came to an end, the busier and busier I became. And not only because of all the assignments and end of tern celebrations, but also things back in the states such as housing and internships. However, I’m glad to say that as I embark on my European adventure, none of these will be a worry. I’m living with two great girls next year in an apartment on West Louther Street and I officially accepted an internship to work at the Public Theatre for the summer which includes Shakespeare in the Park! Honestly, it makes me a little more excited to come back to the states!

Anyway, before I leave for Gibraltar, I’m going to catch you up on my latest trips. A good friend of mine from High School is studying in Lille, France for the semester and I really wanted to make it down there for a visit. On a Friday, I “trained” from Norwich to London King’s Cross to catch the Eurostar to take me directly to Lille. It was really odd taking the train under the English Channel and I couldn’t believe that suddenly, I was in France.

When I arrived in Lille we went exploring and Hannah showed me around! It was a beautiful city and it’s always interesting to compare different school’s abroad programs.

On Saturday we woke up early and headed to Paris! I had never been to Paris so I was quite excited. Our first stop was the Arc du Triumph and then we walked to the “Tour Effiel”. The first thing I noticed when I was in France was the fact that I knew more French than I thought I did. In high school, my French was not very good and I was always frustrated by it. However, when I got to actually speak French, it came much easier to me and I almost enjoyed it. But I digress. We then had some crepes at the “Tour Effiel” and then walked to the Metro to head over to the shopping district. I’d always heard that the shopping was great but I couldn’t believe my eyes! Of course, I made my way quickly to the Longchamp store and found that all of the bags were SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than in the states. Needless to say, I bought a new backpack to use while travelling in Europe.

As we were heading to the Louvre, I stumbled upon an outdoor exhibit of Louise Bourgeois’ “The Welcoming Hands”. Louise Bourgeois is one of my favorite artists and I’ve seen several of her pieces of work. I had heard of this exhibit but somewhat forgot about it since I never thought I would be casually walking around Paris in the near future. We then got to the Louvre to get a “classic tourist” picture with the Mona Lisa and yes, it is as small as everyone says and pictures are very awkward to take.

Then, we headed across the Seine to the Museé d’Orsay. I was much more excited to see this museum compared to the Louvre as it houses so many of the pieces of art that I’ve studied in Art History. I especially enjoyed seeing the George Serat pieces and Van Gogh’s “BEDROOM?”. I was also amazing at how beautiful the actual museum was.

Towards the end of the day, we visited the Notre Dame and went to the top of the Montparnese Tower! We had a great dinner and headed back to Lille for the night!