Gina and I have been friends since we were about 3 or 4 years old. We were in every class together throughout elementary school, where our teachers would always get us mixed up. We went to the same middle school and high school and have stayed close in college. I can barely remember a time when we weren't friends. Now, 16 or 17 years later, we were lucky enough to be together in Paris.

I'm going to Florence to visit her in a few weeks for spring break, and then we may or may not be hopping on a plane to Greece. Do I even need to say how excited I am?

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(picture via Gina and Brooke's blog)

Le Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Just a few pictures from a walk in the park last week...

Parisians certainly love their parks. They are the place to be on a spring day.

 Yesterday was the perfect day to go visit Versailles - the weather couldn't have been better.

The palace is cool and everything, but I think the best part are the gardens.

You can rent a row boat and float around on the Grand Canal,

(We definitely didn't make fools of ourselves)

You can feed the swans (or not because they're actually huge and I got the feeling that they wanted to harm me)

You can see royal garden cats

 And you can frolic in Marie Antoinette's estate

Your feet will be killing you afterwards, but it's worth it.

Deyrolle is a really cool taxidermy/natural curiosity shop. You're not allowed to take pictures inside, so  I sneakily snapped some on my phone.

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Père-Lachaise

What is a girl like me to do on a gloomy Sunday afternoon? Why, hang out in a cemetery, of course! I didn't look for any of the famous graves, but rather wandered aimlessly, as I am wont to do. At one point a guy who worked there stopped his car as he was passing and asked me what I was looking for. "Nothing, in fact," I replied, and he gave me an odd and slightly amused look and continued on his way. Is it not normal to wander around a cemetery for no reason at all?

I love how each mausoleum door is unique

 I don't know if you can see him in this picture but I made the acquaintance of a graveyard cat. He ran away before we could really get to know each other.

There's that Eiffel Tower again

On the way home I found myself in the middle of a rally for a candidate in the presidential election. Makes me wish I knew more about French politics.

Spring has sprung

....well, almost. Last week we had two days of incredible weather (70s and sunny) followed immediately by a rainy weekend. However, this little teaser gave me a taste for SPRING! I had lunch on the grass in the Luxembourg Gardens, I had a nighttime picnic on the banks of the Seine, and most importantly, I never needed to wear a jacket. After weeks of bundling, it was so nice to change up my daily uniform, even if it was just for two days.
Anywho, since spring is in the air, I've started noticing that everything is beginning to bloom.

 

P.S. Stay tuned for some pictures (which I may or may not have to steal from Gina and Brooke's blog) of my friend Gina's visit to Paris!

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"There are only two places in the world where one can live happily - at home and in Paris"

-Ernest Hemingway

Les Puces

My roommate Katie and I went to what is apparently the biggest flea market in Paris - Les Puces de Saint-Ouen. At first we were a little concerned when we arrived to find vendors selling knock-off Louis Vuitton, sweatshirts, and Eiffel Tower snowglobes, but a little searching brought us to a treasure-trove of beautiful antiques and vintage knick-knacks, baubles, and curiosities.

Beetle brooches, of course!

à bientôt!!