Day 18, July 2
We didn’t have to meet until 2:00 today so I got to sleep until 12. It felt SO GOOD to sleep in. We had planned to go the Pompidou Museum, but it is free on Sundays so we are going to go tomorrow. Since 4 of the girls are interning at Elie Saab, it was just Dr. Ellis, Whitney, Katie, and I venturing out in the city. We went and saw Napoleon’s tomb. It’s crazy to think that someone put that much planning into their final resting place. It is a HUGE complex and it is really pretty. Katie wanted to see the Moulin Rouge so we went there next. Dr. Ellis told us about a Mexican restaurant so we decided to try that for dinner. Britton, Katie, Whitney, Mary Ashlyn, and I left the apartment at 8:45 to go get dinner and didn’t arrive at the restaurant until after 10. We took a bus in the complete opposite direction and then decided to walk only to end up in a taxi. It was quite an adventure, but we laughed about it and learned not to take the 83 bus next time. Our group always promises an adventure and there is certainly never a dull moment around this crowd. All I can think about is the Brad Paisley song “Find Yourself” and how it seems to be a reoccurring theme on this trip.
“Sometimes when you lose your way, it’s really just as well ‘cause that’s when you find yourself.”
Day 19, July 3
Dr. Ellis, Whitney, Katie, and I went to church at Notre Dame this morning. I didn’t get a whole lot out of the ceremony since I’m not Catholic and I don’t know French, but I really enjoyed it and glad I got to experience it. I think it’s so cool to be able to say that I have been to services at Notre Dame (you might not think it’s cool, but my opinion is the only important one haha). After church we had lunch and then went to the Pompidou Museum. What. A. Drag. I’m SO OVER art museums. If and when I ever make it home, I will not be going to an art museum any time soon (unless I get an invite the MET Gala in NYC). Whitney, Katie, and I ate dinner at nice restaurant. The food was wonderful and they spoke English so it was a win-win for us. When we got home, Katie plugged her convertor in and all the power went out. It was kind of scary there for a sec, but we got it to come back on. Once again, there is never a dull moment around here.
Day 20, July 4
We got to sleep in this morning which was so nice! We went the Alexis Mabille couture show today. We were supposed to be hostesses, but we were mainly just in the way everywhere. I saw a man come in with approximately 10 pairs of Louboutins for the models. I almost fainted, but quickly gathered myself so I wouldn’t cause a scene. We worked his menswear show and it was much more organized. The couture show was in a much smaller space and there was barely enough room for all the important people so needless to say I didn’t see any of the show. I was kind of mad that I didn’t see one gown, but Dr. Ellis videoed so we get to watch it later. Today we saw our first “celebrity” (I use celebrity loosely). Miss Jay from America’s Next Top Model was at the show.
Day 21, July 5
Today we went to 2 fashion shows. We were dressers at the first show which was Alexandre Vauthier and semi-pretended to watch the second one. I loved the clothes at Alexandre Vauthier and the fact that all the models were wearing Louboutins. I was literally surrounded by Louboutins. I was dyingggggg. Right before the show started, I witnessed the most awful act. The bottoms of the Louboutins were too slick for the models to walk in so some Vautheir employees came around and slashed the bottoms of all the shoes. My heart broke into 39485304528402347910234 pieces. The second show was down by the river and was supposed to start at 8, but god forbid anything in the fashion world start on time. The show didn’t start till 8:30 and by that time I was tired and over it. We were standing up in the back and since I’m not 8 feet tall, I saw nothing. Random side note—I ate 4 crepes today and I do not feel bad about it. I know you’re judging, but keep it to yourself.
Day 22, July 6
Today was one fiasco after another. The only good part was that we got 2 hours of down time which include a movie with my roommates and a short nap.
Day 23, July 7
Today’s agenda included Giverny and Versailles. We went to Giverny first and it was about an hour and a half away so I got to sleep on the bus PTL (praise the Lord). Once we got there, the first thing I noticed was all the nature that I was surrounded by. The first thing we saw was a bust of Monet and to get to this lovely piece of art we had to walk on a dirt path through trees and other green plants all along a small body of water. The three things I hate the most—dirt, trees/plants, and water—all at one time. I was over this outing before we had even been there 5 minutes. We walked around the lily ponds and saw Monet’s house. It was an OK place to visit, I probably wouldn’t go back but it was nice (minus all the nature). Our next stop was my other residence, Versailles, and apparently it was Everybody go to Versailles Day because there were 9453458304958304 people there. I was so excited to tour this place because it is all the things I love—extravagance, royalty, and fanciness. We toured the palace and the gardens. Louis number whatever had enough money to build such a place, but not enough to hire someone to pave the property. The walkways were all rocks, dirt, and/or cobblestone (gross!). After we toured the gardens, we stopped at a little restaurant for a drink and a snack. While we were sitting Peter (head person in charge at my school) asked who was up for walking to Hamlet (Marie Antoinette’s house where she would go to get away from the palace) which was a 40 minute walk away. You all know me so you know I was quiet and didn’t immediately volunteer to participate, but the rest of the group wanted to so we decided to go. I joked that we could go see Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet as long as we didn’t have to walk, but apparently walking was the only way to get there. We were running short on time (so we thought) so Peter joked that we might have to jog part of the way. I told him to count me out that I didn’t do anything that made my heart rate rise. He laughed and said he thought love was supposed to make your heart beat faster and I told him I didn’t do that either. He laughed again, but I was being totally serious. We all set out on this hike to see this stupid house (side note: I do not understand what all the fuss was about to see this house, I mean have these people not heard of Google image?), a hike that included dirt, rocks, and trees once again. While touring the gardens of Hamlet, Peter decided to take a short cut across the grass. I found myself surrounded by bugs, plants/greenery, dirt, and now walking through grass like I’m Laura Ingalls or somebody. At this point in the day I was over it. Dr. Ellis was pointing things out to us and talking about how beautiful everything was, but the only thing that would have been beautiful to me was the sight of our bus back to Paris. I have had more than my fill of the great outdoors for one day, but it was a fun outing. Tomorrow is my birthday which I will spend at the Louvre and feeding the homeless, but Saturday my roommates and l leave for London and we will celebrate there.
Day 24, July 8
It’s my birthday! We had to meet at the bus stop at 9 so we had to get up early which was terrible, but other than that I had a pretty good day. We feed 64 homeless people at the American Cathedral. All the people were really nice and it was a good experience. Everyone sang happy birthday to me in French which I thought was really nice. After lunch, we went to an Yves Saint Laurent exhibit. I really loved the exhibit except they wouldn’t let us take pictures. After YSL, we were off to my favorite place—the Louvre. We didn’t stay long because we were all tired and over it. Today just happened to be our last day at the Louvre and I can’t think of a better birthday present. The Louvre might be the most boring place on the planet, I was ecstatic when we walked out. My roommates and I had dinner and drinks at the Hard Rock Café to celebrate my birthday. We ate American food and RANCH dressing (for the first time in weeks) and it was SO DELICIOUS! After dinner we came straight home to get ready to leave for London tomorrow. We have to leave our apartment at 6 so it is going to be a long day, but we are all excited to go. London or bust! And knowing us, bust is definitely an option.
Day 25, July 9
London or bust! We (Britton, Katie, Whitney, and I) got up at 5 am to catch the train to London for our free weekend. The train ride was about 2 hours and wasn’t bad at all minus the freezing temperatures. Once we got to London we checked into our hotel and then took the tube into the city. Our first stop was my other home, Buckingham Palace. You all know about my obsession with the Royals so I was in heaven. After Buckingham Palace we went to Westminster Abbey (where I may or may not have spent ₤25 on Royal Wedding stuff in the gift shop), the London Eye, and then went and got on a double deck hop on/hop off tourist bus. While on the bus we saw the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Diana and Charles were married), Big Ben, Parliament Square, and then we found our favorite place—Harrods. Harrods is Mecca for a shopping fanatic like me. They literally have everything, including all of my favorites—cupcakes, expensive purses, Christian Louboutins, pianos, and a bookstore. I found a People magazine in the bookstore and almost cried. I felt reconnected with the world and like an American citizen. I fell in love with London. The people there speak English, are super friendly, willing to help with directions (you know we got lost), and their subway system was pretty user friendly.
Day 26, July 10
Our first stop today was Kensington Palace where my bffs Will and Kate will be living. We went to some weird exhibit in there. It was game about princesses or something weird. Kensington Palace had a great gift shop—I bought 2 books (about the Royals of course!). We went to Harrods again and I bought a purse (shocker) and several other things. We went to a London souvenir shop so I could buy more wedding stuff and an I heart London t-shirt. We ate dinner next to a really nice family from Nashville and I really enjoyed hearing a Southern accent.
Day 27, July 11
Today was our last day in London L We went to Westminster Abbey again and went inside this time. They said you couldn’t take pictures, which really made mad, but we broke the rules. I was in the same place where Will and Kate were, how dare someone tell me I couldn’t take pictures. It was really pretty in there and more importantly, I walked/stood where Kate did. I almost died. I was excited and y’all know I don’t get excited over anything. After Westminster we went to Abbey Road. It was crowded and we couldn’t get really good pictures of us crossing the street, but I was glad we went there because I love the Beatles. We went to Harrods again because I had to get a few more things that I missed the two previous days. I can come home with no less than 4 bags from Harrods each day so needless to say I can’t wait to go back. When we got back to Paris, I started packing to come home because I am so over Paris and so ready to be home.
Day 28, July 12
We didn’t have class till 2 so Whitney, Britton, and I decided to get up earlier and go shopping. We didn’t get anything that we had intended to purchase, but we did get some souvenirs to take home. We ended up not having class and just going to the Orsay museum for not even 30 minutes. We had to be ready for the ballet at 6 and we didn’t get into the museum until 4 so that didn’t leave a lot of time for touring (thank the Lord). We got all dressed up and headed to ballet. It was a new experience for me and honestly, I found it kind of boring. After intermission I sat on the bench in our box with my feet propped up and took a quick nap. The ballet was really long and wasn’t over till 10 and we had to meet at the metro station at 6 am the next morning.
Day 29, July 13
I was not thrilled about having to meet at 6 am to catch the train to Belgium. Katie, Mary Ashlyn, and I almost got stuck on the train which was quite an experience. The doors shut super fast and Katie pressed the door open button a million times while Dr. Ellis flagged down someone to open them. I was about to pull the emergency handle because I figured that would get someone’s attention. Belgium was COLD and rainy and I’m pretty sure it could have snowed. The shopping was pretty good and I got some chocolates to bring home.
Day 30, July 14
ONE MORE DAY! We didn’t have anything today until 8:30 tonight when we had to meet for our boat cruise along the Seine. I slept until 3 and then just hung around the apartment because I had already packed to go home. The boat cruise was really fun and the fireworks were AMAZING!
Day 31, July 15
I’M BACK! The airport was a bit traumatic this morning, but I made it home and Institute never looked so good. I plan on staying in the US for a long time before I venture out again. I’ve put up all of my pictures so head to my Facebook page if you want to see them!
