Paris for a few

This marks the last week of my first class and the beginning of spring break. It was a bit surreal and sad to be done with my first class of my semester in Florence, to take our last class, take my final and leave my professor. I don’t think I have ever taken a class before where I have bonded so deeply with my classmates in such a short segment of time. Not saying that we will be best friends for the rest of my life, but it was pretty wholesome to say our goodbyes on the last day and hug it all out. This week along with finishing classes for me and everyone in my apartment was also paired with the festivities of valentines day and my birthday, the big 20. It was two very packed days of celebrating friendship and life. On valentines we got pizza and did a gift exchange followed by a group session of watching the bachelor and lots of pictures. On my birthday the day after we had a pretty packed day finishing finals, going to breakfast, eating all you can eat all you can eat sushi, finding a jazz club and going to bed way too late. The next morning, after a solid three hours of sleep, I made my way to the airport via tram transportation at 5 am and then hopped on a flight to Paris. I was able to navigate the metro system fairly easily, getting myself from the Orly airport to my airbnb where I met up with my sister and got settled in our studio apartment overlooking the streets of paris. It might be one of the coolest and well thought out airbnb’s I have stayed in, not just because of its location but the space itself is so small yet so brilliantly thought out to fit a gorgeous kitchen, living space and bed in such small quarters.

Day one getting to Paris was pretty funny not just because both me and my sister were running on less than three hours of sleep but because we have never been to Paris and both of us were coming from completely different travel days and lifestyles before meeting here in Paris. We got out of the apartment and ended up walking a good chunk of Paris, stopping for a quick pastry and quiche break and then walking along the river to the eiffel tower. We walked back through some really cute streets where we grabbed supplies for a charcuterie board dinner. We found three designated markets right next to each other, one for bread, one for meat and one for cheese and fruit which worked out beautifully giving us some of the freshest and best ingredients I have had for a snack board dinner. We made our way back to our airbnb, ate dinner, watched the movie priscilla and went to sleep.

Day two was quite the day, filled with over 20,000 steps throughout Paris and more than one stuffy metro ride. We woke up and got on the metro headed towards the Place du Tertre where a lot of the famous painters sit and paint overlooking Paris. We grabbed some cappuccinos and lunch at a spot called Marcel and then walked down into the surrounding streets that look up at the Basilica of Sacred Heart. We walked up the steps that lead up to the church and overlook the city and then we slowly walked to the Musee d’Orsay. There were a few pastries, including an almond croissant and a pistachio puff pastry that were consumed along the way, before we made it to the museum. Inside we headed straight for the gallery filled with Monet and Van Gogh where we both had a surreal experience seeing all of the paintings in person. Being an art student and someone who has learned about these artists in classes, powerpoints, podcasts and in general cultural media, it was pretty insane seeing works like the haystacks or the portrait of the artist by Van Gogh in person. We had to move fairly quickly since we only gave ourselves an hour before the museum closed but we cruzed through most of the exhibits, snagged some postcards on our way out and made our way to a ramen restaurant. We got two insane dishes, one was a Katsu Curry rice bowl and the other a chicken egg omelet over rice which was pretty crazy and delicious. We finished the night looking at the Eiffel tower and heading back to our apartment for a cozy night in. 

This week has definitely been the most packed week yet since being abroad but there have been a lot of fun challenges and goals conquered within it and alot more fun coming ahead to next week! Stay tuned for sister take over in Portugal !