I'll be seeing you, London

I'm currently sitting on my bed in my home in America. This is so bittersweet. I'm so happy to be back to what is comfortable and normal, but I miss London so much already. Richmond and London are so incredibly different and it's really weird.

Friday evening was also bittersweet. Everyone got dressed up and cute for our final banquet. Before we left, we took a group photo and then smaller groups took pictures in Russell Square. Thankfully, our last night in London was a beautiful and warm(ish) one.

Flats C, D, and E

We took the tube over to Cafe Below, which was under a church near St. Paul's. It was a really nice place and the food was INCREDIBLE. We started off with bread and butter and broccoli soup that was in a shot glass. Next, I had squid, shrimp, and fennel salad. For my main, I had cod with potatoes and shrimp fritters. You really only need to see pictures of my incredible dessert. STICKY TOFFEE SPONGE CAKE WITH CUSTARD. So delicious. Probably the most delicious dessert I had while in Europe. And that's saying a lot.

Everyone tried not to talk about going home and how much we'd miss London, but it came up, of course. Ben made a little speech and toast to us, which was awkwardly sweet in true Ben fashion. He was such a great teacher to have with us in London. We hung around for a little bit, saying good bye to everyone, and then headed back. On the way back to the Tube stop, we were reminded of the incredible city in which we lived: St. Paul's Cathedral. I could feel myself starting to take these awesome landmarks for granted throughout the semester, but this night it was like seeing the cathedral for the first time. 

The rest of the evening, everyone just packed and said their goodbyes to whoever they wouldn't see in the morning. Thankfully, I didn't have to say most of my goodbyes until the morning. 

It was a pretty early wake up to get to the airport. Seven of us were on the same flight, so we took cabs to Heathrow. Before leaving, we hugged and said goodbye to everyone else in the lobby. It was a very strange thing; I was really sad to say bye to everyone, but it really is a "see you later." It hadn't really hit me I was leaving for good this time. 

I got through security and everything very easily, and our flight left on time. There was a lot of turbulence, especially when we were landing, which was pretty scary. We made pretty good time, though, and the customs officer didn't even ask me any questions (which may or may not have been a good thing...). 

Seeing my parents at the airport was so surreal. I immediately started crying, which I had known would happen. Thanks to Skype, I had at least been able to see their faces over the past few months, but nothing compares to physically hugging your parents. Of course everyone wanted to take pictures, and I was the only one who cried, so that was great...We loaded everything in the car and drove back to Richmond, where we immediately went to Mexico Restaurant. It was definitely everything I had hoped it would be. I got tired really early, and headed to bed.

I already miss London. This feels like a weekend trip and I'm going to be getting on a flight at a crappy airport and flying back tomorrow. But I know it's not. Just like arriving in London was an adjustment, so too will this be. I'm so excited to see all of my friends and hear all about their semesters. No words or pictures will ever be able to do my experience justice, but I have my memories and friends from the trip. There's not much more for me to say after what I said in my last post, or even at all. Living in London was an inexplicably incredible time. I'm already saving up for the next time I go. But for now, I'm going to enjoy everything Richmond has to offer, and make this summer a great one. 

Cheers!

"I can see my house from here!"

On Monday morning, I finally went to Monday Madness at My Old Dutch. They serve Dutch pancakes, which are usually around 7 or 8 pounds, but on Mondays, they have a bunch for only 5 pounds! It's a really cool restaurant, but it was interesting because everything was American themed (i.e. Marilyn Monroe). Oh well, it was delicious and I could get a gluten free pancake!

I got smoked salmon and mushrooms! It was really good, but more like an omelette than a pancake. When I was in Amsterdam I got an apple one that wasn't gluten free, which I think might have been better than this one. Definitely still worth the visit, though! The rest of the afternoon was spent working on papers/screenplay.

On Tuesday, we had our "final" for Mo's class, where we handed in our papers and did presentations about British media and society. My group went first. We just did skits about British life, like the tube, restaurants, pubs, and walking on the street. We had one person narrate and explain why we chose these places and we had one girl be the American (we played "spot the American") with our class. It basically involved silence on the Tube, terrible customer service in cafes, not knowing how to order at the bar at a pub, and absolute chaos on the sidewalks. It's strange, thought, because at the beginning of the semester, all the things we talked about were so overwhelming but now they're an old hat and we can laugh about it. Since we "all did well on our pub quizzes," Mo decided we deserved breakfast at the cafe in Russell Square. I had second breakfast of an egg and chips. I'm seriously going to miss all the free food I've gotten from my professors in London.

We just had to hand in our CBD papers to the office on Tuesday, so we didn't have class. Fiona, Meagan and I decided to go on the London Eye! We were nervous because it was about 20 pounds to do it, but it ended up being totally worth it. It's totally a touristy thing to do in London, which we kind of feel "over" now (I know, I'm a snob), but I'm really glad we waited to do it. It was really cool seeing everything from up above and being able to know what everything is. Definitely couldn't see Mad House, but I tried to find it! We lucked out with the weather; it was nice and sunny for once, so it was a beautiful view of London.

Buckingham Palace

It was nice and warm outside, so we decided to re-take Big Ben pictures. We had tried to take some back in January, but we were all bundled up and it was snowing, so it was the perfect day. It was pretty windy, but London is just so much more beautiful in the sunshine

Jay had told us about this restaurant called Bubbledogs one time in class, so some of us decided to check it out that night. The novelty of it is that they sell only hot dogs and champagne. Well, we show up, 5 normally dressed college kids, to a NICE restaurant filled with adults. There was a line out the door, and the hostess came to take our party number. She said it would be an hour and a half wait, and even then we might not all be able to sit together. They do reservations, but only for parties of 6 or more; she said they were booked until late June for dinner reservations. Soo that was a bust. Instead, we decided to eat at a Thai place we passed. We were able to sit outside, which was really nice!

On Tuesday night, a group of us went to Sports Cafe for college night. There was no cover until 11 and they had lots of good drinks deals, which was nice. It was just too stuffy and hot, though, so I didn't end up staying very long. Unfortunately, one of my friends got their phone stolen from her purse while she was at the bar.

I woke up really congested on Wednesday. I took some Mucinex, but it made me feel really weird and zombie-like. It was a bummer because I went to see Les Mis that day with Lucy at the Queen's Theater! The show was at 2:30, so we went and got our tickets around 2. I didn't realize that you don't have to be there early or anything, so we wandered around Piccadilly Circus for a little while. We ended up at Whole Foods, where I got a vegan and gluten free cupcake. While there, I ran into Alyssa! I know her from Richmond, but she goes to NYU and has been studying in London since the fall. It was so crazy we had never seen each other around until then; her classes are just a couple blocks from mine. We agreed to meet up the next day to catch each other up on London.

Les Mis was AWESOME. At first, I was kind of underwhelmed. Our tickets said "view may be blocked by the balcony." Well, we were in the stalls at the very back and our view was VERY blocked by the balcony. We could only see half the barricade; we moved up after a few songs, but things still got cut off. Oh well, cheap seats! The characters didn't seem as good as I expected. Everyone seemed better once they got to songs like "At the End of the Day." The set, lights and effects were REALLY cool. They used yellowy light and lots of fog at the beginning and on the streets. The stage was like a turn table, so they could change sets easily that way, and you could see both sides of the barricade. The actors showed action in a really cool way: through the fog, they would move in slow motion to give the feeling of elapsed time. The actors were great for the most part. The Javert was actually the understudy, and he was phenomenal. I was a little underwhelmed by Jean val Jean; he definitely got better as the show went on, though. Fantine and Cosette were great-Cosette was also the understudy, and I really liked her-she sang sweetly but not like a child. The Marius was really cute and sang much better than Eddie Redmayne (sorry, Eddie). Definitely unimpressed by the Eponine and Enjorlas. I actually found myself comparing it to Godwin's production a few years ago, since it was the only other time I'd see Les Mis on stage; obviously in some ways the West End production was better, but it was definitely comparable.

We had our last meeting Wednesday. All semester, Phil has been taking terrible candid pictures of everyone. He made a slideshow and debuted it after the meeting was over. It was so funny but also strangely nostalgic. It was funny to look back at how cold and miserable we look in half the pictures. There were some really bad ones of me, which I didn't know he had taken. 

Thursday morning, I met up with Alyssa in Russell Square. We chatted for a while, comparing what we have and haven't done while in London. I definitely have crammed a lot into three months; I've done a lot of things she hasn't in her six months here. Even though we didn't see each other all semester, it was nice to talk to someone from home.

That afternoon, I had my film "final." Steve just handed back our papers about our screenplays and we handed him our screenplays. I'm not in love with what I wrote, but it's done. After turning in that paper, I'm officially a senior and done with this year!! We walked to a pub, only to get caught in a pouring rain and HAIL storm?! The skies just opened up and gushed water. It was ridiculous. Sopping wet, we all piled into a pub and Steve bought us copious amounts of french fries and talked to us about everything. Definitely a fantastic last class in London. 

For dinner, Kara, Fiona and I went to Carluccio's in the Brunswick. It was actually really good-they had gluten free pasta, so I got pasta al pesto. A bunch of us decided to go to Mahiki that night, a swanky club in Mayfair. There's no cover before 9, so we all rushed home and got ready quickly to make it by 9. It was pretty fun, but really expensive. After a couple hours, Kara, Fiona and I decided to get kebab and call it a night. We had wanted to go to Mahiki all semester, so I'm glad we did it, but we definitely got our fill. 

Today, Friday is our last day :( It's really surreal, packing up my room and getting everything ready. I'm heading to Camden Market one last time, and then we have a final banquet tonight. I'm not sure if I'll update again while in London, which is a really weird thing to say.

I can't even begin to explain how meaningful and incredible and overwhelming this experience has been. Choosing to study abroad for a semester is, hands down, the best decision I've ever made in my life. I've seen things I might have never had the opportunity to see otherwise. I've met people I might not have otherwise. I have absolutely no regrets about staying here for a semester, or choosing London. I learned so much about myself as a person and as a student. I missed my family and friends so much, but I've made new friendships here. It's going to be a weird transition to go from city life in London to suburban life in Richmond. I'm ready for the monotony, though. This has been a whirlwind of a semester, and I'm ready to take it easy. For a week. The weird thing is, I'm saying goodbye to London and to my friends, but it's really a "see you later." I don't know how and I don't know when, but I'll come back to London. I still have a wanderlust and there are so many more places in Europe I need to see. 

So, until next time, London.

Last weekend in London

That's really, really sad to say, but it's true. Although a rainy weekend, it was still a good one.

On Thursday night, a bunch of us headed over to our favorite club, The Roxy. They have a 1 pound cover and half price pitchers on Thursdays, so it was really our only economic option. The music was fun, but a bit hard to dance to. The Roxy has different themes every night, and Thursday was "radio," where they played radio hits as well as indie music (such as "Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Root and "A Punk" by Vampire Weekend). It was still pretty awesome. I'm going to miss the Roxy!

We all stayed out pretty late on Thursday night, so we took it easy Friday. There was supposed to be an optional group outing to Kew Gardens, but it rained all day; even more perfect for being lazy. I just worked on papers for finals and relaxed.

Saturday morning, I headed over to Borough Market on the South Bank. Everyone else had already gone, so I ventured by myself. It's a really cool market (and HUGE), and has three big sections. I came to realize that the market is really great if you're looking to buy raw meat or meals involving meat. I went looking for breakfast, and as a gluten free vegetarian, it was a little tricky. I did find an entirely gluten free bakery, though! Their food was quite delicious, but a little rich for the morning. I'm glad I got up and went, because it was an absolutely beautiful morning: sunny and warm. The weather turned cooler and rainy in the afternoon, so I definitely lucked out.

Some yummy vegetarian dishes from the one veggie stand!

On my way home, I snapped a picture of the escalators in the tube. When we first got here, we were FREAKED OUT by these huge escalators that took us all the way underground. As in, the first time I went down I felt like it was the drop of a rollercoaster and my stomach was in my throat. Now it's like second nature to go on one or two of these within a few minutes. I wanted to remember how ridiculous they look, as well as give those who haven't been to London a taste! Some are taller, and some are shorter!

Saturday evening, a group of girls went to a delicious Indian restaurant nearby. Yet again, they got us with the "so...crackers and chutney for everyone?" It never ends up being terribly more expensive, but it's 2 pounds more than I anticipated on spending. That night, we heard about a bar in Camden that was playing 80s, 90s, and 2000s music. We hopped on a bus and headed over to the Barfly. It was AWESOME. Possibly one of the most fun nights I've had here, music wise. One floor played better music (more pop hits), but no one was dancing. Upstairs, though, it would alternate between live music and rock hits, and EVERYONE was dancing. It was awesome, and I'm really sad we didn't go sooner. 

On Sunday, since it was absolutely beautiful (70 degrees and SUNNY), we headed to Hyde Park for a picnic! Everyone brought  mimosas and baguettes and we dined in the sunshine. It was so nice to not wear a jacket and be a comfortable temperature. Unfortunately we only got a couple hours of sun, as it turned cloudy and a little cool around 4. It was still great. For dinner, we headed to Giraffe for a delicious meal!

Naps were necessary!

This week is essentially another weekend, though. I only have to go to 2 classes this week, and they're all only going to be about an hour, just to turn in a paper and talk about the class. It's really weird that things are winding down and we're writing finals. I'm not going to talk about it any more because it's going to make me upset, but it's still really bizarre. 

Week 12

Since it was a sunny (and relatively warm) day on Monday, I decided to go down to Buckingham Palace to see changing of the guards. They change at 11:30, so I got there a little after 11. It was already PACKED! I wasn't sure exactly where I would have the best view, so I was wandered along the gates until I ended up between both guards.

At 11:30, a marching band of guards playing started down the street and came behind the gates. I wasn't really sure what was happening the entire time; there was just lots of flatfooted marching and yelling. From what I could gather, there are the 2 guards out front, and about eight that stay in barracks inside the palace. They come out and change when the front guard changes. The front guards didn't change until about 11:45, after the band had played a couple songs. Once they changed, there was more yelling and marching, and the band led the old group of guards up the street (I think they reconvene at St. James' Palace). I was actually surprised that I had no idea what was going on; I expected it to be straight forward and pretty short. I guess that's why it such a big deal to come see it; it's very ceremonial and long. I'm very glad I was finally able to see Buckingham Palace not only up close but not covered in snow. 

When the ceremony was done, I walked all the way around the palace and visited the gift shop (yes, there is a Palace gift shop). I expected to see the back of Palace as I went around, but it's really pretty hidden. It was such a nice day I didn't mind the exercise!

This is a Canada gate-I thought of you, Nan!

I returned back to the flat and worked on homework for the rest of the day. I have seven papers due finals week, so I've been trying to chip away at them slowly.

On Tuesday, we went to the Jewish Museum, near Camden Town, for media and society. Before we went to the museum, Mo bought everyone breakfast! It was second breakfast for me, but I got an omelette with chips. Yum. I'm really going to miss my teachers taking me out to lunch back at JMU. It was very interesting to learn about the history of Jews in London (there is a large population in East London). Unfortunately, their treatment was great in London, but there was a large community which formed. I learned that a lot of comedic theater comes from the Yiddish theater that started in East London. I learned a lot, but it's always hard to read about the terrible treatment of an entire group of people. After we were done, I popped over to the Camden Market to get one of these babies: 

Gluten free and vegan cookie sandwich. SO. GOOD.

For CBD, we went to the Museum of Brands in Notting Hill. Half of the museum was just a general overview of brands from the 1900s to 2000s, broken up by decade. You can learn a lot about a culture by the products they use. The other part of the museum was the progression of specific brands throughout the years. It was cool to see which brands have stayed the same, namely Johnson's and Band-Aid. Once finished, we were free to leave. I spent the night working on papers more!

The store next door

This drove past us like 5 times

American flag in the window, too!

On Wednesday morning, we went to the Museum of London. It was sad that it was our last day with Judy, but she eased the pain by buying us drinks and food at the cafe there. We didn't spend too much time in the exhibits there, she just wanted to show us a few important things from the 20th century in London. There was a thing about the Olympics, so I got to watch clips of the opening ceremonies. Having learned about and lived in London, it definitely makes more sense now! I've been looking for a children's book about London to have in my future classroom, and I got one at the gift shop! It's really cute, and informative. 

Wednesday afternoon was sad too: our last class with Rachel! I'm going to miss going to galleries every week and hearing her insight. This week, we went to the temporary Lichtenstein exhibit at the Tate Modern.

                                        

For some reason that I can't really explain, I really like Pop Art. There's something so simple about it that makes me like looking at the pieces. It's the type of art I can see myself having on my walls. The exhibit showcased pieces from Lichtenstein's entire career, but my favorites were the ones like the one above, from the mid-60s. 

On Thursday morning, I went shopping at Primark and H&M as one more European clothing hoorah. I also went to Food for Thought, a vegetarian restaurant. I got AWESOME Jamaican stew, which was gluten free and vegan, as well as a gluten free and vegan scone. The flavor of the scone was good, but it was pretty dry. 

In film, Steve taught us all about writing a screenplay. We have to adapt the first 15 minutes of a film from a book for our final. Definitely terrifying. I understand how it's supposed to be done, and he was really helpful with answering our many questions. That's definitely the paper I'm the most nervous about doing. I'm adapting Looking for Alaska, one of my favorite books. I've always wanted it to be made into a movie, so I already kind of know how I want the beginning to be set up. It's still really intimidating, though. 

Paris: The City of Lights and B.O.

Yes, it's true: Paris smells, of body odor and cigarette smoke. But thankfully that didn't detract too much from my weekend there!

Day 1: After too little sleep, I woke up at 5:15 to catch our train out of St. Pancras. We made it to Paris in good time, around 11. All 28 of us had to schlep through the Metro with our bags, having no idea where we were going. The London underground system is so much more organized and efficient. Plus, it's in English so I can actually pronounce and recognize the names of stations. Our hostel was most certainly in a bad part of town, and looked like a cruise ship. It was three to a room, and thankfully we had our own bathroom. Oh JMU, you spoil us.

Our next adventure was to get to the Musee d'Orsay, where we would be meeting up with the art history professor, Rachel, to show us around. We had some time to kill before we had to meet, so a group of us got baguette sandwiches and ate on the steps outside the museum. Definitely going to miss the French baguettes. The Musee d'Orsay was a really cool museum; it used to be an old train station, but is now the home of the biggest collection of French Impressionist art. My favorite room was the Van Gogh room. I could look at his paintings of the night sky forever. Apparently Brad Pitt was there, but no one from our group actually saw him. Like most museums, it was overwhelming to see it all in an hour, but I was very impressed (get it??). As we've studied it more in art, I really enjoy the paintings from the Impressionist movement; the colors, the subjects, and the style. After our visit in the museum, our whole group walked along the River Seine to the Lourve. On the way, we passed the famous lock bridge of Paris: lovers buy a pad lock, write their name on it, lock it to the bridge and then throw the key in the river, so their love lasts forever. And for the record, there really are accordion players everywhere: on the bridge, on the tube, EVERYWHERE.

Musee d'Orsay

Inside the clock of Musee d'Orsay

THE LOURVE. Where do I begin? It's a mammoth of a building: it used to be palace but now houses over 10,000 pieces of art. I can't even imagine how long it would take to see every piece. Rachel took us on the "unabashed highlights tour": Michealangelo's "Dying Slave," "Venus de Milo," "Mona Lisa," and "Raft of Medusa." Like every other art museum, I can't believe I'm seeing these pieces in real life. The Mona Lisa was different than I expected: it's behind a glass case and is the only picture on the wall. It's actually bigger than I expected, but it's the size of a normal portrait. Not as bright and vibrant as it appears in pictures, but still very cool. My favorite piece, though, was the Veronese right across from Mona. It's HUGE and has so much going on. I could have stayed there all night just staring and it. 

Dying Slave

Venus de Milo

Mona Lisa

Veronese

Raft of Medusa

After an art-filled evening, it was time for some food. Twelve of us piled into a French brasserie and had a delicious meal and a few bottles of wine. It was definitely a good first day in Paris!

Day 2: We were allowed to sleep in bit on Saturday, and met downstairs at 9:30. For all the flack our hostel got this weekend, I must say their breakfast croissants were GREAT.

Our first stop on our sunny morning was the home of Quasimodo (Notre Dame). Fun fact: I've never seen the movie but as a child I was obsessed with Esmeralda. Maybe I should get on that now that I've been to the real place. The building is breathtaking. Well, except for the huge scaffolding outside commemorating the 850th anniversary of the cathedral. I didn't realize that not only is the Notre Dame on an island in the middle of Paris, but this was where the center of Paris used to be. We crossed over the mile zero marker while queuing to get in!

Inside the cathedral was stained glass heaven. I particularly loved the one that's on the inside of the large circle. I think there was a service of some sort going on; there was a man at a podium talking to people sitting down, but he was speaking in French so I'm not sure what was going on. For some reason, the little chapels on the side didn't feel as superfluous as they did at St. Peter's. The church was beautiful, but not over the top. It was also really interesting to have just been to St. Paul's, a baroque style church. Notre Dame is tried and true Gothic. I wandered through it for about a half an hour, then went back outside. Unfortunately, the weather was starting to turn and it was definitely chillier and cloudier. 

Jay was taking us around on CBD Saturday, so he took us to an "alternative view" of the Eiffel Tower via the metro. It was definitely worth it. I kept scanning the skyline for the Tower the previous night, but I realized that it's actually not in the center of the city. Most of the horizon views were lacking the Eiffel Tower!

We walked through a couple streets, turned a corner and there the Tower was! It's been the first city landmark that has been bigger than I imagined. It's cold and steel, but it fits the city. Interestingly, it was designed for Barcelona, but ended in Paris. I love it.

My lovely flatmates!

Flat E (above) had a nice, albeit expensive lunch in a cafe before meeting up with the rest of our group. Those of us who wanted to see the Arc de Triomphe trekked over there, and then walked down the Avenue de Champs-Elysee. The Arc is in the middle of a very intimidating traffic circle in which there are no lines but room for at least four lanes of traffic. Count me out for driving in that thing. The Avenue is incredible: the sidewalks are the size of a normal street, then you have the actual road, and then another sidewalk on the other side! Paris was redesigned after the Revolution to prevent another from happening. The streets were made incredibly wide to prevent barricade, and to make it easy for troops to march through. 

For dinner I ate at a restaurant near the hostel, which was cheap and delicious. A large group of us headed over to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up! I ate an embarassing amount of food leading up to and at the tower: a bottle of wine, a whole chocolate bar, a pack of Madeleines (which are DELICIOUS, like lemon pound cake, and I got them from a vending machine), and 2 crepes. WHEN IN PARIS?!

Anyway, the Tower was spectacular at night. Hands down my favorite part of the Paris trip. Unfortunately, climbing up to the top had closed minutes before we got to the ticket booth, but we were still able to climb to the second floor, which is pretty high up! Paris really is the city of lights, and it was breath taking to see the city from that view. It could also have been breath taking because I had just climbed about 200 stairs in 10 minutes. Either way, it was awesome. I ran back down to the bottom to see the Tower sparkle at 11. It went on for 5 minutes, with blue lights twinkling with the yellow. So incredibly beautiful. Pictures (per usual) don't do it justice.

So many carousels!

We called it a night after the majesty of the Eiffel Tower. Definitely worth the climb, a reminder that I'm incredibly out of shape.

Day 3: Versailles! We got a bit of a later start than intended, but got to Versailles around 11, after a 40 minute train ride. I had imagined the chateau to be in the countryside, but there is a little town just outside the grounds. It was very strange. We actually got in free to the apartments; Paris has been really nice with giving students free entry to museums. That was awesome, so off we went into the decadent interior of the palace. My jaw dropped in every room. I had to keep reminding myself that people lived here. Everything glittered with gold and was so luxurious. 

Hall of Mirrors

After drowning in gold, it was time for the gardens. We had the most perfect day: sunny with some clouds, but warmer than I've felt in weeks. It ended up being just Meagan and I at this point, so we just wandered around the gardens for a few hours, trying to soak up some Vitamin D. All of the gardens are perfectly trimmed and symmetrical. We commented on how often they would have to be trimmed (probably every week). Everything is just so perfect. 

Apollo Fountain

We finished at Versailles around 3, so Meagan and I decided to check out the Montmartre area. This is the art area, and also home to the "red light district": the Moulin Rouge, sex shops, and burlesque. We got off the Metro stop and the Moulin Rouge was RIGHT THERE; it was very surprising. Definitely underwhelming during the day time, it would have been cool to see lit up. We walked around the area, stopping to get a macaron-WHY did I not get one sooner, they're awesome. I thought they would be hard like meringue  but the chocolate one we split tasted like a brownie. I want a million of them!

We made our way to the Sacre Coeur, atop the Montmartre hill. The church is beautiful, and you get a fantastic view of the city from the top. We climbed it, and even took off our jackets because we got hot! AH! Is it finally going to be spring time? We'll see. It was crazy crowded and there were so many people trying to get us to buy things. I wish we had had time to sit out on the lawn and relax in front of the church.

View from the top

I got the obligatory French fries on our way down the hill, and then we headed back to the hostel. Coincidentally, we met up with literally everyone else from our group on the Metro on the way back! We grabbed our stuff from the hostel and Metro'd to the train station. I had possibly my favorite dessert there: a pastry filled with chocolate. Heaven. 

Paris was definitely packed full of sights, and I'd love to go back and see everything again and more. Au revoir until next time, France!