What have I done so far?

So today wasn't the most interesting day as we have a test tomorrow for our french lit/history class and had to do some studying...ew. I guess they don't call it STUDY abroad for nothing huh? BUT we did go to the Louvre for a couple of hours and saw some famous stuff like the Mona Lisa and winged victory. For those of you who don't know what that is just from the name, it is a statue of a naked woman (of course) who has no head and she has wings. It was saweet! ;)

Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures. Boo! :( That's ok...you probably get tired of seeing all of my pictures anyway haha

So since today was so uninteresting...ya know, just hit up the Louvre for a bit nbd... I have decided that since I have been here for about two and a half weeks, we should evaluate what I have done on my bucket list so far:

1) "See some soccer studs play a match"...I havent done this and won't get to because tickets are about $60 and I don't have that kinda money. Sad day I know. But it's ok because I'm in Paris!

2) "Buy a scarf that costs 3 euros"... Wellllll, I haven't bought a scarf that's only 3 euros, but I have bought a scarf that was under ten. So I think that counts, right?

3) "Musee d"Orsay"...check and check!

4) "The Louvre: Statue of David"...it turns out that that statue of David is in Italy and I am that uncultured to not know that. Sorry humanities majors...I have failed you. But I did see the Mona Lisa and the winged victory, among other works of art.

5) "Sacre Coeur"...we haven't done this yet, but I am planning on attending a mass this Sunday. We shall see if that actually comes to pass :)

6) "Eat a patisserie on a french rue"...you all know I haven done this one one too many times. Man, oh man I have probably done this everyday since I got here. Check!

7) "Run at a park in downtown Paris"...nope havent done this! It's mainly because I am so tired every morning that I am just too lazy to drag myself out of bed to do it...but I will before I leave! I promise. I think.

8) "Versailles, baby!" ...we are doing this on Friday so not yet.

9) "Go to a concert" Hmmm...i don't know if this will come true because once again tickets are expensive!! But I have gone to two movies!

10) "Say a prayer in church in french" Not yet...I'm getting there.

11) "Cook dinner with my host family" I have asked if I could help, but haven't gotten to actually help yet. I don't know if that's allowed here?

12) "Talk to a street vendor in French" Oh yes! I have talked to many many people in French, including the grocery stores people who are scary.

13) "Shop Le Champs-Elysees...window shop that is" YES!!

14) "Walk Le Tour Eiffel...I'm takin the stairs" No. I havent done this and don't plan on doing it because its 14 euros. But I did walk the Arc de Triomphe and that was A-MAY-ZING!

15) "Eat a crepe with Nutella" Yes several times and they are delicious!

Til next time! xoxxo

no i'm not going catholic on you...

Yesterday I got to sleep in! Highlight of my day! (wa-hoo!)

After a relaxing morning of sleeping and school work, we headed out to go to some Museums--we were planning on going to a ton because they were free today for everyone...BUT free=crowded and busy! Plus, we have these art cards from our program that get us into a lot of museums and other sight-seeing places for free! It's fantastic.

We did go to Musee D'Orsay and I got to see some of Van Gogh's stuff including one of my favorites--his self-portrait. I loved it!! I was hoping to see Starry Starry Night, but apparently that's in New York. See, American has some awesome stuff too! :)

We also went briefly to the Petit Palais, which was beautiful! It's basically a palace with lovely and HUGE paintings on the ceilings. C'est manifique!!

This morning, a couple of us attended a Gregorian Mass at Notre Dame. That chapel is absolutely stunning and the service was... interesting. Lots of chanting. Lots of robes. Lots of Latin. Lots of old men. But it was a really cool experience and the singing was pretty!

Then we went to sacrament down the road at the LDS church and the Catholic mass made me realize how much I really love our church and the gospel. It is so much more personal and I feel the spirit every Sunday, without question--even if it's in a different language and I can't understand everything. I love the church.

P.S. Sorry for the crappy pictures but we technically weren't supposed to take any in Musee D'Orsay and I felt like it was a bit disrespectful to take several in Notre Dame. :)

thought of you

This is an absolutely beautiful animation brought to you by a BYU professor. The song that accompanies it is an equally beautiful song by The Weepies.

I have been here for two weeks now. Time flies, right? Actually, I feel like I've been here forever since every day is packed with endless excursions and sight-seeing. I feel like I have made the neighborhood I'm living in here my neighborhood. I feel like the metro is my metro--I even know how to open the door when I'm first to get off and everything! ;)

Everything really is wonderful here, but I do miss that wonderful and sweet fiance of mine that's studying hard back in Provo.

Alex, I love you and thought of you today.

yesterday was perfect and today was deathly adventurous!

So sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but blogger was being quite difficult and would only let me do my academic post. Hmmm is it trying to tell me something about my priorities? I think not.

But on a different note, yesterday was an absolute perfect day in Parisian paradise. Our professor organized a picnic with everyone in the program earlier this week, we met at his apartment yesterday at noon, then we all went and bought the food--everything from cheeses, to fresh sliced ham, to delicious baguettes, to local grown fruit, to refreshing juices andsalads, and finally to very fancy and very expensive patisseries--and walked down the street to the Eiffel tower.

The weather was perfect, the food was perfect, the music was perfect, and the people were perfect. Everything was perfect until about 20 of us decided it would be really awesome to make a human pyramid...let's just say it ended with the whole Eiffel tower crowd looking at us unhappily, while we all laughed our heads off at the top of our lungs. Ha!

Oh and did I mention that I went to see Minuit a Paris again? I know you're thinking: "what the heck! She went and wasted another night in Paris by going to a movie?!" Well, let me tell you that I came here to Paris to be a Parisian and real Parisians aren't out touring their own city...they are watching American movies, which are most likely French movie remakes, and then those movies are dubbed back into French...or so my teacher says hahahaha ;)

Today was very different: we went to the Catacombs!! Apparently, it is a mass grave 20 meters underground where 6 million people are buried. Just to put that into perspective: that is about the same number as Jews killed in the Holocaust. Wowee! There were so many bones and skulls and femurs and more bones down there...man oh man! It was pretty creepy, and dark, and drippy. Ew. But WAY cool! I will let the pictures do the describing on this one...

I will SCARE the monsters, and Sarah will be SCARED...

Creepy washing hole...reminds me of the ring...you?

Stacked femurs and skulls...lots of them!

Lastly, we did a walk for our culture class and saw some pretty cool stuff like the oldest hotel in Paris where you can stay at for a bargain price of 2500 euros a night (holy moly!), a couple chapels, a tower, a fountain and candy/chocolate shops that were so cute I wanted to die...but seriously! So classy!

Temple/tower

Chocolate/candy shops!!

Fountain and beautiful chapel that looked like the Kirtland Temple

Oldest hotel in Paris (2500 euros/night)

macaroons, the arc, and oh la la the movies!

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but I have had a TON of reading to do for my classes...and since I'm out in the city all day, I don't have much time at night between skyping Alex and the fam and doing my homework to work on my blog. BUT here is a post for you!

Yesterday, in our culture class (the one I had chocolate tasting in last week) we tried a bunch of different macaroons. Soooo good! I think I liked it better than the chocolate tasting because it was so very french. I tried a very bizarre flavor--asparagus and hazel nut--from this expensive patisserie...and it was my favorite one! It sounds gross, but the main flavor was like nutella. So if you like nutella...you would LOVE this little macaroon. The other ones that I tried were a buerre caramel one, a tropical fruit/milk chocolate, and an apricot/pistacio. All were incredible!

Today I went to the top of...(drum roll please)...the ARC DE TRIOMPHE!! It was one of my number one things to do here in Paris and I finally went today! We have been trying to go for a while, but every time we have gone it has been closed: once for a strike, once for a holiday, once they just decided to close early...geesh ya frenchies! haha But anyway, it was so amazing! You can see everything from the top and it is simply lovely!

Look at all those stairs we had to climb!!

And later this evening, a group of us went to see a movie on the Champs Elysees--the theatre was amazing! My picture really doesnt show how big or miraculous it was, but the chairs were like big sofa chairs and the front had a stage and the ceiling was very intricately designed. Everything was tres manifique!! :) Oh, and we went to see a movie called "Minuit a Paris" and you HAVE to see it! It's an American film with Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Adrian Brody in it and it was simply lovely. It was actually a Cannes film festival movie and you should definitely look up the trailer and watch it: if you love Paris or the 20s era, or are into Fitzgerald/Hemmingway/Picasso/humanities related stuff...you will love this film! So so great!

So I'm obsessed with youtube...sue me! ;)

Did you get the memo??

I love love LOVE youtube and spend lots of time on that website! Gosh, there's just so many great things out there...didn't you know?

So, just to begin with a little youtube video: these guys are crazy good and even crazier talented! Does that make sense? haha Not only are their voices awesome, but they've got mad piano skills...just watch k?

Besides watching youtube videos--but I'm in Paris so it's cooler right?--I went to the largest flea market in Paris and man was it smelly! HA! Just kidding...but kinda seriously. It was way awesome and there were a lot of cool things there to buy for pretty cheap. My favorite tent/store that we went into was this keychain store. There were hundreds of old key chains all for only 1 euro! I wish I would have gotten a couple for my brothers and for myself, but I didn't have any change on me so I walked away... :(

After the flea market, we got some lunch--I got something called a grec kebab! It is similar to a gyro made with lamb and a white sauce, but i guess it's turkish or something. I don't know, but it was tasty!

And after lunch, we all went to Le Centre Pompidou. It is a modern art Museum and way cool! The outside is all just colorful, exposed piping...I love it!! I only had an hour there because I had to come home and write my stinkin' french paper--an analysis on Marie de France's poem called "Le Rossignol" in FRENCH...what the!! But I did enjoy going to the Museum and would like to return again sometime soon!

And after lunch, we all went to Le Centre Pompidou. It is a modern art Museum and way cool! The outside is all just colorful, exposed piping...I love it!! I only had an hour there because I had to come home and write my stinkin' french paper--an analysis on Marie de France's poem called "Le Rossignol" in FRENCH...what the!! But I did enjoy going to the Museum and would like to return again sometime soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day and I have the best stinkin' mom anyone could ever ask for! If I could grow up and be half the mom and half the person she is, I would most definitely be satisfied with my life because she is an incredible person. She is just always so cheerful and fun to be around. I can talk to her about whatever the heck I want and she listens to all of it...even when I'm being grumpy and complaining about who knows what!! HA!

She is so encouraging and supportive of everyone, and I love her words of affirmation she constantly gives out. She is a good example of a great mother who sacrifices, puts herself last, and takes care of her family--all with a smile on her face! Her testimony strengthens mine, and the only thing I can say to her is thank you! You are an inspiration to me and lots of others, and I hope you never forget that. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!! I love you! xoxo

But wait! That's not all...in a few months I will have a new mother in law and I just can't wait! While I don't know Terry incredibly well yet, I can already say that I love her! She has been so warm and welcoming to me and it means a lot because family is super important to me and I know that we will have many years together ahead of us. Terry, I know you're a stupendous mother because Alex always speaks so highly of you. Thank you for raising an incredible son--you saved me a lot of work!! haha just kidding! ;) Happy Mother's Day, Terry! xoxo