2 dreamer's digest: week 11

Last Friday, I traveled a little over an hour from Paris to Giverny to visit Claude Monet's home and gardens! The weather was perfect this weekend in Paris so the visit couldn't have came at a better time. Monet found the Giverny area after viewing the little town on a trip on the train. He later decided to move there and rent out a house and the gardens that surrounding the house. Monet lived in the house still on the property until his death in 1926. The property and house was really well preserved.. I really felt like I was walking through a painting! Take a look!






And of course, I promised birthday pics! My birthday was quite enjoyable. My friends and I went to L'as du Falafel to grab some of THE best falafel in Paris. Unfortunately, Berthillion is closed on Tuesday, so we grabbed gelato from Amorino's instead. We met up later on to have dinner at Tribeca, as planned and ended the night with a stroll on Champ de Mars!








I'm sooo excited for my sister and family to arrive in Paris next week!!!! In the mean time, I'm studying for my final exams..wish me bon courage (good luck!!)!

--Adrianne

3 dreamer's digest: week 9

Today is my 22nd Birthday!! Not only am I in disbelief that I am turning 22 today today, but I can't believe I'm able to celebrate my birthday in the beautiful city of Paris! Bringing in a new year of life with new friends in a new city is no ordinary birthday and I'm beyond grateful!



Celebrating this birthday is a little bittersweet, because I'm also coming to the realization that I only have 3 weeks left here in Paris. As you can see by my lack of blogging last week, my friends and I have been doing everything we possibly can to enjoy our last month here. Almost every day last week, I left my house at 11 in the morning and didn't return until about 10 at night! We are making sure we are seeing everything we want to in this amazing city, and of course, spending as much time together as possible.



Today for my birthday, I plan to visit Berthilon for a few scoops of their world famous ice cream, have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Tribeca and hoepfully take a night stroll to the Eiffel Tower!

By the time you all will be reading this, I'll probably be half-way through my birthday so Birthday pictures next week :)

3 dreamer's digest: week 7

Believe it or not...I have been doing more than eating and laying out in the park for the past few months. Paris is a city full of history, knowledge and culture and its more than 150 museums in the city provide excellent insight into the many of the wonders of the city and its testament. Luckily, students under the age of twenty-six are able to visit most city-owned museums for free, so its been quite a pleasure being able to enjoy the museums for free. The company I am traveling with AIFS has also arranged some great museums for our group. Take a look of some of my favorite museums!



Tapestries at infamous Musee du Louvre, one of the world's largest art museums which was originally built as a fortress. Napoleon I's apartments are still on display and are amazing!



Me under the Louvre Pyramid! This was my during my first visit to the Louvre once I got to Paris. We spent 3 hours, went to lunch, came back for another 2 and still didn't see everything!



Baccarat Museum - Baccarat is one of the biggest manufacturers of fine crystal glassware. Although based out of Baccarat, France, the company has a museum in Paris.



This chandelier was not only beautiful, it was rotating!



Yes, this is a chandelier submerged in water on display in the museum's foyer.



Paris has it's share of quirky museums too! This is the Sewer Museum of Paris...and yes it smelled terrible, but provided a lot of history of the development and industrial expansion of the city of Paris.



Me outside of Centre Pompidou (known simply as "Bo-bo" by native Parisians) ! By far, my favorite museum in Paris so far!



Centre Pompidou is Paris' museum of modern art...housing some great pieces by Andy Warhol.



And lastly, the panaromic views of Paris that Centre Pompidou provides are breathtaking! I probably spent 30 minutes up here before even starting to tour the museum.

A tout a l'heure! (see you later!)
-Adrianne

2 dreamer's digest: week 6

Spring has finally arrived in Paris! The weather is spectacular...reaching to almost a perfect 75 degrees a few times over the past two weeks. I'm now on spring break, so my friends and I have been enjoying the weather and our time away from class by visiting some of the best parks in Paris. Here are a few pics of my visits to Jardin de Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens), Buttes Chaumont park and a small part of Bois de Boulogne park, Jardin D'Acclimation.


People enjoying the beautiful weather in the Luxembourg Gardens


Kiddies riding Ponies! Luxembourg Gardens


Me! It was such a beautiful day....


My friends and I prepared a grand feast for our afternoon in Buttes
Chaumont


There were soo many people in the park this day!


We found a waterfall in the park! What a pleasant surprise!


Getting some sun in Jardin' D'Acclimation


A tout a l'heure! (see you later!)

-Adrianne

6 dreamer's digest: week 5

Food!

I LOVE to eat! If I could eat all day...I probably would. Everytime my friends and I travel, we always research the best restaurants before getting to our destination. When my friends travel to different parts of Europe, I always ask them when they return, "How was the food? What'd you eat?" I love food SO much, I've been trying my best to document all of the food I've eaten since I've been in Paris! Take a look at a few of my favorites ;)


I had Vietnamese Pho for the first time when I got to Paris. The first time, I really didn't really like it. Now...let's just say I eat it AT LEAST once a week. This is at Pho 14 in 11th.



Delicious Salad with Chevre Cheese from Vins et Terroirs in the 6th.


Oh...and this was my dessert at Vins et Terroirs! Chocolate covered cream filled eclairs!


Pesto Penne Pasta at an Italian restaurant in Montmarte. It was so delicious!


Speaking of italian food..this was hands down the best pizza I have ever had in my life. Sold by weight, we came for the truffle pizza (!!!!) but we settled with this kind that had bacon and other meat. It was really out of this world. We went back and ordered more!



We stopped through a cafe not far from the Chatelet station in Paris and had this salmon and cheese over bread and delicious salad! The Beer? Peach Stella!


And lastly...myBerry. Fresh yogurt, kind of similar to PinkBerry. I had mine with fresh mangoes!



Hope you enjoyed it! Je suis faim maintenant!! (I'm hungry now!)
-Adrianne

3 dreamer's digest: week 4

The French love to read! Everywhere you go in Paris from the cafes to the museums, even riding on the metro you are more than likely to see many people with a book in their hand. Reading is an understood favorite past time of the average French person. The couple I live with probably have over one hundred books on their bookshelves, and other homes I've visited in Paris usually have the same.

I love to read; I remember as I child I couldn't go to sleep without reading a book! Although I'm learning more of the French language every day, I'm not quite proficient enough to read French books. In effort to spend less time on the computer when I'm not perusing Paris, I stopped by the infamous American bookstore Shakespeare & Company yesterday to pick up a good read.

Shakespeare and Company opened in August 1951 by George Whitman, an American who enrolled at Sorbonne after ending up in Paris after World War II. During his time at Sorbonne, he collected many books and created a large collection of books to use as both a library and bookstore. Soon, Whitman and his friend, Lawrence Ferlinghetti began to seriously decide to open a bookstore. Their venture led them to purchase a petite apartment just beside the Notre Dame and use it as their store.

Whitman's aspiration was to create a sanctuary for up and coming writers, established writers and artists. Today, more than 50,000 people have visited Shakespeare and Company. Many world renowned authors have visited the bookstore; it's not rare to find the author of the book's signature amongst the pages that you're reading!

You really could spend hours in Shakespeare and Company. Take a look at my pictures and you'll see why....


Outside Shakespeare and Co.

Reading room on top floor where groups can meet and discuss books.

Me!

I picked up a book for myself! Only 4 euro. The cashier stamped the book after I purchased it :)
I was kind of in a rush so I couldn't read many of the notes, but they were various things. Love notes and messages in many many languages.

Shakespeare and Co has both new and used books at really reasonable prices!
Another quaint space to read.

There are books everywhere. They line the entire store!

A piano on the top floor! I love it...surrounded by books of course.



Hope you enjoyed this tour of one of Paris' hidden treasures!

-Adrianne

2 dreamer's digest: week 3

Any fans of French films or the French actor Audry Tatou (also seen alongst side Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code) has probably seen Amelie. The romantic comedy about Amelie, a French waitress who devotes her life to helping others. This week while browsing in Montmarte (again) my friends and I stumbled upon Le 2 Moulins, the bar where Amelie infamously worked. I wish I could tell you I had some exciting French food, but I was in a cheeseburger and fries mood that day! A great random find, and pretty good food! You should definitely check out the movie, it's available to view instantly on NetFlix.



Le 2 Moulins


Amelie & Me!




yum!



à bientôt!
-Adrianne