Oh my! A long list now that I write it out...
Paris
Well now it’s been so long since Paris! I must say that I’ve been enjoying my time dans le moment and neglecting to write about everything! Well I left Bordeaux on the 13th and headed to Paris to meet up with one of my favorite people, my French teacher from Tech, Professor Johnson! I was really glad that the timing worked out that I could go see her before my trip to Proctor & Gamble in Brussels. I got there Monday afternoon and was greeted (after a somewhat arduous trek through the Paris metro) with a wonderful salade nicoise. We caught up and talked over said delicious lunch and then attacked la belle ville! Over the next day and a half we walked and walked and saw all the sights : ) We saw a great exposition at the Hotel de Ville on the life of Paris at the time of the impressionists (late 1800s), which was really interesting. We also saw midnight showing of a cute French movie on the Champs-Elysees - awesome! I could enumerate all the amazing things we ate, as we both share an appreciation for the freshness and high quality of food in France,…and I will. The best croissants (pain au chocolat of course), homemade fig jam, homemade pasta carbonara with ingredients from the local Italian store, really great fruit (fig, mangoes and rapsberries with strawberry puree...yum!!!) and the best tea date ever at one of the nicest (the nicest?) tea salon in Paris. We had a really interesting tea at this place along with a little sandwich and the most amazing (tea infused) desserts. I’m so spoiled! And not to mention a really good creperie next to Prof. J’s apartment (de la vraie Bretagne bien sur).
I was so excited to have Professor Johnson showing me around the city because I know how well she knows it and loves it and how much we share in common. Needless to say we enjoyed doing all the same things! I got to see a lot more of the “artsy” district, St. Germain de Pres, than I did last time I was in Paris, which was great. I loooved all the architecture and atmosphere of the quartier, in addition to all the cute stores it had to offer. After the Brussels trip I stayed in this neighborhood for the last night before I went back south so I got to see even more, then, too!
What I love most about Paris is the lively and unique atmosphere you see and feel in the quieter parts of the quartiers. The museums and monuments are fabulous (a revist to the Efifel Tower was necessary, just to confirm the fact that I was IN PARIS!!) but the crowds are so overwhelming! I much prefer the quieter life in the streets that everyone doesn’t know – in the center but just a little bit hidden. I definitely got my summer’s share of Paris in and would be happy to return, but perhaps for a longer, more restful stay (three weeks, a year?) in a nice little apartment…
Brussels
Brussels: Smaller than I thought! I met up with the other ‘intern’ from the University of Arkansas in Paris after my stay with Professor Johnson and we took the (short) train ride together to Brussels. It was pretty easy to navigate and once we got settled in our hotel that afternoon we went downtown and explored a bit. There was one square in particular in the center that had amazing architecture that I found really beautiful. In addition, chocolate shops everywhere!!! So nice. We had a nice dinner together (free champagne for our wait…!) and just enjoyed the atmosphere before our P&G meeting the next day.
The presentations and tour that we took of one of the regional warehouses was very interesting…definitely really cool for a logistics person! I learned a lot and was happy to see my interest peaked by what I saw. After our two nights in Brussels we went back to Paris for a meeting with a French professor at the Ecole de Mines (best engineering school in Paris/France). That was also very cool! The professor had a wonderful view out of his office of the Eiffel Tower…something I wouldn’t mind switching schools for. Not to mention a private part of the Luxembourg gardens for the school. Bah! Learned a lot at this meeting, too, for the projects…
Toulouse
Finally read to leave Paris (sort of), I headed back via train to Toulouse to meet up with Pedro, where he was playing a tournament. We had a day and a half to explore the city and definitely made the most of it! Great kebabs, to start. The hostel we stayed at gave us free tickets to a music festival that had been going on that week so we go to see two nights of really good music (Rio Loco! was the name of the festival). The city was pretty but seemed smaller than I expected (well, what wouldn’t after Paris?) but we enjoyed it a lot anyway.
Montpellier
After the weekend in Toulouse we were finally headed to Montpellier to “settle down” for a few (two) weeks. I can’t believe we just left because the time went by so quickly! Highlights included, however:
- A visit from friends (Karen and Salem) who were finishing up their 5 week European tour and dropped in for a few days : )
- Les Estivales, a festival that the town has every Friday night from June-September…lots of artisan shops and restaurants sell things at their various stands and vineyards from all over the area (Languedoc-Rosillon) come to show off their wines – a great deal: for 4 euros you get to taste 3 different glasses and keep the glass! Hoping the glasses make it home as a souvenir…
- An awesome hidden bakery that we discovered while out promenading one day, which resulted in a GREAT croissant breakfast one morning….all the flaky deliciousness that a French croissant should be!
- Tennis tournaments! We met a really cool guy named Nico at the first one who we saw a few times more during the stay
- Ratatouill! Steak with our awesome wine salt! Making crepes! (That didn’t turn out that well in form but were still really good)
- Discovering an amaaaazing Sicilian/Italian restaurant that we frequented twice (everything we ate there was great so I recommend it to anyone…near the area?)
- Trekking up to the fifth floor of our apartment (and up once and own once with all our luggage…)
- Day trip to Nimes with Karen and Salem! Seeing the sweet Roman ruins there!!
- The beach!!! We took the tram/bus from downtown Montpellier to the beach (Pavalas-les-Flots) three times and had some great beach days
- The addition of mango to our diets
- Drinking some of the wine that Pedro won in Bordeaux. Yum.
- Seeing Midnight in Paris (so good!) and subsequently having a very French day/evening (e.g. walking out of the movie theatre to someone playing the classical French accordion)
- Finding a great postcard/paper/ decoration store where I wanted to buy everything (but settled for two small apartment things!)
- Generally relaxing and enjoying the town!
- LES SOLDES!! (Everything in France going on sale) (buying an awesome dress that turned out to be super multifunctional!)
Suisse
…And now we’re finally on our way to Swizza, where we are meeting up with Pedro’s cousins in Lausanne. I was here two summers ago and absolutely loved it so I’m happy to be returning, and revisiting cooler weather! I’m so excited to spend time with them (speaking lots of French) and traveling some more. I believe we’re going to Bern one day, doing a cheese tasting (!) and celebrating one of the cousins birthdays one day, too. After that we’re headed back to another town I’ve been to, Annecy, for a tournament Pedro is playing and then back to the south! More work and adventures to come…..Is it already July?!
And Happy Fourth of July to all of you!
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