les vacances

A glorious period in France where students receive 15 days of winter vacation: les vacances. 
Thankfully, the awkward international students (my friend described our existence as similar to Fez, the foreign exchange student, from That 70's Show and now I can't help but think of him every time I'm in an uncomfortable situation) get to participate in this beautiful tradition as well. I love you, France. Thus, my friend Catherine and I began dreaming up our week in Amsterdam and Prague. Two completely different cities!

But! Before anything else, it was high time I went to see one of my very bestest friends who is studying in Paris for the semester. Shelbi and I adopted the mindset of professional wanderers and ambled our way through the streets of Paris, arms linked, telling each other stories of our semesters thus far and stopping more than once to sample the many flavors of Ladurée's famous macaroons. The Marie Antoinette flavor took the prize in our books.

No matter how many times I return to Paris, I've found that each time is special and different than the last mainly because of who I'm with and the season during which I'm visiting. With that said, this visit to the City of Light has been my all-time favorite.

We both found a few treasures at the Marche aux Puces, sat on the steps of the Sacre Coeur listening to live music and raced un petit voilier around the pond in the Jardin de Luxembourg. We even indulged in a very, very Parisian dinner of guacamole, perfectly sea salted tortilla chips, burrito à la carnitas and a fizzling Dr. Pepper. To our defense, we did do the French thing and buy a baguette and a block of cheese for a picnic lunch earlier that day. I just simply could not resist when I learned that Paris was home to the only Chipotle in France.

happiest girl in Paris

On Sunday we attended The American Church in Paris, a stunning chapel in the center of Paris where, as you can guess, there are services en anglais. Then, what else would one do in Paris but attend an antique book fair? You could say it was bliss- or something like that. We had our fill of kir and compté, took full advantage of the metro system, until we got caught....60 euros later....and witnessed all the mesmerizing magic of Paris that it always produces.  

The best part of the weekend was getting to talk about Jesus Christ and how our faith has been tested and strengthened during our stay in Europe. So with my heart full and my tear ducts a bit damp, we parted ways and I headed north to the land of the Dutch. 

top tier right here

Amsterdam. Most people associate this city with illegal drugs and the Red Light District. While these are indeed major attractions of the city, it has so much more to offer! Amsterdam is full of around 60 miles of beautiful canals, yet they are very different than Venice. Since housing is limited, Amsterdammers have taken a liking to living life on the water. Catherine and I stayed with one of these families- Eltjo and Liselore (so Dutch!) and had an amazing time experiencing the local side of A'dam in a houseboat. 

One of my favorite moments was going to this little restaurant named Wikel to enjoy a little slice of heaven aka- Dutch apple pie. It was a beautiful afternoon so we sat outside and watched all the people of Amsterdam stroll by. Then, to get a better idea of the history and layout of the city, we participated in a bike tour where we rode through the famous Vondelpark, saw the Anne Frank House, Dutch Tulip Museum and Dutch Cheese Museum. I especially enjoyed the Rijksmuseum- The Museum of the Netherlands. It has great exhibits on everything from Rembrandt's famous "Night Watch" painting to ancient Dutch war weapons. My favorite piece was of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was finally defeated; it is the largest painting in the Rijks! 

Rijksmuseum

A few random facts about Amsterdam:

There are more bikes than people.

Holland is most well known for their windmills, tulips, cheese and wooden clog shoes.

One of the only word Dutch words I learned is straat. It comes in quite handy when trying to read a map! 

Also, "thank you" in Dutch is dank u. Very difficult. 

view from Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge) 

Our favorite part of the trip would have to be the overnight train from Amsterdam to Prague. (jokes) We were in a small Harry Potter style train compartment with three random strangers whose language we honestly couldn't identify. If nothing else, it was an interesting experience. 

On our first night in Prague we went to a restaurant called U Fleku where a sweet old man played "Deep in the Heart of Texas" for me on the accordion. Not to mention, Fleku translates to my last name in English. These were my people, y'all. 

During our walking tour of the city, I learned some pretty interesting facts about Prague and the Czech Republic, such as:

The Czech Republic is one of the most atheistic countries in the world, yet they have a national church. 

The Prague Castle is the biggest castle complex in the world, covering 70,000 square meters.

Thanks to the Nazi's during World War Two, one of the best Jewish museums was created in the Jewish Ghetto of Prague. The Nazi's thought they would be clever by creating an exotic museum of non- existing people, so while forcing the Jews to concentration camps, they were simultaneously collecting all of their personal items and adding them to this museum. The Jewish Cemetery was very interesting to witness as it has over 100,000 bodies buried there. 

Charles Bridge

After we were tired out from walking from one side of Praha to the other, we put our fancy pants on to see Sleeping Beauty: ballet edition at the Státní Opera. It was absolutely magnifique and made me want to return to my elementary days of tutus and my mom's hot pink lipstick. 

Side note: in this case, my fancy pants consisted of one of two pairs of pants that I had for the whole week and a half. So you can go ahead and say it was the fanciest of the fancy if you'd like. 

And that's a wrap! After visiting three beautiful cities, bonding with two great friends and surviving one bad case of the stomach virus, it is great to be back home in Grenoble. 

julia & ernest

Breaking news. I've made two new friends!!

Although they are not wandering the streets of France anymore, I've loved reading the tales of Ernest Hemingway and Julia Child as they spent time exploring the same country that I am currently living in.

Julia Child moved to Paris with her husband, Paul, in 1948 and immediately fell in love with the French and found her passion for cooking. With the end of the Second World War, women in America were all about the TV dinners and quick ways to make their meals. Julia Child revolutionized American cooking by introducing her deluxe step-by-step cookbook on French cooking for American cooks. This book was not only accessible to highly skilled chefs, but also the average Joe's (or Joetta's) who had an interest in vamping up their cooking abilities, French style.

Julia and Paul moved to Marseille a few years later when Paul's job in the U.S. government called them south. Julia recounted her days walking along the Vieux Port, hand picking fresh fish to make the famous Marseillais bouillabaisse and getting caught in the enormous gusts of wind, or the mistrals, coming from the Mediterranean Sea. After leaving Marseille, they moved around a bit, but still found their home in France after it was all said and done.

I loved reading Julia's memoir and I honestly felt like she has become a close friend after reading it! Or at least a great role model.

Now, Ernest and I had a bit of a rougher start. I wasn't sure if I could adapt to his short, frank writing style, but I really did become engaged in his adventures around France with other literary heroes such as Sylvia Beach and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was fascinating to read about their lives and hear Hemingway's perspective on this brasserie and that friend, the milk man with his herd of goats, and his round about ways of walking home through the streets of Paris each day. Fitzgerald was writing The Great Gatsby during the time that Hemingway was writing A Moveable Feast so I felt like I was seeing behind the scenes into the process of writing two such classic novels.

While in Paris a few weekends ago, I of course had to make a trip (or several) to the famous Shakespeare & Company bookshop where Hemingway recounts borrowing endless books from Sylvia Beach and devouring his way through various literature. My dear friend, Shelbi, is a budding connoisseur on all things literature and all things Parisian, so I quite enjoyed my time wandering through the city with her.

Ernest and Julia, I'm so glad I had the pleasure of seeing a bit into your lives during the time when you lived and worked in la belle France. Thanks for inspiring me in a spirit of adventure, culinary delights and literary magic.

carnevale di venezia

Did you know that the word confetti originates from the Italian language? It seems fitting since the Italians sure do know how to pull off a rockin' carnival.
I was pretty fortunate to be able to revisit Venice (from the summer before last) for their famous Carnival which takes place every February with a group of about 40 international students from my university in Grenoble. We really took advantage of the whole mask-wearing activity since when else can you walk around with a silly painted mask on your face?

The whole town was chalk full of people parading around in the most outrageously beautiful and grand outfits. Also the crowds were bigger than any I've ever seen. Our bodies were squeezed together so tight that at one point I was afraid we were going to start fighting over the oxygen. 

And because no trip to Venice is complete without a gondola ride, a couple of us girls piled in and went for a spin through the canals!

Fabio, our sweet little gondolier who was serenading us with Italian melodies 

Other festivities include trying Limoncello, surviving the overnight bus (thank you, sweet Nyquil), wandering around Murano Island in the rain and falling in love with Italian Bellinis!

Thank you, Venice, for the sweet memories.