Paris

Hello,

I think it's about time that I talk about Paris. I had seen it in movies and magazines, and heard about it from everyone and their brother, but to witness it was something completely different. When Maggie and I first stepped out of Gare Lyon on our first day in France it was everything I had ever imagined. I couldn't help but look up at the beautiful buildings and admire the Parisians' simple but elegant style!

Over the duration of my exchange I have been to Paris a total of eight times, but really only three times for touring around, since the rest were just stops along my travel routes. I do have to say that I made the most of those stops, because even if I had a layover of a couple of hours I discovered another little gem! Whether it was going to a Christmas market on the Champs Elysées, or writing a paper in the Père Lachaise cemetery, I think it's safe to say that I got a good dose of Paris over the past three and a half months.

I have decided to compile a little list of favourite spots for whoever wants to visit the city of lights! For people that are already Paris connoisseurs feel free to add suggestions in the comments J

EAT
L'As du Fallafel: I had read about this place on a blog and in a few guide books, and just had to give it a go. Boy oh boy, it delivered! These falafels are packed with crispy chickpea fritters, fresh ingredients like roasted eggplant, cucumbers and cabbage, and their special sauce. All served up with a smile, on a soft pita. Needless to say, since my time in France I have gone back three times... And the best part is they're a cheap way to fill up for a day of walking! One falafel to go is 6 euros, or you can eat in for 8 euros. I've never eaten inside, but instead have chosen to roam around le Marais and people watch at dusk. Sigh! So perfect.

Ladurée: I was able to channel my inner Blair Waldorf by picking up a few macarons at Ladurée. I don't think it would have been a trip to France without at least one of these little French pieces of heaven. With a crisp and airy exterior, light and creamy inside, and a multitude of flavours, macarons are the perfect way to end a day on your feet!

Le Pure Cafe: I might be a little biased because I was staying right across the street from this bistro, but it was so typically french and I loved it. It was kind of away from the hustle and bustle too, so it wasn't packed with tourists, but instead was filled with chatting Parisians having a coffee or dinner with friends. The food was simple, yet delicious.

Honourable mention goes to Angelina, the place that's famous for its luxurious decor and hot chocolate. Although I did fork over an excessive amount of dough at Angelina for a hot chocolate, I didn't think it was out of this world. With that in mind I know a lot of people who did, so I guess it depends on your taste (and bank account)!

Oh and the Lindt flagship store gives out free samples, so definitely hit that up!

STAY
Airbnb: For my first visit to Paris, Maggie and I stayed at these lovely sisters' apartment in the Bastille neighbourhood (beside Pure Cafe above). It was so nice to have our own bed and share a bathroom with only one other person. The other times I was in Paris, I stayed in hostels for just a slightly cheaper price, but they didn't compare to our first apartment. A good AirBnB apartment can make all the difference after a long day of touring around. Look ahead of time for good prices and locations because the best apartments go quickly!

SEE

I saw so many beautiful things in Paris but ultimately these were my favourites.

La Cigale: In October, I went to see James Vincent McMorrow here and it was one of those wonderful moments in life where you just look around and are so, so happy. One of the band members said it was it favourite concert hall to play in because it was so intimate and beautiful.

Musée d'Orsay: The Louvre is alright (for making vines) but the Musée d'Orsay is amazing! I'd love to say I planned to go here on purpose, but in reality both times I tried to go to the Louvre it was Tuesday, so it was closed, and I just happened to walk by this museum. I felt like a movie character prancing around the museum on my own in a sundress, just taking it all in. The paintings from the impressionist collection had me buying every post card I could get my hands on in the gift shop (okay I bought two).

Shakespeare and Co Bookstore: I once saw a post on Pinterest about this little hole in the wall bookstore and it was love at first sight! So cute and tiny, and packed with every type of book. I could have spent a solid amount of time here had I not been trying to fit one of the world's greatest cities in a day.

The Eiffel Tower: Yes, yes I know you know about the Eiffel Tower, but this is just a friendly reminder that you must definitely see it during the day and at night! Bring some neufchâtel, a baguette, and a bottle of red for a picnic to remember!

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris: This is where Maggie and I started our walking tour that we downloaded on Rick Steve's Best of Europe app. The walk brought us through many wonderful sights such as the Latin Quarter, beautiful churches, and ice cream shops.

Sacré Coeur: The views of the city from this stunning basilica are out if this world. Not to mention it's nice to walk around the Montmartre neighbourhood at its base. Also another great picnic destination!

NOTES
✿ Something to note is that students get in for free to tons of museums! I went to the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay and I didn't even have to wait in line for a ticket, I just flashed my student card.
✿ Students (-26 yrs) also get a great deal on metro day passes. It's 3.75€ for the day, instead of 1.70€ per ride.
✿ Another thing that Paris is doing right is they have drinkable water from a lot of fountains around town! Bring an empty reusable bottle at the beginning of the day and then fill 'er up when you're thirsty to avoid lugging around a heavy bottle all day or having to buy one.
✿ The city is also dotted with free wifi zones, you just have to give your email!

Before I end this post, I also wanted to say a special shoutout to UNIQLO Paris for being the best store ever. Such nice things in one store! I had been deprived of visiting since 2012 when I went to the NYC location, but I sure was happy when I got to scavenge through the shelves and racks of cashmere on cashmere. I obviously couldn't resist a selfie with this skirt, shirt, and coat!

Lots of love.

xox

Gaby

My Classes

Hi friends!

Okay let’s talk classes. Sometimes it’s easy to associate exchange programs with travelling and partying, which I did do my fare share of, but I also really enjoyed the educational side (#nerdalert). My school was pretty much chosen for me, because it was the only one in France that Maggie and I could both go to, so I didn’t really know what I was getting into. I took all masters levels classes too, so that was another hit or miss situation that was awaiting me at the beginning of the semester. 

Now let’s not go assuming I’m a mega overachiever that thought I was too good for French bachelors classes. Quick backstory: Course registration was the day I left Canada, so I had a bijillion other things to do (read: I was on instagram for too long) and ended up registering about 15 minutes late. For those of you that aren’t in university this might seem like no biggie, but trust me, total panic surfaced when almost all the classes I wanted were full and I ended up only being able to take classes I wanted at the Masters Grande École level. But I ended up being so happy with my classes!

Here’s a little overview of my classes, which I know is so riveting that you’ll probably read twice… 

1) International Human Resources

I loved this class for a few reasons, one being that the prof was this sassy/feisty Korean power woman. Most of the class hated her for her blunt honesty, but the woman brought us cake and was really funny so she had a spot in my heart.  Two being that the course only had presentations as evaluations and we got to pick our subject for the last one. I chose Gender Equality in Global Workplaces for my group and it was so interesting to research. I somehow managed to incorporate workplace feminism into quite a few of my presentation this semester. Oopsies! J Another aspect of the class that was interesting was that you couldn't have two people from the same country on your presentation team. I had five other girls on my team from Mexico, Russia, Germany, China, and France!! Talk about international!

2) Brand Marketing

This class should most definitely be called “How to Be a Hipster” because the prof was this super smart, young Scandinavian guy (#swoon) that recently won a prize for his research film on analog  authenticities in alternative skateboarding. So Joonas if you’re reading this, hi! The class was all about how brand relationships are formed with consumers. Again, our final presentation was really fun to research because my group chose to develop a brand extension for President’s Choice. Looking through food blogs and researching “foodie culture”? Yes please!! Our prof said we should patent our product, so I think he liked it J

3) International Negotiation

This class was interesting because there was an hour of negotiating per class, which meant that I could turn on “power mode” and debate about whatever the prof had stirred up for the day. I also learned a lot about different world problems in this class because there was a group presentation per class on a current international negotiation going on.

4) Cross Cultural Diversity and Global Issues

Apart from the fact that it took me two weeks to learn the course name, I was always up for what Carlos had in store for us Friday mornings. That says a lot for a Friday morning class, am I right? The prof was this boisterous little Spanish man that was a mix of my dad and Robin Williams in the Dead Poet’s Society… The class was totally off the wall, in the sense that it really wasn’t structured. For instance, one class he just told us to talk about our favourite food from around the world. It was a breath of fresh air from my regular Canadian courses and I discovered a lot about different cultures. It helped that we had about 15 different nationalities in the class!

5) Entrepreneurship

6) Sustainable Business

These classes weren’t all that to write home about so I won’t go on and on about them!

Here are some not so scholarly pictures from my recent trip to Paris.

I hope you all are getting through exams or stressful times at work, and seeing the Christmas lights at the end of the tunnel! I get home on December 15^th, and can’t wait to see everyone and take some very necessary yoga classes; sitting in trains for so many trips has made my hips tighter than a steel drum. Pour me eh?

Lots of love

xox

Gaby

Switzerland

Hello!

I am just on my way back to home base in France and I thought I’d give a quick recap of my wonderful weekend spent with my cousins and their families in Switzerland. Little back story: when I was just a wee thing, my cousins Josh and Jesse moved to Switzerland to ski and decided to stay there indefinitely (short version). Fast forward fifteen years and I’m practically their neighbour in France, okay not really, I did have to take a bus, a metro, a car, and three trains, but you get the idea. I had a couple of weeks off before my exams so I thought I’d trek on over and see what they have been raving about for years.

Their little town of Levron was nestled on the side of huge mountains, and the view was breathtaking. On the first day, everyone was at school or work so I did a bit of exploring/hiking and snapped a few pictures. Other than that, and during a little family walk, I didn’t really take any pictures mostly because I was either a) too busy admiring the view or b) snuggling their precious little kids. Yes, I forgot to mention I was lucky enough to play with their two toddlers and two babies the whole time! Being away at school, I never get to hold any babies or go nuts at the playground with little kids, so it was lovely to be around the kids (even through the screaming and the diaper changes).

I also have to mention that one of the days three-year-old Isaac, Josh and Corinne’s son, said that I had “Elsa hair”, as in Elsa from Frozen. Be still my heart, I love children.

Another time, I had made pancakes for the kids and one of them was eating away and said “I found a hair” and sure enough there was a blonde curly hair in his hand. When I asked if he found it on his plate, he replied “No, in my mouth”… Sorry buddy!

  

My visit was jam packed with fun activities such as eating raclette at a market, hiking up to a castle, spending time in the sauna, drinking vin chaud, and skating. I loved every minute of it and I can’t wait to go back to show the rest of my family what’s been hiding up there all these years!

Thanks so much Anna, Corinne, and les boys!

xox

Gaby

Reading Week Part I: Normandy Road Trip

Hello old friends!!

I have so much to tell you I don't even know how to begin! I just finished my busiest week on exchange. I have to take six courses but one of my classes is a week long 8 hours a day intensive course and it just happened to fall on the week where I had a midterm, and two other presentations, plus the assignments and presentations from this intensive Sustainable Business class. Oh boy, I tell you I 'm so happy that the week's over and I can laze around ALL weekend, and drink hot chocolate, cruise the J. Crew website, and watch videos on broadway.com. My biggest concern now is whether I should make french toast, or write this blog post!

I obvs chose the latter, so let's go!! During the last week of October I had my reading week. My sister, Steffi, and my mom came to visit and we embarked on an adventure that I can only title "The Week We Had the Most 'laugh until you almost pee your pants' Moments". There were so many hashtags thrown around, I can't even count! I had the most amazing time and it reminded me how well I travel with my family.

I'll give you a little timeline of what we did and then we can jump into highlights and pictures!

[Friday] The girls arrived in Rouen. [Saturday] We left for our Normandy/Brittany road trip. We travelled to Étretat, Bayeux, and Juno Beach. [Sunday] Then we visited Mont St Michel and St Malo. [Monday] London! [Friday] We got our little hint of English countryside in Eastbourne, England. [Sunday] I headed home and Steffi and my mom went on to Amsterdam, then Paris.

Normandy Road Trip

Rouen, where I go to school, is situated in Upper Normandy France, so we figured that we should get to know the area while I'm here. The easiest and cheapest way to see Normandy is by car, so we rented a car, picked up a few maps and made our way! Now in hindsight we probably should have google mapped maybe a route or two, considering we had so many little towns to check off in two days, but we got everywhere safe and sound. If anything we got to take a few "scenic routes"...

ÉTRETAT
The cliffs in Étretat are really breathtaking and I don't know why it took a dozen people telling me it was a must-see for me to finally go there! Since it's only about an hour and a quarter away from Rouen, it's the perfect little day trip on its own too. Watch out though because the parking in the little town is insane! Just follow the signs that say "falaise" up a steep (I mean really steep- we didn't stall the car or anything...) and you'll get to a great lookout.

MONT SAINT MICHEL

This crazy little mount in the middle of a bay houses a massive abbey and monastery. You can hike up to the top, do a pulse check, then admire the stunning views of the coastline. It also lights up beautifully at night and the usually bustling street filled with shops and tourists really quiet down. I went once before on a school trip but we didn't get to see much because there was a torrential downpour and we ended up taking cover in a gift shop. So I was totally game to go back a second time! My mom, Steffi, and I stayed in this cute B&B that I would definitely recommend. At breakfast, our host made us each a WHOLE BOWL of hot chocolate. We were like whaaaat? I wasn't complaining ;)

ST MALO
One of my mom's patients highly recommended that we go to St Malo, which actually isn't in Normandy but in Brittany (Bretagne). So we did! What we weren't expecting was a once-every-four-years sailing festival that had the streets packed with people! Apparently, according to the people we chatted up in the shuttle to the harbour, the sail boats had just come back from a sail to Guatemala and everyone was celebrating. We were a bit overwhelmed but the town was really cute and exactly what you would imagine for a little french town. By that I mean there were crepes EVERYWHERE!!! Again, not complaining.

I had so much fun navigating around France with my mom, while Steffi slept through 97.7% of the car rides. At one part we realized we driving on a one way road... the wrong way!! Another time we went around a traffic circle three times because we kept missing our turn off. It was hilarious! I wouldn't have wanted to be lost in French countryside with anyone but these lovely ladies.

Map of our "route"... we took a few detours along the way!

Post about London and Eastbourne coming soon...

All my love. xoxox

Gaby

Editor's note: I totally made and then ate some french toast part way through this post...

Thanks for food and those who made it

Hello lovelies!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! I love holidays, whether it's Valentine's Day, or Halloween I love that it's the perfect opportunity to get together with your loved ones and make some solid memories. Thanksgiving is especially special because it's just so cozy! I'm a little sad that I'm not at home this weekend because it's usually when I go back to Ottawa from school for the first time since the summer to enjoy some baking, fall biking, and an overload of hugs. I can't forget the abundance of pumpkin flavoured baked goods and warm drinks! Just for the record I loved fall before it was coined "cool" or whatever. All I had to do was search "white girl fall buzzfeed" and tooooooo many links came up! Shaking my head!! Anyways, in the spirit of giving thanks I wanted to give a few shout-outs to the people that brighten my days.

1. My family. You guys are the best! I am so lucky to be able to Skype you at any moment of the day and you seem genuinely interested in knowing I boiled potatoes and lentils for lunch. 
2. My Bishop's family. Oh geez when I came abroad I had no idea how much I would miss the little bubble that is Lennoxville! I miss it, I really do, and I can't wait to see you all come January.
3. My Hydro Ottawa co-workers. I had the best summer with these amazing people. You know who you are! I've never learned and laughed so much in four short months. p.s. Kelly please make ALL the pumpkin goodies this weekend :)
4. The awesome students on my exchange. I am so lucky to have picked this school if only for the people! You are all stellar people and I'm so happy we get to discover Europe together.
5. Diane from the international office. I know I was a pain and a half to deal with but I can't thank you enough for your constant words of encouragement during my study abroad application process. I'm here now! I actually made it to France!
6. My roommates. I love all our catch-up sessions and hearing about life back in Canada. I can't wait to resume our dance parties soon!
7. My high school friends. It's so nice to come home to Ottawa and be wrapped up in a bear hug and know that we'll always be such good friends.

I'd like to share a recipe that you are more than welcome to make for the people you are thankful for! I made these s'mores bars on my last day of work this summer and they were so good and easy to make.

Oatmeal Cookie S'mores Bars
Recipe from Chelsea's Messy Apron

Ingredients

Bottom Layer:
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup light-brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp. vanilla

S'mores Layer:
- 1 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Top Layer:
- 6 Tbps. brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp. butter, softened
- 3/4 cup crushed graham crackers
- 6 Tbsp. flour
- Handful of chocolate chips

Instructions

Bottom and Middle Layer:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the base layer. Stir until a crumbly type of dough has been formed. Press this "dough" into the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking pan.
3. Cook for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top and remove from the oven.
4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top to melt.
5. Sprinkle the marshmallows on top of the chocolate chips.

Top Layer:

1. Beat together the brown sugar and butter until light and creamy. Stir in the oats, crushed graham crackers, and flour.
2. Scoop the dough over the marshmallow layer. The dough doesn't cover it completely, but will cook together somewhat. Just evenly disperse scoops of dough on top of the marshmallows.
3. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes (it will still be a bit gooey), then remove and allow to cool. These taste great right out of the oven, but take a good hour to fully set. If you don't mind messy bars, then dig in!
4. Top the mostly cooled bars with a handful of chocolate chips

Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving folks and have a lovely fall!!

Gaby
xox

Amsterdam

Hello!

Okay okay I know I promised more writing but it's been hard to find a second to do anything this past month (in the best way possible) between travelling and studying. So far I've been loving everything about being abroad. My initial worries of no Netflix or peanut butter have been resolved and I've found some really nice running paths so it's all good (#priorities). 

Sometime soon-ish (sorry if it's later rather than sooner) I will post about how international my classes are, how awesome everyone is, how I've been managing to cook in a kitchen that's basically a quarter of the size of my closet at home, and how much fun I've had in places like Brussels and Dieppe. For now, all I can think, dream, and post about is Amsterdam!! 

My oh my!! If there's a city that surpassed my already high expectations it's Amsterdam. I'm writing this on the fancy bus ride home and milking the on board WiFi for all it's worth. Amsterdam is absolutely wonderful for a multitude of reasons but for me it was the following:

1. Beautiful men. Now I contemplated not putting this first, but let's be real Dutch guys are perfect. And that little accent... someone fan me.

2. Biking everywhere. I love to bike so put me in a city where everything is centred around biking and I'll be one happy camper. People bike with babies, surfboards, umbrellas, boom boxes, friends on their handlebars, you name it! They also rule the roost which I am not used to. Everyone stops for the bikers and I totally felt like royalty when I was cruising around town on two wheels.

3. The canals and houses. The scenery is beautiful in Amsterdam. Every street has such nice houses and after nosily peeking into people's houses they also have an impeccable sense of interior design. 

4. Restaurants on restaurants. Maggie had done some extensive research (i.e. Read a chapter of Rick Steves' Europe) before coming so we ate like queens our whole stay, but even by just walking down the street you could find so many neat looking places to grab a bite to eat.

5. Proximity to the countryside. You can easily get to North Amsterdam by a free ferry that travels all day and night. From there, there are countless little towns and bike paths.  Can someone say quaint?

6. Museums on museums. Amsterdam has TONS of wonderful museums. I went to the Anne Frank House and was blown away, a definite must!

 Now you might realize that my stay in Amsterdam was pretty wholesome. I didn't get the chance to prance through the Red Light district or smoke weed every moment of the day, but that's what makes this city so cool. There's honestly something for everyone! 

So now that I've ranted for 7 hours about how much I love Amsterdam, here's a little look back on some highlights and great tips from our extra long weekend. Hooray for class cancellations!

TRAVEL

Bla Bla Car: This carpooling site has saved us so many times! It's perfect for last minute trips because unlike trains and planes, Bla Bla rides usually come up at the last minute and are really cheap. Plus I've met so many cool people! Think driving with two Spanish students while blasting Bruce Springsteen and Enrique... 

iD Bus: This coach bus is really awesome. We took it on our way home from Amsterdam for 29 euro. There's WiFi, bathrooms, outlets, and comfy seats so you really can't go wrong. 

STAY

Stay Okay Stadsdoelen Hostel: This hostel was luxurious! It was so clean, nice, and safe, and the beds were really private. On top of that they were really well located on a nice canal and there was a huge breakfast included. For 15 euro a night we thought it was an ah-ma-zing deal! 5.0 rating for sure. 

Dutch Cottage: For two nights of our stay we splurged a bit and rented the sweetest little cottage outside the city. It came with beautiful bicycles that we used one day to bike into the city (about 45 min) and the next to bike to a lovely little island with a nice harbour and a clog factory. Our stay was honestly the best combination of city and country. I'd definitely recommend staying in the country and biking around for a bit! 

PARTY

Paradiso: Maggie and I's first night was pretty crazy. We got to our first hostel (kind of a sketchy place) and quickly met a group of other students staying there. After a few drinks at a bar, we headed to Paradiso, a renovated church that played what I can only describe as hipster rap music. It was so so so much fun!!! It also turns into a concert venue, talk about versatile!

SHOP

Episode: Maggie was a stellar store finder throughout our trip! She found THE MOST amazing second hand store I've ever witnessed. They had such good selection and everything was so neatly sorted. The store also alters a lot of clothes to make them more trendy. Imagine a rack of 20 Ralph Lauren polos that have been cropped and the sleeves removed to make cute little crop tops. Or a whole slew of brightly coloured Doc Martens. I was a very bad girl and bought a few too many items!!

EAT

De Bolhoed: A cute little vegetarian/vegan spot that made the best homemade healthy food at a reasonable price. I felt like a real environmentally conscious local dining here. 

De Witte Swaen Pannenkoekenhuis (The White Swan Pancake House): Maggie and I biked to this lovely pancake house from our cottage in the little 17th century town of Broek in Waterland. The houses in the town were everything my Pinterest boards could imagine! My ideal life would be to marry a Dutch man and live here and bike everywhere with little blonde kids on the back of my bike. With that said, the pancakes were so unbelievably delicious! I had the goat cheese, brie, roasted pecan, and honey Dutch pancake (pictured above). Yum yum!

Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs (The 4 pictures above): I guess Holland is famous for their pancakes, although they are really more like crepes. This restaurant is housed in a tiny building built in 1539. There are only four tables and you have to reserve to get a spot because it's really popular. I had the ham and cheese pancake and it was delicious! Word on the street was that the Real Housewives of somewhere were filming an episode in the restaurant this week.

Bazar: Now this is a cool place! It is in a converted church with a really bumping atmosphere. Did I just say bumping? It was so lively and served really tasty middle eastern food. I had a huge bowl of fish soup for 5.90 euro! It was the type of place you just want to bring a big group of friends and keep the plates of delicious food flowing.

Kantjil & de Tijger To Go: If you're looking for cheap, fresh, really yummy Indonesian takeout this is your place! You choose your base (noodles or rice), veggie mix (steamed, in a peanut sauce, etc.), then your meat (beef in coconut sauce, spicy chicken, etc.) and then voila! Fast and delicious! They have a full restaurant but we opted to just go to the takeout counter.

It was a magical weekend and I'm so tempted to go back!

Have a nice week and don't work too hard :)

xox

G

Barcelona-Paris-Rouen

Hello friends!!

I HAVE INTERNET! Yes, I can now communicate, check the weather, take pictures of food, and take total advantage of everything else offered on the world wide web. I'm finally back on the net and ready to share! It's still crazy to think I'm in France writing this, but I'm sure not complaining. There's is sooooo much to say so I'm going to give a little summary of my past two weeks since I left the Nation's capital.

Week 1: Barcelona
HOLY catfish I don't know where to start with Barcelona. But in short the city is gorgeous/lively/filled with SO much history. I felt like I was Scarlett Johansson in Vicky Cristina Barcelona as I snapped my way through the city! Maggie and I toured around all day everyday and we got to see everything from the beaches to the mountains. We even went to one of the oldest churches in Barcelona and shook the priest's hand #catholicgirlsdoitbetter.

I think what really helped was our amazing apartment in the trendy El Born neighbourhood. We found it on AirBnB, and my God I love that site! I really felt like a local when running to the supermarket or chatting with the little old lady on the balcony across the alley way. It was so nice to have a clean safe space to go back to at night and to cook our meals. We saved A LOT of money cooking for ourselves and it meant we got to go to the near by markets to pick up fruit and veg, meats, and cheeses.

Week 2 (Part 1): Paris

We then took the train from Barcelona to Paris. The ride was about six hours and had stunning views of old castles, southern France country side, and tons of gorgeous seascapes. Once in Paris, we stayed at another apartment through AirBnB. It was super cheap and situated in a lovely neighbourhood near Bastille with little bistros popping up everywhere and anywhere. Our host, Delphine, even made us heart shaped brownies, just what we needed!

We only spent a full day and two nights in Paris so we had a lot to cover, but we never felt rushed. We were able to walk everywhere with a few bus/metro rides interspersed here and there. We saw the Louvre (but it was closed), the Notre Dame de Paris, the Eiffel Tower, Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore, and many many other special spots. We finished the day with AMAZINGLY LOADED falafels from L'as du Falafel, which I had heard of on blog I read. It was the perfect day! 

Week 2 (Part 2): Rouen

On Wednesday morning we headed to Rouen, where the NEOMA Business School is located, on the train. Might I mention that while we were travelling by plane, train, metro, bus, taxi, and donkey (jk!) up until we got to school we had ALL our luggage. That's right, FOUR MONTHS worth of stuff. If I didn't get my weight training in then, I don't think I ever will. I brought a big suitcase (49 lbs) and one carry on (thanks Kate), which isn't a lot for four months, but it's a lot to have with you on a busy rush hour metro in downtown Paris. Trust me. Anyways we made it to school with slightly aching joints and got all signed in and moved into residence. I really love my room in residence and I'm right across the hall from Maggie. We also both have stellar bathroom mates (we have adjoining rooms that share a bathroom) and our floor is awesome. Apparently we live on the party floor, but no complaints on that front ;) Before nights out, our halls fill with students from all over the world. It's amazing how universal a game of flip cup and some Black Eyed Peas are...

So far we've been really busy with orientation and workshops, tours, partying, and doing little local french things like getting 1 euro crepes at the flea market across the street. I also got a lovely sweater and some kitchen supplies at the sale. I had my first class yesterday and it was so strange, we all had to get up and introduce ourselves and say why we chose to take the class and how we think it will apply to our career. It was a pretty small class (~30 students) but still different from home. Another difference is that all classes are three hours so I'm going to have to pack some snacks and caffeine in my bag if I want to get through the semester!

I'll keep posting little updates here and there, and please do write me!! I miss all my Canadian friends and family and especially the supply of peanut butter. Little side note: There is NO NETFLIX OR PEANUT BUTTER HERE???? Why was there no mention of this on the countless study abroad blogs I poured over? However I am totally digging the 1 euro camembert cheese and wine!!!!

À tout à l'heure mes amis!

xoxox
(or should I say bises!!)

Gaby

p.s. My friend Emily also has a blog about studying here in Rouen. Check it out!!