Un rêve de Paris

A street artist forms giant bubbles in from of the fountain on Boulevard Saint-Michel

 Wandering this city never gets old. One Sunday stroll led us to this sight; we felt like children playing make believe for a brief moment. It's the simple pleasures of Paris that make you truly appreciate being here. 

Adwentures, part 2

Kölner Dom

Friday we found ourselves running to a Berlin Linien Bus to make the 7:30am departure to Düsseldorf where we would arrive around 4:30pm. Why Düsseldorf? Our friend lives in a "very small town" near there. The plan was to hang out until 10 when he and our other friend were getting in by train, then go to his place together

Adwentures, part 1

At first our trip to Germany felt like a joke gone way too far. The whole thing started when a dormmate criticized our travel plans one night. Next thing you know, we're invited to his house and meeting him in Düsseldorf after a 9 hour bus ride across the country.

Centre Pompidou

Both images were taken at the Centre Pompidou. When I visited the permanent collection was down (it's being rehung and will be open again in a few weeks) so I saw elles@Pompidou. I was not a fan, the exhibit combined two things I really don't like: feminism and contemporary art.

More to come soon, I'll give you my German update!

Charmant

 

Château de Chantilly

It's places like this that remind me why I wanted to be a princess when I was little.

I don't think I'll be doing the Loire Valley this time around, I'd rather wait to do it properly (basically not as a student on a budget)...but it was nice to see at least one French chateau.

New Monday Routine

 Three occupied arcades in the courtyard of the Louvre

On Mondays I have a 5 hour break between classes. At first I thought this was pretty awful, it reminded me of when I scheduled huge breaks in between classes freshman fall. However, being in Paris and all, it's pretty easy to find something to occupy my time. I've started going to the Louvre on Mondays, with my CEA student card it's free - I can do a room or 5 and it doesn't really matter. I'll shoot for about an hour and then spend the rest of my free time anywhere in the museum, it makes for a damn good afternoon.

Also - the photo above is my new favorite (of my career). Learning patience pays off tremendously when shooting here, you have to constantly look for the right moment.

Brussels, Better Late than Never

 An airplane streaked smoke across the sky over the Grand-Place in Brussels

In the chaos of losing my credit cards and the mess that was my laptop, it took a while to sit down and concentrate on processing photos and writing. But everything is back on track, my cards have been replaced, my laptop works again, and I can finally update this - I thought I'd start with my weekend in Brussels two weeks ago.

Brussels was an interesting city, I think the best word to describe it would be confused. The old architecture is next to new buildings, the metro goes in a couple of repetitive loops (and there isn't really anyone who checks your ticket, so we rode for free the whole weekend), and the people looked just a little off. The place gave off a weird vibe. I think I'm happy I went, I probably won't be back, unless to get a waffle (they sure do those right in Belgium). I was actually surprised at how seriously Brussels was about its waffles, it was on the same level as Paris and crepes. We also spent a freezing Saturday in Bruges...maybe I'll return there when it's warmer, it was quite charming (just hard to enjoy when I couldn't feel my feet).