On Day 27 of my study abroad experience, I slept in and then met up with Michael to visit Sacré Coeur in the Montmartre area. I'd visited Sacré Coeur before (I'd visited Paris two years prior to studying abroad in France), but Michael had never been there. It's definitely an area you should see once in your lifetime and a must-stop place if you visit Paris. We took the metro there, and walked up to the Basilica at the very top. It is seriously such a beautiful church. We sat inside for a little, just to soak up the experience more and then decided to walk around the shops around the church. There are a ton of tiny boutiques on the streets surrounding the basilica and lots to look at. Since this place is known for the painters in the area (there's actually a courtyard by the basilica that has TONS of artists painting and selling their art) we picked up two small paintings while we were here. We got a painting of the Notre Dame (one of my FAVORITE places in Paris) and the Eiffel Tower (of course!).

Day 28 was a Sunday and we went to the area around the Notre Dame for breakfast (if you're looking for places to just wander around and randomly find something to eat, this place is great for that because there are lots of little restaurants and cafes). Since it was one of our final days in Paris, we decided to climb the Eiffel Tower. We took the stairs, which was a work out, but definitely worth it for the views. It's actually pretty cheap to do as well (I believe it's about 4-6 euros per person to climb the first half of the Eiffel Tower, then less than 10 euros to go all the way to the top)

About half way up the Eiffel Tower...look at that VIEW!

On Day 29 of my study abroad experience in Paris, Michael and I had a "date night" type of thing to celebrate our whole experience in Paris. We stopped by the lock bridge by the Notre Dame, and put our own lock on it (we couldn't resist). After putting our lock on the bridge and throwing the key in the Seine (I wonder how many keys are at the bottom of that river! haha), we went to dinner. We found a restaurant by the Notre Dame and got a three course "set" meal. A "set" meal is where they offer an appetizer, main course, and dessert from a menu that offers 3-6 options for each course. You then pay a set price inside of paying each course individually... you just pay per person if that makes sense (just as an FYI, there are a lot of restaurants around the Notre Dame that offer this type of dining experience). I got french onion soup, steak and spaghetti, and a caramel custard. SO GOOD! After dinner, we had a final boat tour along the Seine River with the rest of our program. It was so bitter, sweet but nice to float along the river and admire the city at night. After that, a group of us decided to go to the Pantheon to reenact the scene from Midnight in Paris. (haha)

Our lock is the one with the huge red heart on it... I can't wait to go back in a couple years and see if it's still on there!

I forced Michael to pose with me so I could capture the moment...I'm such a girl. haha

Look how beautiful the Eiffel Tower is at night.. totally surreal to ride by it on the boat and see it sparkle!

I'll be adding pictures of Sacré Coeur soon, so be sure to check back! :) 

Also read on to my next post on DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!   

  xoxo, Morgan 

The Travel Breakdown: Study Abroad in Paris; Académie De La Bière, Mummified Animals, Yummy Mussels

With only a week left, I really felt like a true Parisian. On day 24, my friends and I got breakfast and attended class and then walked around the area of Bastille (the metro stop!). I love this area because they have tons of tiny boutiques that offer unique items and they have a couple open air markets here. Of course, I can't go to the open air market without picking up cherries and peaches... for some reason, they're so much better than the ones from home! For dinner that night, a group of us went to
Académie De La Bière (In English, this means the Beer Academy) and got the moules et frites (mussels and french fries!). Evidently, this place is known for this dish and I can see why! It was excellent and they gave super large servings! They're also known for their beers, but I'm not a big beer drinker so I obviously didn't get any. A great place to eat and they're open late ;) If you take the RER B, get off on Port-Royal.. it's very close to the RER exit.

On day 25 of my study abroad experience in Paris, Michael and I visited the Louvre Museum after class. With our program, we got in for free to all the museums in Paris, and since this museum is HUGE, we decided it was a good idea to go back and explore the museum one more time before we left. We spent more time in the Egyptian wing of the museum, and looked at all the mummified cats, dogs, fish, and crocodiles! So crazy! This is one museum I could spend days in and still not lose interest...and that's saying a lot ;) After, we got coffee and dinner at a cafe near the Cité Universitaire and met up with some friends to enjoy their company along the Seine River.  

Some of the displatys in the Louvre

On Day 26 of studying abroad in Paris, it was a typical day except we got a bunch of friends, crepes (yum!), apple cider (an alcoholic version of sparkling apple juice that's super popular in France), and a blanket and hung out in front of the Eiffel Tower for the night. We stayed there all night watching the sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower and the people, who were all enjoying the beautiful warm, evening weather. It was amazing being there with good company, and just relaxing, which is sometimes hard to do in such a busy city :) We caught the last metro back (the metro closes at 2 am I believe) and went to bed!

Even though it was the middle of the night, you can see how busy and lively this area is all the time! :)

 Almost done with my Paris trip! So sad :( Let me know what you guys think or if you've ever visited any of the places I've mentioned!

Read my next post on Sacre Coeur and Montmartre! Seriously so beautiful!

xoxo, Morgan 

The Travel Breakdown: Study Abroad in Paris; Bastille Weekend, The 14th of July, Eiffel Tower

In France, their "independence day" is July 14th. Luckily, I was in Paris to experience this celebration while I was studying abroad in Paris! On the 13th day, you could tell the city was buzzing in preparation for the next day. Because of this, Michael and I had a lazy day. We got breakfast and took it over to the park off of Rue du Faubourg. Here, we watched a caribbean band play music for a while, which was quite entertaining. Later that day, we met up with our friends from the Cite Universitaire and had our own bbq! This was really fun and we just sat and picnicked for a while. This is what most Parisians do on their free time. They like to picnic, smoke, eat cheese and wine (which is excellent in France, of course), smoke, and enjoy each others' company. I love this type of lifestyle :)

After eating and hanging out for a while, we went to a local bar in Paris. I, unfortunately, don't remember the name of the bar :( but it was a typical bar. We caught a cab later and came home late!

Finally, the day was here....Bastille Day! We got breakfast at McDonald's because all the other local businesses were closed since it was a holiday. We then stopped by the CarreFour, which is a grocery store here, and loaded up on provisions for the day. We picked up wine and snacks and then took all that and a blanket over to the Eiffel Tower. In the grass by the Eiffel Tower is where everyone sits to watch the fireworks. Our teacher told us there would be thousands of people there! So Michael and I went early to get a good spot. We got lucky and got a spot that was in the center of everything! There was a show before the initial fireworks, and then around 9:30 pm or 10 pm, the fireworks started. It was one of the coolest fireworks I had ever seen! They also lit the Eiffel Tower up so it was oh so pretty and SPARKLY :D

Our spot in front of the Eiffel Tower was great! Look at the flag in the middle of the Eiffel Tower...very cool!

You can see how the fireworks illuminated the Eiffel Tower. 

They coordinated the lights on the Eiffel Tower and the fireworks with the music playing! By the way sorry for the poor picture quality again! It was difficult to take a picture with so many things going on and I didn't have the best camera at the time!

Look at how pretty the Eiffel Tower was!

Overall, one of my favorite days of my study abroad program in Paris, France. Just as a side note, if you're ever in Paris, visit the Eiffel Tower during the day AND at night. They turn the lights on at sunset, which in Paris during the summer time, is very late. Usually, the lights would sparkle at 10 pm, 11 pm, 12 pm, 1 am, and 2 am. I believe these are the times. I know they go off every hour, on the hour, after sunset. Definitely check them out because they are amazing!

Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower sparkle? Would you ever visit for Bastille Day?

Let me know if you have any questions so far and what you think about my study abroad series! I'd love to hear your feedback :)

Keep on reading!! My next post is about visiting Victor Hugo's house (the author of the Hunchback of Notre Dame), the notorious Club Rex, and L'Orangerie Museum!

xoxo, Morgan

The Travel Breakdown: Study Abroad in Paris, France; Why I Decided To Go

Here's part 1 of my study abroad adventure in Paris. I'll give you a quick BREAKDOWN of what the 30 day program I participated in included:

• unlimited public transport access (this included the metro system, the RER system, and public buses)
• education at The University of Paris, Sorbonne
• room and board at the Cité Universitaire
• entertainment (I'll go into more detail of activities we did in upcoming posts!)
• excursions (which I will also go over in upcoming posts :) ) 
• free entrance to all the museums in Paris

So where to start? I guess I'll start by saying I'm making these posts after my study abroad experience. It was just easier to enjoy the moment and then go back and reflect on my time in Paris :) 

One of the beautiful views I saw while climbing the Eiffel Tower!

I first decided I wanted to study abroad after my sister studied abroad in London. She had an amazing time and literally came back a changed person. She was much more "worldly" from the experience and she really grew from her experience. Since seeing how much she enjoyed London, I knew I wanted to study abroad. The first question of course is "Where should I go?" The obvious choice for me was Paris, France. 

In high school, I studied the French language and France for three years. I literally fell in love with the culture and history and the language itself is beautiful. Another reason why I chose Paris was because I wanted to experience something DIFFERENT. I wanted to go somewhere where the people spoke a different language, where the people acted differently, and where the culture was rich. For me, Paris encompassed all of this. 

The Notre Dame at night along the Seine River

Next, I had the pick the program. Luckily, I found a great program through my school. The specific program I chose is actually organized through another college, but anyone can sign up for the program. If you're interested in studying abroad, be sure to check what programs your school has to offer. If they don't offer a program that fits your needs, ask them to refer you to a program that would! I'm sure they'd be able to help! I signed up for my program about 6 months before I departed. That gave me enough time to prepare and brush up on my French (at this point, I hadn't spoken the language for more than 4 years so I was a little rusty!) 

The center of the Cité Universitaire

The particular building I stayed in

The main clock building! We would picnic in front of this building all the time!

In the next series of posts, I plan on writing about my experience, what I did, what I thought, etc. so be sure to keep checking back for those! They'll be coming out in the next week or so :) 

Have you studied abroad? Are you thinking of studying or traveling abroad? Let me know and we can chat :)

Keep going! The next post about studying abroad in Paris where I talk about my experience in school, Les Champs Elysees, Le Louvre, and Les Jardin Des Tuileries! 

xoxo, Morgan