Nice is very Nice.

6/13/16- went to the beach!! THE WATER IS SO BLUE YOU WOULD NOT EVEN BELIEVE IT. we felt like we were floating in literal kool aid. So amazing. Then we headed over to Old Nice which was very cute and had lots of cool streets and cute restaurants and shops (we tried socaa). Then we headed up to The Rock and the Castle which was a heck of a lot of stairs but totally worth it because the view was incredible. Then we went to dinner with some friends we made here and ended up watching street performers for a while before we walked back home along Promenade des Anglais. A very swell day.
6/14/16- beach! again! This time we swam out to one of the buoys which was actually pretty far out there lol and on the way back we low key freaked out at first because it felt like we were not moving at all. Suddenly visions of me spending the rest of my life treading water while getting swept away to sea flashed through my mind. Obviously it was just our brains playing tricks on us because here I am alive and well sitting in my hotel room updating my blog. After the beach we headed over to a Russian Orthodox Cathedral and it was cool to see the style of architecture since it is so different from the other cathedrals we had seen thus far. I also liked how it was bue on the inside. I would include pictures, but we couldn't take any inside. Then we stopped and got groceries and made ourselves a nice little dinner! yay for being domestic af. man I don't think I mentioned this but I live our apartments here because its the most space I've had since I got to France and its nice to have our own kitchen that we can cook in.
6/15/16- AKA TODAY. This morning after hitting up the pool, we headed over to the Chagall Museum and some rooms were closed but the ones that were open were super cool. I really like Chagall's style and I especially like the colors he uses. It was also cool to see the room of sketches for the Palais Garnier. Then we headed back to Old Nice and shopped and then ate at the most delicious indian restaurant ever. so good. then we headed over to the Fan Zone to meet up with some friends (the ones we got dinner with) to watch the soccer game! SO FUN and so intense haha it was cool to learn the different chants as the game went on. SUCH A GREAT LAST 5 MINUTES AND FRANCE WON so that was good. It was also cool on the ride home because cars would drive by honking with French flags hanging out the windows and wow no words really to describe the emotions but I am absolutely in love with this country and the people here. wow it must be getting late because that was incredibly cheesy. On that note, enjoy these pics. G'night.

Kool Aid

the rock

View from The Rock and the Castle 

Russian Orthodox Cathedral

friendz and viewz

Musée Chagall

nice fan zone!!!

bus trip

6/6/16- we started our bus trip! so far we’ve gone to Bayeux to see the Tapestry there which was really cool (especially with an audioguide to explain it all to you)—moral of their story: don’t go back on your oaths or you might get shot in the eye and accidentally kill your brothers) After that we got back on the bus and headed to Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery there. While reading about war in textbooks it is easy to forget that every number has a face, a family and a story. The video presentation they had did a very good job of reminding the viewer of that and we may or may not have gotten a little misty eyed. It was also especially touching today, since today is the 72nd anniversary of D-Day and there were lot of soldiers waling around and seeing the young men, some with their families, really put everything into perspective. It is so important to love, respect and support our troops! Now we are back on the bus for another 45 minutes on our way to St-Lo where our hotel and dinner are waiting so that’s exciting.
6/7/16- Mont St-Michel aka THE CASTLE FROM TANGLED. So cool. and also a lot of stairs on that little island. Then we went over to Saint Malo which reminded me of Bodega Bay but like a creepier version bc abandoned boats and a fortified city.
6/8/16- we finished up at Angers which is a Medieval Castle and now we are on our way to Ussé. Good stuff. Ussé ended up being a super cool château and its the place that inspired the author of Sleeping Beauty. The main part of the château is all normal château type stuff, but there was a tower you could climb up that had scenes from Sleeping Beauty set up in different rooms and they had the attic area open that you could walk through. Also there was a flooded road that reflected the sky and it was actually absolutely gorgeous.
6/9/16- We went to Azay-le-Rideau which was under restoration but also had a cool audioguide and a nice grass area where you could sit in the sun. Then we went to Chenonceau which was Diane de Poitier and Catherine de Médicis' castle and they both had their own separate gardens. The château was built over the river, which is still very high and fast because of all the rain, so it was especially cool. Then we ended the day at Château d'Amboise which completely reminded us of Reign (great show 10/10 would recommend). It was up on a hill and had an absolutely gorgeous garden and the sun was out so all of the colors were super vibrant. Very cool.
6/10/16- Chateau de Blois! It was right next to our hotel and it was super interesting. Found out that it is very likely that Beauty and the Beast was based off of a true story. Mom and dad thanks for genes that don't result in a birth defect where I have thick hair growing all over my body--including my face. Besides that there was a building across the square where they had mechanical dragons coming out of the windows and smoke blowing and all we could say was "wtf." anyways, then we headed to our last chateau of the week: Chambered AKA BEAST'S CASTLE (as in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST). It was perfect omg there was a huge forest surrounding the chateau and lots of towers and it was all so lovely. Plus they had this super dope double staircase that I can't really explain, you'll just have to experience one for yourself. Anyways that night we took the bus back to Paris and had to say goodbye to the coolest bus driver ever. In Paris my friend and I went to grab some things/ meet up with our friend who lives there for dinner (ok whatever dinner was at chipotle. judge me. I miss my Mexican food. so much.)
6/11/16- TGV to Nice!! OUR APARTMENTS HERE ARE SO COOL I'M IN LOVE. Chilled at the beach for a while which was absolutely gorgeous. Got some dinner at a cafe near the hotel and we had the most interesting pizza of our lives.
6/12/16- Church! Then we went to the Matisse Museum which was cool and I was impressed by how many styles of art he did and I especially loved the rooms that showcased his work that was inspired by Tahiti. Then we wandered around for a while (doing our Get Lost walk) and then we discovered that busses here can switch numbers while you're on them. Good life lesson learned there. Lol. But now I am back chilling in our room and you're all caught up!

Also there are wayy too many pictures to put on here from this past week alone so imma put a link here that will take you to my photo blog if you actually care to look:

http://vsco.co/stephblackham/images/1

last paris stuff ):

I would put pictures on this one but apparently they're all on the cloud and won't upload. oh well. they're pretty cool pictures.


5/23/16/- Flew to CDG, hurried as fast as possible to get to class, discovered the best little sandwich shop ever, slept on the floor during the other class, had a meeting after our class, went home and was pretty much dead until 9pm when we had dinner.
5/24/16- Walk #9! It was a really beautiful walk that went around the Louvre, through a really cool little courtyard, an antique shop, Bourse and Passage des Panoramas which is such a cool street I would highly recommend it to anyone who visits Paris.
5/25/16- Walk #14! It was over in my neck of the woods (aka 17e arrondissement) and we went to 2 hôtels which were really cool and we also went over to Parc Monceau where we were “attacked” by 2 little boys. I’m telling you guys: theres nothing quite like relaxing in the sun at a park in Paris. Also, one of the places had a winter garden and tbh I’ll fail at life if I don’t put one in my future home. #42 is lit.
5/26/16- Walk 7! This included Victor Hugo’s house and a cool courtyard. The thing that blows me away about Paris is that you can be walking down a completely normal street and walk through a door and end up in a garden in the middle of the city.
5/27/16- Went to dinner at Passage des Panoramas and then hit up the Eiffel Tower at night with some friends. Then a lot of crap happened but you see, we try to be positive so we’re not gonna talk about any of that. Anyways took the RER A out and slept over at a friends bc MONETS HOUSE NEXT MORNING.
5/28/16- MONETS HOUSE. ohmyheck. I felt like I was living in a painting. His gardens were so beautiful and wow I can’t even. There are no words. (so there will be pictures below). Then more crap. Then Arc de Triomphe and Chipolte.
5/29/16- Angelia for Claire’s birthday! Seriously such an expensive place but so worth it because everything is so good. Then a Sunday nap, of course.
5/30/16- SO MUCH RAIN. LIKE WOW. France is currently in a state of natural disaster lol but more on that later. All we did that day was get some bomb falafels and go watch the new X-Men movie.
5/31/16- I walked over to the French Statue of Liberty and then went over to Musee d’Orsay. (LOL x1000 @ lil rude man that pushed us out of line) I must confess: it is not always on purpose, but we literally never wait in the lines here. I love it. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Anyways we walked thorough the Musee and then ate at the little cafe behind the clock which was super cute.
6/1/16- Louvre! We went through the Egyptian, African, and Oceanic rooms which were not very crowded and really cool. I would highly suggest them. 

6/2/16- Walk 13! Started over at the Seine which was actually pretty flooded at this point haha we both thought it was so cool and all of the French people and tourists were standing at the edges of the water taking pictures. Obviously a very scary time. Then we walked around the streets and over to a forest area inside of Paris. It was absolutely gorgeous.
6/3/16- DISNEYLAND PARIS. currently getting a lil carsick on the bus writing this so I’m gonna make the rest of this short. Highlights: Crush’s Coaster, Tower of Terror, short lines, Alice’s Labyrinth, plentiful bathrooms, ice.
6/4/16- Went to Palais Garnier for the last time ): SO BEAUTIFUL. Definitely one of my favorite places in Paris. Then we walked over to the Louvre to see the flooding near Musee d’Orsay. Then we went to Rue Cler to eat dinner and then we headed over to the Eiffel Tower and climbed to the top. So many stairs. Incredible view. We were the only people laughing up there (besides the people we made laugh of course)
6/5/16- We had a broadcast for church and after I walked through a super sketch place to get to a metro. Fun stuff. A day of rest and packing. Good stuff.

Barcelona!

lol sorry I am really really bad at updating this. just embracing my true procrastinator. ya know what they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

5/19/16- we flew to Barcelona! lol @ french strikes bc our flight was very very delayed. But its ok we made it, got the best burger of our lives and got quality life advice from the very very drunk woman at the bus stop.
5/20/16- We went to Parc Guel, Sagrada Familia, Saint Pau, Brunch & Cake (for lunch obviously. best food of our lives), Catalunya, Latin Quarter (including a cathedral I couldn’t enter lol), THE BEACH. All in all it was a pretty bomb day and it was so cool to be in a city that was full of so much life and so many different languages.
5/21/16- Arc de Triomf, Las Ramblas (bomb gelato), Columbus Monument, BEACH! Can you tell we liked the beach? It was really cold but after swimming around for a lil bit it felt really freakin nice. Got a bit of a sunburn but thats ok.
5/22/16- Placa Espagna (I bought a hat), Montserrat, airport. Montserrat is this super cool monastery/little town out on the top of the mountains. IT. WAS. SO. BEAUTIFUL. And then that night we slept at the airport and it was probably the worst sleep of my life. Barcelona was honestly just 4 days of no sleep so we were kinda dead once we got back to France.

Sorry that there aren't very many details. 2 reasons for that 1. They're already in my journal and I don't feel like writing everything all over again 2. I have a heck of a lot to write for this so I want to keep everything as short as possible. Yay honesty.

parc güel

that one saint pau place

mont serrat

barcelona

church in gothic quarter

best food ever @ brunch & cake 

i like the ocean  

friends!

arc de triomf

always bring a jacket.

18/5/16 18:15

Saturday
As a class we went to Fontainebleau which was like a summer home version of Versailles if that makes sense. It was a lot less crowded and a lot less gaudy and all in all I liked it more. Even though the gardens are not as extensive and ornate, they are still very beautiful in a more simple way. We took an embarrassing amount of pictures, but hey it paid off because we got at least like 1.5 cute ones out of the (large number I don't want to admit) we took.

Sunday
churchhhhh woot woot youpi. Then we explored the Jewish quarter a little more and I got my fist falafel and some boba. It was a good day. Then I headed home and I have no recollection of what the heck I did.

Monday
We did walk #15 "Saint-Ouen's Labyrinth: Navigating the World's Largest Flea Market" which was cool and there were lots of cute little shops, including some with stacks on stacks of bongs. quality. then we headed back over to the marais and Claire and I went thrift shopping and got some quality black leather jackets! am I a native yet!?!? lol then we had FHE and watched a 40 minute long video and I was sitting on the arm of a chair the whole time and my butt totally feel asleep, but hey at least I didn't actually fall asleep like a couple of the people there. Then we headed home for dinner with our host family which was a crepe party! yay! pro-tip: for the best crepes just put sugar and lemon juice on it.

Tuesday (yesterday)
We did walk #11 "Lutetia Pulchra Est: Musée National du Moyen Âge, Sorbonne, Pantheon, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, Arènes de Lutèce" and the weather was actually really nice so it was very pleasant. On our walk we ran into a girl from our ward and she came along with us for the rest of the walk so that was really nice because she's been living here longer and was able to teach us some words and help us learn more "slang". The parthenon was a crypt-like thing and I can now say that I have seen where Victor Hugo and Marie Curie are buried. Swag. Then we ended up on Arènes de Lutèce which was an ancient Roman arena where animals and humans fought each other. Instead of watching that at the arena, we got to see lots of little school children flirt and play soccer. Supes interesting.

Today!
Walk #16 "Montmartre: Saint Denis and other legends". A little background: today the weather report said that it was going to be nice outside so I wore sandals, and didn't bring a jacket or an umbrella. Rookie mistake. Anyways, for the first couple hours it was actually a really nice day. And that is where we shall begin our story. We headed over to Montmartre and then took a bus (huge props to the driver, those roads are cray) to where we had lunch and then we headed up to Sacre-Cœur where we climbed to the top (300 stairs, so ya know, another leg day) and the view was absolutely stunning. besides the Eiffel Tower, the Basilica is the highest point in paris, so yeah, that was swaggy. Had a nice Beyonce dance party at the top. Then after we got out it started raining. And then as we continued the walk, it started REALLY raining. So that was fun. (see below for pic of me loving the weather!!!!) Anywho, despite the rain and getting soaked and absolutely freezing most of the day, it was a quality day. There are worse places to get soaked I suppose. And oh yeah we also saw Van Gogh's house and Moulin Rouge so that was cool.

if u look closely u can see me and friends

before the guard told us to get out

$wanz

look at me like this lion (or dragon??) looks at the smaller version of itself

biiiiigggggg

wow s'cute

basic 

af

mom and dad: dont read what those shorts say!

parthenon

wall of love

my first croque-monseiur 

friends and sacre-cœur

viewz

!!!

me @ the stupid rain

Dear Picasso, WHAT R U DOING?

23:05 13/5/16

Today has been swell. We did walk #8 "Marais 2: The Jewish Quarter and Musée Picasso" which was actually only a block or two away from where we have class so that was convenient. We stopped at Magnum Paris and it totally made me think of my grandma who is totally rad. Sorry that I didn't buy anything, but don't worry I'll go back sometime before I leave to get something. Pretty much it was a "customize-your-own" ice cream bar type of place and they all looked friggen delicious. Walking through the Jewish Quarter was really cool and if you like falafels, it is definitely the place for you! We stopped at "Archives Nationale" which was like a mini version of Versailles. Except there were tourists everywhere. So we definitely really liked it. Then we scurried on over to "Musée Cognacq-Jay" which was a fancy house/art museum. Très chic. Then we had the immense pleasure of going to Musée Picasso. Can you sense the sarcasm in my voice? Don't get me wrong, art is super cool and I love having to ability to see chef d'oeuvres up close and personal, but seriously...what the heck Picasso? Maybe I'm missing some deeper meaning but I just really did not get any of the art/why people find it so amazing. Like one room in particular had a bunch of people in it around a painting so I assumed that it would be something absolutely amazing...and then I rounded a corner and saw that it was literally just some goats on a hill. anyways, on a more exciting note, I GOT BOBA YAY. and then I came home and worked on my essay that was due tonight because oh yeah.. I'm still in school? Easy to forget sometimes when I'm out and enjoying this city haha. And now I am comfortably in my pajamas ready to watch a lil netflix and then hit the hay. Night night. Sweet dreams.

@grandma

cool wall art made of lots of tiny faces

anothah one!

look back at it? we tried, i failed

princess' rooms always have the best lighting

creppy af

attempt to recreate creepy af

kewl?

boobs or olives?

HOW IS THIS ART I DON'T UNDERSTAND

I LOVE FRANCE AND I LOVE BEING MORMON

19:45 12/5/16

Monday

After class we did walk #10: «Playing Hooky in Le Quartier Latin». We started at Fontaine Saint-Michel and walked along the streets which were full of little shops and restaurants. One thing to warn you about: most of the restaurants will have a person standing at the door and if you stop for a second to check the menu, they will try their hardest to convince you to eat there. Anyways, we stopped at l'église Saint-Séverin which was beautiful (like every other church we've been to this trip. Seriously. So many churches) We stopped for lunch and I got steak-frites!!! I don't think you understand how cool it was to see that in real life after having it on like every vocab list ever since freshman year high school French. Ok maybe I exaggerated a little but still, it was a cool "coming-full-circle" type of moment. After that we finished the walk by strolling along the seine and Pont Neuf (@ my freshman year Paris project). There were lots of bouquinistes and I got all my souvenir shopping done #yay. After the walk we went to Shakespeare and Co. and sat in the park to get our homework done. After, we went home to regroup before heading back out for FHE that night which was a really cool experience. After that we left early to have dinner with our host mom which was delicious (comme d'habitude)

Tuesday

Walk #4 «Of Art, War, and World's Fairs: Les Invalides, Musée Rodin, La Tour Eiffel».  We started over at Champs-Elysées and walked past the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais and then headed over to Esplanade des Invalides where we got Domino's pizza for lunch. Classy. I know. Then we went inside Invalides and saw Napoleans tomb. When we got out we saw lots of people and smoke in the street so of course we went to see what was going on. Turned out to be a manifestation and around that time it started raining. Yaya. We headed into the army museum at Hôtel des Invalides which was also really cool to see more modern stuff in a museum. Next on the list was Musée Rodin which was actually a really cool (and small) museum with beautiful gardens that would've been even cooler if it wasn't pouring. After we met up with some people visiting from Utah and we went up to Sacre-Cœur which was gorgeous and I got soaked. Then later we all met up again to watch the lights at the Eiffel-Tower and rent bikes. PSA: if you have not biked along the seine and through the Latin quarter at night, you have not been doing life correctly. By far one of my favorite nights to date.

Wednesday

We had class at the BYU apartment and then headed over together to go into Petit Palais which is now a museum and had a lot of 16th and 17th century art which is what we're studying right now so that was cool. After that I took a nap. Very nice and very needed.

Thursday (aujourd'hui!!!)

This morning after class we did walk #6: «Marcher le nez au vent: sights and smells around the Madeleine». It was a really cool walk. We went into two churches (surprise surprise) but they were both really cool. One was inside a Parthenon looking building and the inside kinda matched that as well. Afterwards we went to a museum of perfume. So sick. Of course I bought one (it was actually really cheap. Like same price as Bath & Body Works. But like actually smells really good) after taking a tour through the museum (which was actually super interesting and one of my favorite museums so far) we headed over to Musée d'Orsay for a tour with our group. So. Cool. I love art. Especially when a very smart person is explaining everything to you. Right after the tour we hopped on the RER to Versailles and I am still sitting on the train rn lol. Why are we going to Versailles you ask? BECAUSE UCHTDORF IS SPEAKING THERE TONIGHT. can you tell I'm excited? Along with being excited; I'm also late. But that's okay. Mormon standard time right? That's all for now but I'll finish up tonight when I get home (hopefully lol)
One last thing: I LOVE PARIS AND ITS ALREADY BEEN 3 WEEKS AND TIME IS GOING BY TOO FAST AND IT MAKES ME SCARED AND SAD BECAUSE I DON'T EVER WANT THIS TRIP TO END. Ok tantrum over we can all go back to being responsible adults now. Â bientôt.
23:54 12/5/16
Update: we got on the wrong train hahahahahah my life. we ended up on the opposite side of the city of Versailles so we walked fast/jogged/ran to the Palais des Congrès and made it in time to see Uchtdorf speak!!! and it was so good!!! He talked about so many things that I wanted/needed to hear and overall it was an amazing experience. Afterwards we grabbed some (delicious) dinner; you can never go wrong with 5 euro kebabs. yum. afterwards we got on the RER back to Paris and there were like 8 missionaries and 10 of us BYU kids on the train! It was quite amusing. we all went around and said our names ad where we were from and it was cool to see all the connections. Man I love Mormons and missionaries. As we were transferring to the metro a girl came up and asked if we were from BYU and turns out she graduated from there and is now trying to find a job in Paris. Her friend ended up on the same metro as us and her name is Stephanie (!!!!) and as we left we got bises (!!!!our first real ones from a french person!!!) all in all it was a long but utterly amazing day. I love life. Like wow. On that note, imma hit the hay and get some shut eye to catch up. Peace and blessings.