la vie en rose: I KNOW I'M A PROCRASTINATOR.

22:43 4/5/16

ok ok ok I know... I've been slacking and procrastinating. So enjoy this sparknote version of the past couple days! yay!

Saturday

okay so I have something to admit... It's a secret I've been keeping for a while now... when it comes to phantom of the opera, les miserable and a select few other musicals I'm a bit of a theater geek. So when I was able to go to Palais Garnier (the opera house phantom of the opera is based off of) I was very very very very excited. With a flash of my magical student card we all got in for free (my favorite word). IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL I WAS IN AWE THE ENTIRE TIME. There is marble and gold and big staircases and velvet seats and crystal chandeliers and just wow. Somehow (lol) we ended up in the orchestra section of the theater and to be able to stand under the chandelier was just wow. Yeah no words lol. You'll be glad (hopefully) to hear it did not fall on us. After the opera house I was a really good and selfless (and humble) person and I went with my roommate and one of the guys on the trip to help him find a European swimsuit. Long story short he ended up buying it at a guy's version of Victoria's Secret and I saw things that I can never un-see. So THAT was an interesting experience. That night we all met up to see the new Captain America Civil War movie and apparently that doesn't come out for another couple days in the US so ha ha y'all can suck it. Jk. Kinda. The movie was in English (thankfully) with French subtitles (obviously) and it was interesting to see how not everything was translated directly and some details were either added or left out in the subtitles. All in all, great movie and I won't spoil anything, I'll just say that the new guy is straight fire. Like a solid 13/10. Incredible.

Sunday

church. Fun. And then after church I walked over to notre dame and along the seine. Solid afternoon. Then I headed home and took a Sunday nap. #blessed. Pretty casual day but it was nice to just chill.

Monday

after class we did walk #3 "A walk in the park: Montparnasse and the Jardin du Luxembourg" which ended at le Jardin du Luxembourg (duh) which is where I came yesterday and is where I'm sitting right now. Can you tell that I already like it a lot????? The walk took us past a really cool gelato place where they make your Gelato into a flower if you get it in a cone. So sick. The Montparnasse Tower is also around here and I want to come back again closer to that because they have a wall of love and the views from the top of the tower are supposed to be the best in Paris. Yay. Then I got some grocery shopping done at good ole monoprix. That night we had dinner with our host mom and 2 of the other girls staying with us. I ate an artichoke. Like the whoooole thing. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Tuesday (yesterday)

after class we did Walk #17 "Small buildings need not apply: La Défense" which was way cool. It's in a more modern part of Paris that looks more like NYC or SF or something. They had a lot of cool sculptures and the walk ended at a huge mall. #hypercool (sidenote OMG it's actually so nice outside that it's like actually HOT in the sun. That's exciting.) anywayyys, after that we came over to Jardin du Luxembourg and then I headed home for dinner with my host mom and everyone was there including her cousin so there were 7 of us squished around the table and it was nice to have everyone there and talk to them and get pro-tips about where to eat/what to see/where to shop etc. (also embarrassing middle school stories are always entertaining).

Today

class!!! And then we did Walk #12 "Time Travel, Tricks, and Treats around Saint-Sulpice" which (obviously) took us to Saint-Sulpice and it was beautiful inside. After that we ended up walking over here to the Jardin and the sun is so nice and I'm about to take a nap on the grass so I guess if anything else blog-worthy happens to me today I'll add that, but if not this is the end. Byeeeeeeeee.
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii just finished up dinner with my host mom and I must say that when it comes to the metro I literally have the worst luck. Well I guess not the worst because (knock on wood) I have not been the victim of a pickpocket yet (rip the wallets of 2 people on this trip and it's only been a week and a half). I got off at Châtelet because I thought it would be faster...(lol)...and did not realize that it was a huuuuge station and a 10 minute walk inside to the line I needed to get on..well you live and you learn and you take a lot more stairs than you expected. Also sidenote: SO MANY PEOPLE HERE SMOKE like actual cigarettes..everywhere. It's so strange to see because back home not very many people will smoke those in public. Also update: I am about halfway through my book and its sooo good. Like really. Wow. Amazing. It makes all of our long(ish) commute times fly by. Also theres nothing quite like reading a good book on the metro. Very relaxing. 10/10 would recommend.

FYI these pics are prob gonna be out of order. Sorry not sorry.