Fall Break!

I survived the week of Parisian midterms and they were way less intense than expected. There was more hype around the school because of it... and because we are now on vacation for two weeks! We only get a week off for Thanksgiving at SF State so this is definitely a treat. Unfortunately, I had one asshole professor (who I have two classes with) push back his tests till after the break - but I intend to forget about advertising and international marketing while I'm on vacation. Speaking of, I'm headed to Greece on Friday for 11 days with my roommate Minh. We have a short stay in Athens but are mostly spending our time on the islands of Mykonos (party) and Santorini (pretty). My great-grandparents on my dad's side are from Astros, Greece so I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time in the land of my peeps.

My weekend here in Paris was packed with touristy outings, fun stuff and warm-ish weather. I saw Jay Z in concert on Thursday which was absolutely insane. Parisians LOVE him, he's a great performer with sooo many classics and he gets to touch Beyoncé regularly... so he's basically the best. On Friday, I finally went to the Museé d'Orsay with my friends Mikaela and Shelby. I loved seeing all the impressionist art and work from super famous artists like Monet, Manet and Van Gogh. We then ventured to over to Chipotle which was just as good as home but almost better cause I hadn't had it so long and Mexican food is such a rarity in Paris. Later that night, we headed to an Australian bar with lots of dancing and had a super fun evening, only completed by ham and cheese crepes at 4am. Did I mention I like it here? Saturday I went to the Museé d'Art Modern with Mikaela. It was pretty underwhelming but modern art is my favorite so I was happy to see a handful of cool pieces. We then walked over to the Notre Dame area, checked out the famous Shakespeare & Co. bookstore (which was totally magical) and then wandered along the river to check out the street art and book vendors. We took our time across the bridge and headed to La Marais to get some massive falafels and check out a few stores. In case you were wondering, I'm not starving myself here. Here are some pics from the week:

view from le museé d'art moderne

museé d'art moderne

loved this color combo

TV robot @ museé d'art moderne

the famous bookstore!

the one and only Jay Z

inside the museé d'orsay

one of many cool bridges in paris

tuileries garden

me doing my favorite thing

Lately

Hey party people! Still alive and well in Paris. After being here for just over a month now, I finally feel really settled in. I know the metro/lay of the land like the back of my hand, I've got a great group of friends, I've kinda figured out the school thing, I'm exploring more of the city with and without friends and I'm doing more cooking at home. It feels really good to be comfortable in all my surroundings and not feel so much like a visitor anymore. I wouldn't go so far as to say I feel Parisian, cause I haven't adopted smoking or stopped wearing deodorant, but I definitely feel like I fit in. One thing that's changed recently is the weather. It's freaking freezing... If this is the beginning of fall, I am seriously concerned about December.

Earlier in the week was relaxed with lots of focused school work since midterms start tomorrow. I did a lot of exploring on my own, venturing to a (strictly French speaking) spa to get my eyebrows waxed and visiting stores to do research on a French perfumery for one of my classes. It was really nice to roam the city on my own time, just taking in everything I was seeing for the first time and treating myself to little things like macaroons from Ladureé. Thursday, me and my girlfriends went out to a club near the Arc de Triomph and dance our booties off. Friday, I had one easy midterm then me and my friends went to get Mexican food for the first time since being here. It definitely satisfied my long awaiting craving. A little later, we went to the Louvre for round 2. The place is seriously massive so there's no way you can just go once (even if art history isn't your thing). That night we hit up some bars and Saturday I roamed around Saint Germain with my Australian friend Mikaela then went to a club with my group of girlies so it was definitely a fun-filled and overall successful weekend. Now it's time to study for midterms.. bleh. xoxo!

Heaven! Bomb ass tacos near Republique

Napoleon's little apartment at the Louvre

Sierra, me, Mikaela, Shelby and Ellie

Dinner for two

The famous Cafe Flore. (Don't be deceived - it was 50 degrees & freezing! But still a gorgeous day in Saint Germain)

parisian sensibility

How to get by in Paris, in no particular order:

1. Always bring an umbrella. Seriously.
2. Ask for the check at restaurants if you're ready to leave or you'll sit there like an idiot for hours
3. Always say "bonjour" when entering any store - and "merci, au revoir" when leaving
4. Don't make eye contact with people for longer than 1 second - people just don't do it
5. Don't cut your salad at a nice restaurant - it's an insult to the chef
6. Don't be an asshole on the metro. i.e. sitting down on the fold down seats in the middle when everyone is crammed in, standing.
7. Always attempt to speak French, or else you will get a dramatic eye roll and rudeness
8. Eat lots of crepes.

southern france

Saturday morning my roommates and I hopped on a super early train and headed down to the western side of the south of France. We had originally planned to go to Hossegor to watch the Quicksilver Pro surf contest but it ended a couple days early so we were curious as to what the town would be like, post competition. We were lucky enough to catch a bunch of the surfers who hadn't left yet for the next contest in Portugal. The waves weren't awesome but we saw tons of guys out surfing and were super lucky to have about 75 degree weather with the sun shining bright. We were able to throw on our swim suits and soak up the sunshine - something I've definitely missed since being in Paris.

We walked through the neighboring towns of Hossegor and Cabreton to find tons of fresh seafood, yummy "boardwalk" treats like beignets (giant french donuts filled with nutella and whipped cream), and fun bars. We went to a few bars each night and met a lot of people from other countries (a lot of Australians and tons of Spaniards, since we were only about 30 min away from Spain) who there to watch the surf competition. It was really lively on Saturday night and definitely different from going out in Paris which was a lot of fun for us to mix it up. Sunday night we caught an incredible sunset while eating fresh seafood right on the water then headed back to a mostly English speaking bar with fun beach music. I loved the south and hope to get over to the Southwest side soon!

Here are a bunch of pictures from our weekend:

Montemarte

On Friday, my culture professor took our class of international students to the historically artistic and bohemian area of Montemarte. It's one of those places that is so quintessentially Parisian to me, based on the fact that I've watched the movie Moulin Rouge about 50 times. It was my first time seeing the gorgeous Sacre Coeur church which is located at the highest point, overlooking all of Paris. It's seriously a breathtaking view and the inside is just as beautiful. I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the inside but shout out to my fam - I lit a candle for you lovies. After the church, we all headed over to the Salvador Dali museum which I really enjoyed because I'm more of a modern art enthusiast and I recognized a lot of his work. After walking around Montemarte a little more, about 11 of us went to a fondue place where you drink wine out of baby bottles and have unlimited meat and cheese goodies. I had already been there for a friend's birthday and knew it'd be super fun with a big group. I definitely can't wait till my next time wandering the streets of Montemarte!

The Sacre Coeur

Salvador Dali Museum

La Maison Rose

The (cloudy) view from the Sacre Coeur

From the movie "Amelie"

One of my favorite movies!

Trying to organize a can-can dance....

International students

At the top of the Sacre Coeur

Heading up to the Sacre Coeur

Listening to my professor talk about the history of Montemarte

Paris Fashion Week

Yesterday marked the last day of Paris Fashion Week so I decided to try to get in on some of the fun. Basically, the schedule for fashion week is online but only very few of the designers post the address of where the show will take place. You can try to e-mail reps to get an invitation but it's pretty tough stuff. In the case of yesterday, Masha Ma posted their address which enabled us to show up and wait around for the action. Designers do not want an empty show, so I was told to show up and sometimes they'll let you in if it's not full. This wasn't the case for me and my friend Ellie but we had fun people-watching, regardless. The people who attend shows are so amazingly dressed, it's unreal. There were more than enough fashion messes but for the most part, it was pure style and beauty.

We saw a bunch of models (who were quickly swarmed by paparazzi as soon as they exited) and decided to talk to a photographer to get the scoop for the rest of the day. He was able to give us the address to the Miu Miu show (not listed online - score!) and so we headed straight over to the next location. Here, we saw some crazyyy ensembles and a ridiculous amount of paparazzi. Fashion shows only last about 10 minutes so we huddled towards the exit to see if we could catch any celebs. We saw designers from all over, Angie Harmon from Law & Order, and just tons of impeccably dressed, gorgeous humans. Even though I didn't actually get to see any shows, it was really cool to get a little taste of the high fashion world in Paris.

Paparazzi swarming models as they exited shows

Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko

You might recognize this beauty from Law & Order

Hooked on the Dolls (DJs)

Oktoberfest

Last Friday, my roommate Minh and I hopped on a 7am train to Munich, Germany. After layovers and delays, we got into Munich around 2pm and headed straight for the city center to check everything out. Because of Oktoberfest, the streets were full of people in their lederhosens and dirndls (traditional German outfit/gingerbreadpeople-esque) roaming around, happy and ready for beer. We walked into shops (mostly touristy), saw beautiful churches, famous landmarks and lots of beer gardens. Someone told me I absolutely had to go to Hofbraühaus so we made our way there for some awesome beer (the size of my head) and traditional German sausages! Everyone was singing, yelling and chugging liters of beer - it was delightful.

We met up with our other roommate Allison later that night and stayed with her friends in a Marriott, which was a luxury for an Oktoberfest trip, even if I had to sleep on the floor. 7 of us girls woke up the next morning at 6am to head to the festival and try to get a table. We succeeded, only after an hour of waiting and holding on to each other for our lives as the crowd shoved each other through the entrance. That part was no bueno but as soon as we secured a table and got our first liters of beer, all was right in the world. The drinking commences at 9am with people cheering for those who are brave (or stupid) enough to stand on tables trying to guzzle down an entire liter of beer. If they down the whole beer, people go crazy and yell and sing more but if they don't, pretzels are thrown and boo's are heard throughout the whole tent. Throughout the day, a band played music and everyone sang together, beers up and swaying... the kind of thing you might picture happening when you think of Oktoberfest.

It really is an experience like nothing else in the entire world and I'm super glad I was able to go. The atmosphere is wild and you meet tons of people from around the world, all while enjoying the best beer, pretzels and sausages of Germany. I loved Munich more than I ever imagined and I would love to go back some day and visit more of Bavaria! Here are pictures from the weekend:

Roommates! Allison, me and Minh 

Getting to the festival at 8am

Waiting for the doors to open at 8am

Our first round of beers

The mess of people in the Hofbraü tent at Oktoberfest

There were tons of puppet and magic shows downtown Munich

Awesome architecture

Me in the city center

My first beer in Munich at Hofbraühaus

More beer tents

A really popular beer tent