sparkles - THE FRENCH RIVIERA

It has always been my dream to go to Greece.  I remember as a high school student I thought about studying abroad in Greece and enjoying the Isle life.  When my dreams were crushed of being able to go to Greece for my post-program trip, I decided the next best place would be to go to the French Riviera.  With 4 friends who were willing to travel with me, we began researching to make a week in the French Riviera as relaxing and indulgent as possible.

We booked tickets to fly into Nice, but we looked at hotel accomodations all over the coast. We ended up deciding on renting a villa in a town South of Cannes because it would be the most cost effective and we would get to have a kitchen.

The villa was beautiful and overlooked the coast. We had an amazing view and every night we would get to see the sunset.  The best part though was at night when we would watch the lights along the coast sparkle.

I thoroughly enjoyed the French Riviera and hope one day to go back and enjoy another vacation there.

Until next time,
Katie

Legal at CHURCH - London for my 21st Birthday

The monumental 21st birthday comes with many stereotypes.  Most American young adults plan large bar crawls for when the clock strikes midnight on their 21st birthday so they can get that iconic picture with the bouncer checking their ID and letting them into the bar.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, I've been living like a 21 year old for months.  With a drinking age of 18, I never had an issue of getting into any bar or club.  So I had to figure out how to make my birthday special.

In London, if there is one club that everyone tells you you HAVE to go to, it is CHURCH.  CHURCH is a day club, open between the hours of 11 and 4 (similar to a formal church).  Everyone attends in crazy outfits.  This was not only a great way to celebrate my birthday, but also a great way to substitute for the fact I wouldn't be able to celebrate the Boston Marathon either.. which also was on my birthday.

We awoke bright and early on Sunday Morning to begin the festivities.  The day was full of craziness and excitement.  Below are some pictures of the day.

meagan and i found a guy with a giraffe around his neck.  the giraffe is aephi's animal mascot.

until next time,

katie

vacation - BARCELONA

I'm not going to lie.. there isn't much to talk about in regard to Barcelona because we literally went to the clubs and then to the beach all day.  So here are the pictures from my trip

paella yummmyy

calimari

potatas bravas

huevos cabreras

goat cheese and vegetable tapas

meg and skylar's assorted tapas

some guy got too tired to go home

my next trip will be my last trip :( until then, i'll be celebrating my 21st birthday in london!

xoxo

K

in louvre - PARIS

Everyone says that Paris is their favorite city.  And until I had been there, I never really understood what could be so magical about a place that it could top so many people's favorite places list.  When I traveled to Paris in February with my parents, I felt the magic of the city as soon as we arrived.  Driving from Gare du Nord train station to the Eiffel Tower was magical.  This magic feeling could have been echoed by the jazzy French music playing throughout the taxi but I still think it was a Disney kind of magic...

When I returned back to Paris last weekend with my friends, I was giddy with excitement about feeling the magic all over again.  With a full weekend instead of just a full day in the magnificent city, I planned to soak up as much as I could in the time allotted.

As soon as we got off the train, we raced to our hotel in the 2nd arr., perfectly located down the street from the Opera house and a five minute walk to the Louvre.  I was in a particular rush to drop our things and head out because my cousins (Gideon and Nicky) had put my name+2 on a guest list for their concert that night.  Stephanie, Katie and I quickly changed, jumped in a taxi, and headed up to the Montmarte area for the Beat Torrent concert at La Cigalle, with a surprise performance by Lexicon (aka my cousins).

katie foy, steph, & me

steph, me & katie foy

steph & me

katie, some old french man, me, steph

our new friend and body guard of the club

LEXICON!!

LEXICON!

LEXICONNN!!

When Gid and Nick took the stage, I screamed! I had heard so much about their music for so long, had downloaded their CD on iTunes (GO DO IT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T) and to get to see the reaction of their fans when they came out on stage was like being a proud mommy!  When they took the stage, the crowd went wild and so did me and my friends.  It was sooo fun and the DJ was phenomenal as well.  We made a few friends at the concert while waiting to meet up with Gid and Nick after.  When Gid brough us up to their dressing room, I felt like I was in a scene from Almoust Famous.  Surrounded by French speaking musicians, smoking cigarettes and drinking Jack Daniels, I felt like a band-aid.  We spent the entire night laughing and celebrating with Gideon, Nicky (or Nick as I had to call him infront of all the dudes) and all of their friends.  We even made a stop at McDonald's because we heard the French do it better.

The next morning we woke up early to go on the 11 am walking tour.  If you have been a faithful blog reader, you'll remember that we did this walking tour in Berlin and decided it would be the best way to see Paris as well.  Before the tour we grabbed a crepe - I had a ham, egg, and cheese crepe... yumm!!

Look what we saw on our tour!!

the fountain from Devil Wears Prada

joan of arc - the two legs up on the horse means she was killed by unnatural causes

the royal opera house in the distance

where they come up with new french words

After the tour we went to the Eiffel Tower.  The line was incredibly long and they closed the very top due to congestion, but the view from the mid level was equally as beautiful.

katie & me

Stephanie and I stopped for a croque mouisser and croque madame on our way home from the Eiffel Tower.

MR

MRS

That night, we went to dinner at a great restaurant called Le Christine in the Latin Quarter.  The food was delicious, a little pricey.  After, we went out to a club called Le Cab, which at first reminded me of a bar mitzvah.  The dance floor was filled with mid-50 year old couples enjoying a Saturday Night out on the town. Stephanie and I decided to retire early so we could get to the Louvre early.

The first Sunday of every month is Free Museum Day in Paris.  Therefore, when Stephanie arrived at 9:15 on Sunday morning, the line to get into the Louvre was more than 300 people long.  Luckily, the line moved quickly and we were inside by 10.  We scoped out a large portion of the museum and it was really enjoyable.  After the museum, we went to the Notre Dame but not without stopping to eat first!! We all got French Onion Soup from a small cafe on the corner next to the Notre Dame.

Post Notre Dame, we decided to go shopping.  Jenna had gone shopping the day before with Skylar while we were on our walking tour and had found some great boutiques that she wanted to take us to.  After carefully navigating our way there on a map, we arrived in a small area of Paris, La Marey (sp?).  Stephanie, Katie, and I were to eager to go do more sight seeing so instead of shopping, we grabbed a crepe, jumped on the metro, and headed to the Arc de Triumph.

We walked from the Arc de Triumph all the way back to our hotel.  We had great weather while we were there and completely took advantage of it.  Steph, Katie, and Jenna left that night back to London but Meagan and I stayed and had the most French experience.

Meagan's mom is a chef and food afficiando.  Throughout our time in Europe, Meagan's mom has been recommending restaurants for us to go to in order to get the best food in Europe.  Boy, did she hit the dot in Paris.  She got us a reservation at a restaraunt called Le Benoit. The restaurant is owned and operated by chef Alain Ducasse, who is konwn for his outstanding restaurants all around the world which are Michelin Star rated.  It was very obvious in the food.  Look what we ate...

my 9 ESCARGOTS en coquille, beurre d'ail, fines herbes .. buttery and delicious

meg's FOIE GRAS DE CANARD CONFIT, brioche parisienne toastée

CASSOULET MAISON haricots blancs - all different kinds of beef with white beans

Profiteroles Benoit, sauce chocolat chaud

And a final madeline cookie :)

I louvred Paris and can't wait till I have an opportunity to go back there again.. hopefully very very soon :)

Until next time,
Katie