beautiful. dirty. rich.

We just like to party. Like to pa-pa party, yeah!

About two weekends ago we were in the South of France! Sorry I'm really of my blogging game. Finals are kicking my booty, and I guess the "study" part of being abroad is finally rearing it's ugly head. But before all this worrying about finals, the beautiful tropical fish Channy and I got a weekend of relaxation! Our first day we were in Nice (pronounced niece). We toured the city and learned about it's unique history. We explored an open air market, seriously the market was darling. It was covered in fresh flowers, veggies, fruits, pastries, Nice's famous soaps, and candy. It was amazing, I could have walked around there for hours. Nice is simply gorgeous.

Nice was nice... (chuckles at my own joke). After the market, we were taken to a castle. The castle doesn't exist anymore because it was blown up in protest to the people of Nice a long time ago. But this used-to-be-castle has the best view of Nice. You can see all the roof tops, the ocean, the beach and the whole city.

Isn't that just stunning?? Believe me, I was in awe. When I'm rich, this is where I'll be. The weather was perfect and the people are so nice. I loved it here, and any place where there is a beach Chan is at her happiest. After staring off into what looked like the end of the world, Chan and I got some lunch. We wanted lunch where the locals go, so we ventured into town and found this cute restaurant. Our french is... well it sticks so we were praying that people spoke English. The waiter came out and went off in all French, after a little bit of silence I just said "Parlez-vous anglais?" The waiter beamed and said, "Ah! Yes yes!" After listening to specials we ordered our food and took in the darling French ambiance. After our delicious lunch, we decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach! Hours of relaxing music and laying in the sun. It was perfect, even got to catch up on the sleep we have been so desperately missing. But this beach was different... it was a rock beach so while laying down I received a few bruises but the sun and rest was more than I could ask for. After the beach we, changed and walked around Nice because Saturday we were off to Eze and Monte Carlo!

The food was amazing and gigantic

Hey... more selfies with gelato!

In Eze, we went to the Fragonard perfume factory and had some time to walk around and sample all different smells. It was super cool learning how they make all their soaps, scents, and different oils. After the factory, we got to walk around the village and check out hilarious shops!

No idea what this says, but lolz

#coolkidz

Anyone have desire to see fancy cars and win lots of Euros??? Yeah me too! Monte Carlo was rich to boot. There was 3 Gucci stores within 100 feet of each other it was insane! I felt like Chan and I were co-staring with Selena Gomez. Pretty fabulous right??

Next vacation mom??

Yes there is a story behind this blurry picture. We went inside the Monte Carlo Casino, to see the really fancy people winning the big ones! No pictures are allowed but I got a little to cocky thinking that I wouldn't get caught... I thought we were in the clear, but just as I was snapping the picture Chan said "The man is coming". I thought we were going to get kicked out, or get kicked out of France (which may seem far fetched but I was scared). Anyway the guy just asked me to put my phone away and he walked away. Phew!Thanks French man, you're the real MVP. Even though he could have let me take my picture, but whatever.

This weekend was serving up lots of laughs and no stress. Again... thank you France!!! Sunday we were driving back to Rome, but on the way we stopped at Antibes. This tiny city that is known for it's 48 beaches. We only had time to see one, but we spent hours there reading and just listening to the waves roll in and out. The ocean has the best calming sounds, I was de-stressing before finals and it did a world of good. Plus I got to read another cheesy book, so life is pretty great. 

More flowers cause I loooove them

France did it again. I will be back, I promise. Thank you Europe for the most amazing four months. You'll be missed when I return home, but not forgotten. 

Here I go with the last of my finals. As they say in Italy, "in bocca al lupo", which means "into the wolf's mouth" it's the Italian form of break a leg. Here we go kids! Then one more week until I'm home! 

Until next time,
-O

bonjour, paris.

Is it real I am here???

Spring break was unreal. We started in Paris on Friday morning! You know how I love early morning flights. They are great. 

But landing in Paris made up for the fact that I was crazy tired! We spent the late morning walking around Paris and admiring the gorgeous architecture, later in the afternoon when we decided to go back to our apartment, Chandler told Sarah, Crystal and I to wait a second. She ran a head a few feet and just started yelling "hey guys! Meg whit!" My first thought: who on earth is Chan shouting at! Second thought: Megan (our roommate) is still in Rome, unless she changed her plans. So I decided to follow Chan and see what was going on. A few steps in I realized what what happening. I stopped dead in my tracks once I saw Whitney and Megan. I immediately fell to the ground and started bawling, like a baby. I'm embarrassed to be writing about it now but it's okay I cry all the time! It honestly was the best way to start of the break. I never thought they would come! Meg and Whit had been planning the trip with Chan since February. They seriously are the best and I don't know what I would do without them. 

We spent the day chatting and walking around Paris. Meg and Whit had serious jet lag so we took it easy. We had a great dinner and so much fun. I was stoked to have them in Paris with us.

Reunited and it feels so good. 

Paris is absolutely breathtaking. I have been dreaming about Paris ever since I was a little girl. I have a black and white of Paris and the Eiffel Tower is all lit up. My mom gave it to me for my 18th birthday, and I never pictured myself actually going. You know you always dream and pray you'll get there but to actually feel your dreams come true was a serious blessing. It made me realize how far I've come and all of he hard work from me and everyone around me to get me there. Paris was perfect and surpassed every expectation I had. 

Rachel + Monica 5ever

Okay kids... here it goes. Remember in Greece how I swore of the Selfie Stick? Well.... I can say I'm now a proud owner and I freaking love it. I don't know how I was able to live without it for so long! You can get all different angles! Ours connects to the Bluetooth and you click a button and it takes the picture, so I'm feel pretty swaggy with our cool Selfie Stick. So of course we had to christen the stick. So below you will find selfies galore because we now can show more of our faces and the backgroud. Cream of the crop, right here ladies and gents. 

We saw the Moulin Rouge, Sacre-Coeur, and Montmartre. Which are all in the same general area. Montmartre is the arty district, where Picasso, Monet, Dali, van Gogh and many other amazing artists worked and lived in the early 20th century. Monday we saw Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower! Both amazingly beautiful!

View from the top

Tuesday... the day we had been waiting for. DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!!! Holy crap. So magical! We all know Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, and it's the truth!!! Even in Paris! It's the happiest place! 

Happy St. Patty's Day! 

We got back to the apartment exhausted, but seriously grinning ear to ear! Walt, you genius. You rock my world, thank you!  

Marie's Room

Hall of Mirrors

The Palace of Versailles and the beautiful golden gates. Stunning! We took a tour of the palace and learned all about Marie Antoinette and her weird little husband Louis XVI. When I was younger I always wanted to be her, I mean she has her own room and she was queen!! She was the coolest and had the perfect life. What Little Liv didn't know is that Marie Antoinette was a terrible, selfish ruler... So once I had come upon this knowledge I didn't want to be her anymore. I figured I'd become a better queen with a bigger palace, and be the best ruler in all the land. 

The Love Lock Bridge. So much love. What is more romantic than coming with your significant other and placing a lock to be there forever and throwing your keys in the Seine. A symbol that your love is everlasting and nothing can break/open it. As a symbol of our kick a$$ friendship cause ain't nothing breaking our bond, Chan and I put a lock on the bridge. It was quite romantic, and special. A moment we share forever. 

See what we did there?? 

The French really out do themselves with their pastries. I had at least 2 pastries a day, cause I couldn't get enough!! On our last day we saw the Louvre and walked around and... got more pastries. Paris was amazing. Six days of perfection. I was with the people who I love and reunited with two of my best friends. You could say that Paris was a great package deal. I miss Paris dearly and can't wait until I can go back. Hopefully with more knowledge of French and abundance of money. Thank you Paris for being so lovable and for surpassing every expectation I had. Paris holds the key to my heart.

xoxo

Until next time (Paris),
-O