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

it's all very greek.

There is no better way to start a post than with a shameless selfie. You know up until this trip I was not one for selfies... I just didn't find the appeal. But I think that's because I hadn't found the correct selfie stance, filters, and perfected my selfie face. But now that I have been abroad I can't even tell you the number of selfies I take! Whether it be to show a gorgeous view like from above and the scenery is nice in that picture as well. I kid, I kid. Anyway, I now can say that I love the selfie and I love taking them, given the lighting is perfect and I'm having a good hair day. But I can say that I will never buy a seflie stick! (Seriously the little street vendor sell them EVERYWHERE you go!) I don't want one so stop trying to sell me one. I know I may look touristy cause I get lost or look confused but I've been here for a while and I'm trying to blend in. Plus, if you know me, I have long enough arms that are going to suffice for the time being. So thanks but no thanks! Selfie rant over, but this post isn't just about how I feel about mastering the selfie, It's about how I walked where Hercules, Pegasus, Phil and Megra walked. That's right kids, I'm talking about Greece more specifically Athens. 

Aren't we precious?

Well I can say that we aren't always this beautiful. Hard to believe right?? "These ravashing beauties don't wake up #flawless erryday?" 

Yeah... each of these pictures are a little scary. I can't stop laughing at how weird we all look in these. Our flight out to Athens was at 6:30 am. Yes you read correctly, AM! We were up at 3:30 and out the door by 4:30. Let's just say I'm not a morning person. I hate getting up super early especially if I'm up before the sun, like who does that?? *sighhh* Crazy people. We took these glam shots as we were boarding our plane, it was like -10 degrees and I felt like I was standing in a cyclone. What was up with the wind??? I was not pleased. But after a two hour slumber on the plane and arriving in Athens, I was pleased as pie. 

Kay, our pose... not even planned. It's almost like we spend no time together at all. Weird....  I know. We were able to walk around and take in the Greek-ness. After getting some delicious food in our tummies, cause Liv was getting a wee bit "hangry", we took a ton of pictures and looked like your typical tourists, and we weren't even mad about it. But we had a sudden face palm moment... We don't know Greek. Luckily everyone spoke English and they were all super nice. Day one was looking at little shops, eating food, and trying to learn some Greek. We were able to check to our little place and rest because getting up at the crack of dawn isn't for everyone. Then we hit the Mediterranean Sea and took some pictures and walked some more. Our big tourist day was tomorrow, so get ready. But for now.... more pictures!

S'cute Sarah :)

Zeus's Temple

"Chan! IT'S THE CHURCH"

Okay story! We were walking around literally no clue where we were and Sarah had to use the bathroom ( I don't know if I should share that info... but it's part of the story). We were looking around for a building to be open and I was like well this one seems open cause someone just went in. As I walked up close I saw the Greek and I was being silly and trying to pronounce it. Silly but whatev! I saw the gold plate and I was like OMHEAVENS!!! ITS THE CHURCH! Then of course we had to take our picture! We ran inside and it was literally the best feeling on this earth. Imagine a bear hug from someone you love, now times that by ten! That's what it felt like! Chan and I haven't really been able to go to church much cause we are traveling literally every weekend. So this was just what the doctor ordered. Perfection. 

Oh hey there Chan..... 

So far Athens was treating us great! Plus everything was really cheap cause of the economic downfall so it was great for us but no so great for Greece... Sorry Greece. But thanks for being so beautiful! On Saturday we went on a walking tour of the city and got to see the Olympic Stadium, the Royal Park, and much more. 

Panoramic of view from mountain

After the walking tour we went to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum! Our lovely Sarah is a classics major so this was her favorite part of the whole trip! Chan and I like the view from the top, and taking silly pictures, but the history wasn't as moving for us... Sorry Sarah. 

She's gonna kill me. 

Sarah went and walked some more while Chan and I were love struck over this view! Breathtaking right! So in love. We sat and just awed while the wind blew through our hair and we felt a little like Pocahontas. And yes I can sing with all  voices of the mountain and paint with all the colors of the wind. 

Zero to hero. Just like that

Athens full of history, good food, and jaw dropping views. Europe never ceases to amaze me. 

I probably should study, since midterms are this week... Wish me luck! Kisses.

Until next time,

-O