Tag Archives: memories

Weekend Bits & Bobs: Budapest

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About a week and a half ago, a couple of my friends and I took a day trip into Budapest, and I’m finally getting a moment to share some pictures from that trip! Budapest – which is technically the two cities of Buda and Pest separated by the Danube River – is absolutely stunning with its Old World architecture around every corner. But then, that’s Europe for you, right? That’s part of why I love Europe – history (in everything) is alive and well and ready for the taking for visitors with a penchant for that stuff (me!). This was more of an exploratory trip for us, to help us figure out the metro system, the general atmosphere of the city, and what it had to offer. I’d call it a success, and I can’t wait to get back.

These pictures were taken with an iPhone camera, so the contrasts and exposures aren’t the best, but I’m planning on taking my big camera with me on a proper visit to Budapest soon (once I learn how to better use it, of course). Continue reading →

Bastille Day

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Happy Bastille Day! This day celebrates July 14, 1789 in which the Bastille prison fell and ended Louis XVI’s monarchy all over France and its territories. This means… fireworks!

I really like this French holiday because it reminds me of my fantastically awesome Paris host family. One of my host brothers was named Bastien, and one of my study abroad friends used to call him “Bastille” as a play on his name. He was the cutest 11-year old I’d ever seen! This year he’ll be entering teenage-hood and I’m floored by how quickly time has passed and by the fact that I still miss them very much. I’ll hopefully drop by to visit them next year when I return.

So in celebration of Bastille Day, I’m sharing one of my latest Paris-related purchases: a coffee table book called Paris in Color! I’ve been wanting it for about a year, so it’s nice to finally add to my bookshelf. I actually didn’t get this book until a few weeks ago, even though I had ordered it at the end of May because I accidentally sent it to my old address at Rice. So it took a month to get to me instead of two days.
Anyway, patience prevailed, and I now have it for reading and reminiscing on rainy days like today.

 

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Pardon My French

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Houston weather often “forgets” that there are seasons, especially when it comes to fall and winter, so the recent chilly days over here have been true breaths of fresh air. It actually feels like fall today. It’s definitely putting me in a Paris state of mind (I’m always partly in a Paris state of mind, though) because coupled with the amazing, breezy, fall weather, I’ve been getting into Garance Doré’s fairly recent “Pardon my French” videos about her time at Paris’ Fashion Week this fall (fall in Paris is what I wish on Houston everyday..). Her site is a treat: a visual diary of her weekend inspirations, things she likes at the moment, interviews she conducts with fashion greats.

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Resurrection

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I’ve long returned from my beautiful time of living in Paris… about 6 months ago, to be exact. I’ve yo-yoed back and forth about updating my blog here concerning my time in Paris, thinking it was way too late to have regular blog posts again about all things Paris. But it’s never too late to talk about one of my favorite places on earth. And so I’m resurrecting my blog to talk about Paris: my favorite and least favorite aspects, my adventures and my host family, the things I learned and the things I came to understand through my time there.  Continue reading →