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The French Open for Beginners
While I may not be the sportiest/most adventurous of bloggers, I am really into tennis and used to play varsity in high school. So when a family friend visiting Paris asked me, “Do you like tennis? How would you like my extra ticket to the French Open quarterfinals?”...
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An Hour from Paris: the Beautiful and Tragic Château de Vaux le Vicomte
I headed to Vaux le Vicomte on a rainy Monday with my French host family, and if I were a Lonely Planet guide I would proclaim it to be, “The perfect day trip for those who tire of the crowds at Versailles and Giverny.” (Ahem, me.) And while the château is opulently...
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The Most Parisian Park in Paris, the Jardin du Luxembourg
Spring is undeniably beautiful phenomenon, especially when you live in Paris. After the long, overcast winter the sun finally shines, the flowers burst open in color and the city-dwellers stroll Paris’ many parks feeling a little… lighter. As I learned this spring,...
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Colmar: France’s Fairytale City
Colmar- the little Alsatian town that truly made me feel like I had stumbled into a storybook. Or maybe a film set. Because where else can you find princess turrets, rainbow-colored half-timber houses and romantic canals all in a few square miles? Besides Disneyland, of...
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Strasbourg: France’s Little Piece of Germany
Strasbourg can best be summed up by an argument I had with German-born Julika, of Sateless Suitcase, while walking the streets of the city. Me: This town seriously looks just like Germany! Julika: No way, it’s totally French. Me: But look at the half-timbered...
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Life as a Paris Expat
When Charles Dickens wrote the line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he must have been living abroad. In fact, there’s a strong chance he was working in Paris as an au pair. Over the past year I’ve learned that expat life certainly...
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The Real Cost of a European Road Trip
As much as I adore traveling by train in Europe, there’s nothing like having the flexibility of a car when you’re exploring a new region. So when my mom and sister flew over to Europe to visit me, we decided to renting a car was the only logical option for our...
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"One's destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things. "
- Henry Miller
Is It Smart to Travel Young?
“You should travel while you’re still young,” the well-meaning and wiser adults told me. “It’ll be a lot harder once you’ve started you career.”
I heard (and still hear) those words countless times as a young person, and this blog stands as testament as to how much I took them to heart.
The question I ask myself now, after 28 countries, three languages, dozens of flights and more than a few travel-related illnesses, is not, “Was it all worth it?” but rather, “Was it smart?”
Read MoreHappy Father’s Day to my World Traveling Dad
A lot of travel bloggers write about how they have parents who don’t support their desire to travel or how their parents have never left the country. Fortunately I don’t have the same problem.
But I do have the problem of having parents who are way cooler than me.
And though my entire family is kind of travel-obsessed, (no really, most of them have set foot on every continent) I don’t think anyone is quite as adventurous as my dad.
Read MoreThe French Open for Beginners
While I may not be the sportiest/most adventurous of bloggers, I am really into tennis and used to play varsity in high school. So when a family friend visiting Paris asked me, “Do you like tennis? How would you like my extra ticket to the French Open quarterfinals?” I actually had tears in my eyes.
Read MoreAn Hour from Paris: the Beautiful and Tragic Château de Vaux le Vicomte
I headed to Vaux le Vicomte on a rainy Monday with my French host family, and if I were a Lonely Planet guide I would proclaim it to be, “The perfect day trip for those who tire of the crowds at Versailles and Giverny.” (Ahem, me.)
And while the château is opulently beautiful, its most interesting feature is its dark history.
Read MoreSaturday Snapshots 34 & 35
Hey! Four photos in two weeks? Well… yeah. The weather’s been so good here that I’ve been less focused on photography and blogging and more focused on friends, sunshine and lots of other wonderful things.
The first three photos made me laugh though, because they truly do represent the trifecta of my France experience: partying in Paris, classic French grandmother food, and random-awesome-event-I-somehow-got-into.
Read MoreThe Most Parisian Park in Paris, the Jardin du Luxembourg
Spring is undeniably beautiful phenomenon, especially when you live in Paris. After the long, overcast winter the sun finally shines, the flowers burst open in color and the city-dwellers stroll Paris’ many parks feeling a little… lighter. As I learned this spring, there’s nothing like feeling sun on your face after enduring months of living under eternally overcast skies.
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