Barcelona!

Where is Rachel Feldman?

I have been kind of off the face of the earth for the past week and a half with my lack of blog posts. I've been quite busy after Marseille, with two midterms for my school here and two for my online classes, as well as a recent trip to Barcelona!!!

My school is currently on break, so I met up with Jake (friend from Philly who is studying in Amsterdam) in Paris to then fly Ryanair (always a fun experience...) to Barcelona! I'll give more updates later, but here is the basics on Barcelona:

1. It's Spain but isn't Spain...it's the capital of Cataluyna, a region in Spain, which has its own language called Catalan. Catalan looks a lot like Spanish and French's baby, with a few twists of its own. Cataluyna wants to be independent from Spain, and there were Catalan flags displayed everywhere.

2. Cheese tacos, as the menu claimed, are not cheese tacos. It is a plate of cheese with some olives.

3. Churros are absolutely delicious, but they put you in a food coma for a long time after eating them.

4. Montserrat is this huge mountain that is about an hour by train from Barcelona, and it offers some of the best possible views of the city. We hiked all the way to the highest point we could physically go to, and then ended up coming back so late we got stranded on the mountain and had to take a taxi to the train station, instead of a cable car. But it was so worth it!

I'm on top of the world!

5. Barcelona has one of the coolest churches in the world. It was built in the early 1900's by Gaudi, a famous Catalan architect. We waited about an hour to get in but it was so worth it. Pictures don't even do it justice! 

We having been touring around Paris for the past few days, I've taken Jake to the Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur, as well as the Latin Quarter and Montmarte. Today, we are off the the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triomphe! Tomorrow, we leave for Amsterdam! So this will be my last post for at least a week and a half, sorry blog world. 

Bonne Journee!

Feldy

Marseille!

This past weekend, I brought out my nautical side and went down to Marseille, a large city by the sea in the south of France.

Everyone back home in the States when I tell them says "oh my goodness, that sounds awesome, it must be so pretty there, I can't believe you get to go there!".

All of my European friends I have told about going there say "why are you going there its the most dangerous city in all of France".

CONCLUSION: It was a mix of both.

The inner harbor of Marseille is very pretty, lots of old buildings, hotels, restaurants, boats, churches, etc. We went on a boat tour which took us past a few islands and around the mountains/cliffs that are by the water, and they are gorgeous. Here are some pictures for proof:

I'm on a boat! (no, the Lonely Island and T-Pain weren't there :( ) 

Afterwards, we had a nice lunch at a restaurant in the harbor and visited "Palais Longchamps", which is an old mini palace in the area (I hoped I'd find some Longchamp bags there- no luck).

However, Marseille did turn a bit dangerous at night- it sort of seemed like the town was once really great, but over the years had gotten a bit run down. So, we decided it was probably better being three girls who don't know the area to just return to the hostel. It was a really cozy hostel, with lots of people staying there and a nice lobby/bar to hang out in, so we just hung out there for a few hours. 

In the morning we decided to get up early, grab breakfast in the lobby (another wonderful aspect to our hotel) and then attempt to go up to "Notre Dame de la Gare": a really on church on top of a HUGE hill that overlooks the city.

PLAN: take the metro to a bus stop, take the bus up the hill, take some pictures, come back down. Total of 20 minute trip.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: A bit concerned about time because we had a plane to catch at noon and it was already 9:15. Long line for metro tickets. Okay, we decided to walk to the bus stop. Bus doesn't come for another 20 minutes. Pointless to wait for it, so we walk up the hill to the church.

I wanted to fall over and collapse halfway through our hike up, but thankfully I did not give up because the views were SPECTACULAR! 

Church at the top of the hill

Just a few pictures of the amazing view!

 Thankfully, we found a bus back down, and made it to the airport early enough to not miss our flight home. All in all a successful trip!

Next weekend: Off to Barcelona to start my two week break off from classes!!

Bonne Nuit!

Feldy


P.S. I didn't realize comments were disabled on the blog unless you had created a Google account, so I finally fixed it and if you want to leave comments feel free to :)

It's Always Rainy in Paris

This is my weather forecast for the next week. Note the consistent "rain" "showers" and "drizzle".

Today, I would have described the weather as spitting. It was basically like constant rain/mist, with an umbrella not helping very much. 

However, Paris is still really pretty in the rain. So here are a bunch of pictures of Paris looking all nice in the rain. 

On the top of the Centre Pompidou overlooking Paris, in between rain showers 

In front of the Centre Pompidou 

The rain does not keep us from sightseeing! 

Mopeds in the rain 

Paris keeps moving 

At night, by the Seine, in the rain! 

Place de Concorde 

Les Halles 

The Seine is a bit flooded 

As the American rapper Waka Flocka Flame said, "Rain rain go away that's what all my haters say". Because only haters let rain keep them from sightseeing in Paris. It doesn't stop us!

Bonne Soiree!
Feldy

Je t'aime Paris

Je t'aime Paris. (I love you, Paris).

Well, its a good thing I love Paris since I am living here for about 2 and a half more months (WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?? IT NEEDS TO STOP!)

I have been wondering how do I compare Paris to Philadelphia? What is it about Paris that I really, truly love?

In Philly I love the people, the sports teams, how the city is on a grid system that makes it easy to say "meet me on the corner of 33rd and Market" and it is easy to find (In Paris, there are no numbered streets). So how could I possible fall in love with another city, when I already fell in love with the one I was born and raised in?

It was pretty easy. Comparing Paris and Philadelphia is like comparing apples to oranges. They are just not the same, and so I love both of them differently. But I couldn't really put my finger on the reason why I liked Paris so much. This past weekend and week, however, I figured it out.

Over the weekend, a few friends and I took a three hour bus trip to Lille. It is a small city about 3 hours northwest of Paris, close to the border between France and Belgium. It is a beautiful city, with great bars and a large park that we were able to wander around during the day Saturday.

Center of Lille

Park, on a beautiful fall day!

"Le Flammekuche": a flatbread with yogurt and other toppings that is native to Lille

Lille was good for the weekend, but at the end of the trip all I wanted to do was get back to Paris. I missed the Paris metro, how big Paris is, and how I never feel like I could see all of it one trip (definitely not just a weekend, like Lille was). 

The on Tuesday, I wandered over to "Le Marais", which is an area with lots of small streets lined with high end and vintage fashion stores, mixed with cafes and restaurants. Le Marais and the Quartier Latin, similar to Le Marais with smaller streets and more restaurants, I have determined are my two favorite places in Paris, and I am planning on returning multiple times during my stay.

Not the best picture of Le Marais, it was much prettier than this! 

On Wednesday it was cold and rainy, so we decided it was the perfect day to go sightseeing of course. It really is true: Paris is beautiful in the rain. Parisians break out their umbrellas, and everything keeps moving, and the apartments and old buildings still look gorgeous even in the rain! We broke out my good old Tour Book, and went on a "literary walk" around Paris, around and next to the Latin Quarter where great authors like Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Jack Keroauc, etc. lived and visited.  

Shakespeare and Company, one of the oldest and most famous English bookstores in the world. Downstairs, you can buy all kinds of genres, but upstairs is a library where you can read the older books the store keeps! 

Marking Ernest Hemingway's apartment! 

Paris in the rain, its just so beautiful! 

I love Paris because every arrondissement (sections in Paris) is completely different from the other, but in the end they all come together to make Paris both a bustling and homely city at the same time. I love the stores and cafes that line the streets. I love the little alleyways that you are never really sure if cars are able to drive down them (they usually can). I love how when it rains, at the restaurants all the patrons sit facing the street so they can still socialize with each other and watch Paris still bustling in the rain (its a phenomenon- this happened at every restaurant!). 

Study abroad is going WAY to fast- its scary! Everyone keeps asking me about other travel plans, and yes they are in the works, but I love Paris so much that on the weekends its often nice just to travel and explore my own city. 

And again, I am lating this post late at night, so Bonne Nuit for now! 

Feldy