My So Called Parisian Life: Family Visits and Provence

Mommy and daddy came! Ma got here the day after I got back from Morocco. I was so excited that I got to her hotel an hour before she did. I was just sitting in the lobby then I saw her and I was like, "THATS MY MAAAAA!" We definitely caused a scene in the lobby. Oh well! It's my mommy! She dropped all her stuff off in the room and then we went over to my apartment where I showed her around. Pretty much all she had to do was blink and she would have missed it hahhaa. Then I wanted to show her all my Morocco pictures (all 1,200 of them...). I put on some music in the background and let her scroll through them. We had gotten up to my Sahara Desert pictures and I look over and mom's snoozing. Like actually falling asleep. So I made her a cappuccino and we continued to look at my pictures. Then the cappuccino started to spill on the couch because she was falling asleep again (silly mommy). After that we went to the Eiffel Tower and people watched for a while. Once we left the Eiffel Tower we went to the Champs-Elysees to have dinner. Then we went back to the hotel room because we were both exhausted. I think it was the next day when we went up to Monmartre to walk around and see Sacre Coeur. For dinner that night we went to the really good steak frites place and waited outside for a while before we could finally get in. Well worth it though. The next day we walked to Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame. And we made a pit stop to the ISA office (my study abroad program). The next day we waited for dad to get here! With him we went back to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame then had dinner on the Champs. We actually got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It never gets old. The next day we did Versailles. It was really cold hahaha. The chateau was pretty crowded but worth it all the same. We decided to get a golf cart to go around the gardens and out to the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. It was so much nicer to have a golf cart then to walk like Chelsea, Sarah and I did! The next day we walked around some more and then went over to the Louvre and the Tuileries. It was so nice out. We sat on the grass and had some sandwiches. I actually got a little sunburned. Then we sat by some of the fountains for a while. So relaxing. The next morning my dad left for London and my mom and I left for Avignon.

We took the train and then a car picked us up at the train station to take us to the hotel. I don't think we would have ever found the hotel if we had to get there on our own. Plus, some of the streets were so tiny that I have no idea how a car even fit there. The hotel room was so cute! It had a big bathroom and comfy beds. It was tea time so we went down to the lobby restaurant place and got some tea and sandwiches. Then we went out to explore a little bit. We had gorgeous weather which is always a plus. The next day a car picked us up in front of the hotel to take us around Provence for the day. We went all over and stopped in a bunch of different towns with cute little alleyways and ancient Roman ruins. It was awesome. So relaxing too. I think one of my favorite places was when we passed a 1,000 year old church with a dozen white horses just on the side of the road. That night we had dinner in the kitchen of the hotel. There was only 6 of us there originally. An older couple from England and a newlywed couple from South Korea. We were all getting along so nice and then 6 French people came downstairs and the chef had to start making the courses all over again for them. I think the rest of us had been on the 3rd course. I went back up to the room to get something and by the time I got back my mom and our little original group was nowhere to be found. Apparently they had basically been kicked out! They were asked if they wanted tea or coffee and if so, then to go upstairs! So my mom and I and the older couple went upstairs and had tea. It was nice to talk to them for a while and then we all got pretty tired. The next morning we got up and wandered around the Palais des Papes to see really cool views of the Pont d'Avignon which is only half finished! It just stops in the middle of the water. So weird. Then we got on the train to go back to Paris. Once we got back, we went to my apartment and put our stuff down then relaxed a little bit before we went out for dinner. My mom had an early flight and I had an early class so we watched some Dance Moms when we got back before falling asleep. The next morning was tough, but I got distracted pretty quickly because I had to get on the train to go to the far campus. I miss my family!