europe 2012: paris - day four

our fourth (and last ): ) day in paris was dedicated to the lourve! it was seriously jaw-droppingly amazing. i just wanted to sit there forever to let everything sink in. you see something and you're like SERIOUSLY. how? what? jesus. after adventuring around the lourve, we had "flam" for dinner. it's basically a very thin tortilla with food on top. kind of like a pizza? we had one withe cheese, bacon, and onions and it was literally one of the most beautiful and deliciously light but yummy foods to grace my mouth.

after dinner, we gathered up our belongings and set out for the train station for barcelona. the train was....much smaller than we imagined. it's alright, we all squished into one cabin and listend to la vie en rose as we watched the french countryside roll by our window. in those few moments of time, everything was perfect. when the beds were put down, we climbed on top and gossiped and told stories until we were shushed to bed.

the train ride was overnight and around 8 hours. i slept on the top bunk and i seriously feared that the luggage would squish me before i fell off. but neither tragedy happened, and it was suprisingly relaxing to fall asleep to the lull and rocking of a train.

europe 2012: paris - day three

probably my favorite day of paris. the day started out with the notre dame, paris street wanderings, & the bookstore "shakespeare & company." i finally got to try the infamous parisian macaron, and i shall tell you it was worth the wait. oh, an the gelato there? better than life. the afternoon was spent up in montmarte perusing stands of beautiful, stunning artwork of paris. i couldn't help myself, i bought a few pieces. i didn't photograph much in montmarte, just out of respect for the artists. it amazes me how one city can inspire so many different, but equally amazing pieces of artwork. of course we had to visit moulin rouge and pose by the one too many sex shops. the day concluded with a boat ride on la seine and the amazing eiffel tower. climbing it was the workout of the month but the view was worth everything. you know how paris is hyped up too be one of the most beautiful/need to visit places in the world? well it's safe to say it lived up to every single word. the view was beyond beautiful. upon our descent from the tower (in which my knees forgot how to descend stairs. i'm not kidding) we devoured the most satisfying nutella crepes to grace this earth.

my camera started loosing battery somewhere during the boat ride, so i tried to conserve battery life and borrowed my friend's point and shoot for a few shots.

i was tempted to make posts based upon location. one post on the notre dame, one post on the eiffel tower.....but i dunno. that would be wayyy to many blog posts for my liking so you get giant 100+ photo spams.

europe 2012: paris - day two

i couldn't bear to cut any more photos down. it went from 1,000+ --> 300 --> 70. so i put the rest under the cut! (i've realized a reason why a lot of my photos feature profiles, it's because when working with first time models and you need to get the shot (right then and there) i've discovered that people are most comfortable with their profile because they do not need to make eye contact with the camera. yup.) anywayyy:

day two started out with a bus tour of paris, in which only half of us were conscious for. we made a few stops, did touristy shit. including stopping in front of the amazing eiffel tower. there was this open, stone pavilion where people gathered to photograph one of the best angles of it. i remember sun, laughter, and feeling utterly and blissfully happy. and from there, we adventured around paris with our free time and shopping along l'avenue de champs- élysées. (it was amazing) we didn't have enough time that day to climb l'arc de triomphe (yeah, all french and fancy) but we stood under it - and holy shit. (by the way, i took spanish in high school so i consider myself adequately fluent in it.) i was able to communicate pretty well in spain if i must say. but french? i didn't know a single word of it. we say the greatest H&M ever and went to a fragonard perfume factory...in which i purchased some. i usually never buy perfume, so i thought - WHY NOT I'M IN PARIS.

the evening included crepes, disgustingly sour wine (hey, we're legal in france!), and a trip to the bar. drinking in europe is much more.....calm. it's less RIDICULOUS then it is in the states. here it's like ohmygawd drinking yay!! but since we're all legal there, i felt like the atmosphere was more...."chill?" like it wasn't some big deal it was here.

europe 2012: paris - day one

day one consisted of 13 delirious children who haven't slept in over 30 something hours. the plane ride was this awful experience full of numerous attempts to fall asleep in various positions. it was a night flight and it was 7.5 hours. we arrived in paris around 7 in the morning and immediately got ready to start our first free day. me, being the dumb ass that i am, brought my dysfunctional 50mm on the first day. i learned from my mistake, so the rest of the trip is shot with my 28-135mm lens.

NOTE: a lot of the photos i took were personal and lots of silly pictures of friends. for the sake of brevity, i will only include a few snapshots from they day - but do know that i took 500-1000+ photos depending on the day. and many are cute and goofy. :) (i just hate it when i go through vacation pictures and all the photos are all formal looking, just me?) oh, and i edited the majority of these photos too. I'M A CHAMP!

it was cloudy and we were tired beyond belief, so the day was a blur of walking around the perfect streets of paris and visiting the courtyard of the louvre.