We chose to visit Grenoble (little town in France, near Lyon, hosted the '68 Olympic Games) to be able to experience the Alps while being abroad - Mother Nature didn't really like our plan though so our trip consisted of viewing only the base of the Alps, and therefore going and seeing the new Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper movie. Nevertheless though, we stayed in an adorable apartment for the weekend and got to explore a new French town. Fort de la Bastille is right in Grenoble, so our first day we took la telepherique up the mountain to hike around a bit, and see the city from above. It was a great view- it almost felt like you were in the clouds. The city was pretty much surrounded by mountains on all sides, and you could see some houses a little ways up some of the mountains (kind of begging the question of what do they do when they need to go grocery shopping?) Anyways, Grenoble is pretty small compared to Paris, so it was nice to get away for the long Easter weekend. One thing about being abroad that is less than ideal is when holidays roll around (granted I've only missed one thus far) - you can't really celebrate Easter properly when you are 4,000 miles away from your family and eating home made fajitas as your dinner while your family are all at a massive brunch.
I got back this morning from Spain, where I was visiting a friend from school who is studying abroad in Barcelona. I absolutely loved everything about this city - if I didn't love Paris so much I would wish I studied there. When I arrived on Friday it was raining (not typical Barca weather of course) but despite the rain Hannah managed to show me around to her favorite spots, including Las Ramblas and an amazing market, the Gothic neighborhood, the beach, and the Gaudi houses. It is quite amazing how different the architecture was in Barcelona compared to Paris. It was so modern, practically shocking. So, once we worked up enough of an appetite we ate one of the best sandwiches of my life. The place was called Bo de B (or something along those lines) and it was something like a burrito/kebab on a baguette. Although you'd have juices running down your fingers and sauce all over your face after each bite, it was so satisfying. Saturday we made our way to check out Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia - two of the most amazing sites I've been to since being abroad. The fact that both are, practically, completely made up of mosaics is just mind blowingly beautiful. Compared to Paris, everything was just so colorful and luckily this was the time of day the sun decided to cooperate, making everything pop even more. These may be the tourist traps of Barcelona, but I completely understand why now, and they are 100% worth it.
On the homefront, Paris has been pretty good the past few weeks too, despite the uncharacteristically cold weather. My host family just received/welcomed another exchange student - she is from Japan, speaks very little English, and even less French, making communicating difficult. It is rather funny though hearing my host family speak English - oh how the tables have turned. No longer am I the one asking about correct pronunciations and sentence structures. (Who knew vinegar was so hard to pronounce in English?)
The countdown is officially on until Spring Break (I leave for Santorini in 16 days) as well as when the family arrives (33 days) - so for now, no complaints from Paris!
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