Dublin Encore, le depart de Maman, et puis....la vie "normale"?

So i feel like i've officially turned into the worst blogger ever -- i'm trying to go back in time to see how i motivated myself to write almost everyday -- and it's not at all that i don't want to write, it just ends up taking a while! And then i think of more things to say and more pictures to add, etc.

i thought i would start by finishing off our Dublin trip -- because it's definitely worth recounting!  Last Saturday, my mom and i took the train about 30 minutes to the little fishing village of Howth. The weather again was absolutely gorgeous which just made it that much better! We started with a walk up the pier and then wandered around the town for a bit before finding some fish and chips for lunch! We settled on a place called Beshoff's of Howth -- which is actually this great fish market that has a long counter where you can order food and then there are a few aisles of other sorts of produce and even a little coffee bar (which we later sampled as well). We each got the appetizer portion of their fish and chips which turned out to be perfect -- and delicious! We split a small bowl of their homemade ice cream for dessert which came with a small scoop of each chocolate, vanilla and raspberry!

Here's a picture of the fish market side of Beshoff's:

i almost forgot about our wildlife sighting for the trip! We saw a bunch of people crowded around a spot on the pier and so went to check it out -- and it turns out that there was a manitee there! it was pretty crazy! And adorable!

After lunch, we set off on a little hiking adventure that took us around the edge of the cliff of Howth. it was a beautiful walk/hike -- saw lots of very cool coastline and we could look out on the islands in the ocean -- and plus the cliff was FULL of these gorgeous yellow flowers. The whole afternoon was very surreal in a very wonderful way. it's, unfortunately, difficult to put into words!

We took the train back after we got back into town after our hike. We had an early-ish reservation at a restaurant called San Lorenzo's (which the guy from the Whitefriar Grill had recommended) -- and so we had enough to briefly stop by our hotel to put our feet up for a few minutes! Then we headed off to dinner -- which was delicious. We each had the chicken cacciatore which was definitely a bit different than what we had expected! it was basically a decontructed chicken cacciatore with pieces of chicken, a few strips of sausage and some pan fried potatoes. it was reallllly yummy though!

Here's a picture -- sorry that the lighting isn't great:

For dessert, we had this chocolate mousse/pudding/awesomeness that had nutella in addition to just chocolate! So. Good.

Since our flight wasn't until Sunday evening, we had time to fit in a few more touristy things! Once again -- we completely lucked out with the weather -- we didn't even need jackets! We did a lot of walking around and exploring of all of the parks -- we saw one man attempting to feed a swan which was pretty interesting.....And we also visited the National Gallery because my mom really wanted to see their Caravaggio painting, and then we also went to the natural history museum, which is also known as the "dead zoo" -- which was really cool. i would highly recommend it. We got some dessert at a little bakery called "Lolly and Cooks" -- clever, right? But we split a yummy piece of carrot cake and a heavenly chocolate cupcake.

i think that about does it for Dublin -- wonderful trip!! And i would definitely want to go back! My mom headed back home on Tuesday -- it's always hard to say goodbye! But the rest of the week has been filled with classes and swimming and trying to get on top of my work! Or as i said -- sort of my vie "normale". But then again, i don't know exactly what my vie "normale" consists of right now! All i know that it's full of wonderful opportunities and experiences that i am extremely grateful for!

i'm headed to Bordeaux for the weekend with a friend -- just overnight, but hopefully the beautiful weather will continue for us there!

A bientot!

Dublin et Maman!

So i am sitting here with my mommy on my couch watching Say Yes to the Dress! Who would have thought?!

We got back yesterday from a wonderful weekend in ireland (again my i key only allows me to use lowercase i's at the moment....i'm trying to find a solution!). But we had a great time -- i just looked back at my last post because i thought that i had recounted a bit of the weekend, but i guess i hadn't! So here it goes!

We flew into Dublin on Thursday afternoon, and we took the bus to the Marian Guest House where we spent the next 3 nights! it was perfectly nice -- not too fancy, but full of personality! We got settled into our room, and then we went out in search of dinner after doing a little research online. We went down towards the Custom House Quay and ended up at a place called the Harbour Master -- it was a perfect way to start off the weekend! We each had our first Guiness, and we also tried their spicy chicken wings (to compare to those from the states!) --

The next day, we got up early and had the irish breakfast at the hotel! Then we went down towards the center of the city and got tickets for the double decker bus  that takes tourists all around the city -- we ended up taking it most of the way around the loop and then got off at the Kilmainham Gaol -- which i believe is the oldest prison in Dublin -- we took the tour and wandered through the museum, and learned lots about irish history! it was a very cool thing to do!

After the tour, we got back on the bus and took it the rest of the way around the bus loop -- it went through Phoenix Park which was absolutely gorgeous -- we passed the US Ambassador's house and the irish president's house! We got back off the bus near the start, and found a little place for lunch where we each had some homemade chowder and shared a side of chips (also known as fries).

We then continued to wander around downtown. We strolled through Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells and the Long Room -- which was the big library that was absolutely incredible. The weather was fantastic as well, which just made it that much better!

From there, we went back to the hotel for a little repos and we researched a place for dinner. We finally settled on a little place called the Whitefriar Grill which was absolutely wonderful. The food was incredible, the servers couldn't have been friendly, and the atmosphere was intimate and fun. And i found a new beer that i love! Peroni -- which is actually an italian beer....

Anyways! it was a lovely day -- i am about to fall asleep, so i will leave the rest of the weekend for tomorrow!

A bientot! 



Mommy, Marmottan Musee, et Dublin!

So it's been quite a busy week again -- lots of visitors and work and things to do! The beautiful weather in Paris just makes me want to be outside and with the gardens blooming, the grass becoming greener, and the sun shining, it's hard not to smile!

Monday, i had to go back to reality -- and had a full day of classes! i was busy writing an explication du texte of a poetry passage of D'Aubigne -- not the easiest assignment in the world! Especially when French is not my native language! Let alone 16th century French....

Anyways, Tuesday, my mommy arrived! i had a wonderful Tuesday with both my mom and my aunt -- after my class, we took a great walk by the Eiffel Tower and over the Seine to Trocadero where we took some wonderful pictures (see below) and enjoyed the very pleasant evening!

Marion left yesterday morning after a great week -- so nice to have her here, and so nice of her to take the time to come visit! i swam yesterday morning and then went to class until noon, after which i came home to fetch my mom! We walked across the river to the 16th arrondissement to find some lunch because we were on our way to the Marmottan Monet Museum which is something that my mom really wanted to see! We found a nice little cafe on Avenue Mozart and had lunch -- we each had a salad and then i had some riz au lait for dessert -- it was just okay -- not even a comparison to the riz au lait at Chez L'Ami Jean, but that would be pretty hard to beat!

From there, we took a stroll through a park to get to the museum. it was a lovely place! it was a gorgeous old house -- we have yet to look up the history, but it was quite impressive! We spent about an hour walking through seeing all of the paintings and such, and then headed down to the basement to see the exhibit the painter Berthe Morisot -- who is actually Manet's sister-in-law. i think i brought the average age of visitors down to about 75....and it was extremely crowded as well! But overall, it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

After that, we took the metro over to Catho so i could go to class and my mom went on a walk around the Luxembourg Gardens. Then, we walked over to Le Bon Marche and had a fun time perusing, and i needed to buy a little stationery, too! We then went back to my neighborhood and split a delicious pizza at Carmine which is an italian restaurant down the street.

Yesterday afternoon, we arrived in Dublin! But more about that later -- i meant to post this yesterday but the internet here isn't so great and so i lost about half of my entry -- so hopefully it works today!!

Here are some pictures from the other day with my mom and Marion:

More about Dublin later!!

A bientot!

Une visite de Marion, Cracovie, et Auschwitz-Birkenau

Alors! Again, sorry for the delay between entries -- the spring has turned out to be quite busy! Which has been great, but also very tiring and doesn't leave me much time for blogging!

This past Tuesday, Marion (my aunt) arrived from CT -- we've been having a great time lots of walking, sightseeing, and lots of delicious food. Tuesday when she arrived, we went for a nice long walk around my neighborhood (the weather has been absolutely amazing) -- i showed her the Tour Eiffel and we walked by the Ecole Militaire, and then up to the Seine and back by the Hotel des invalides. For dinner, i had looked up a restaurant on the other side of the Champs de Mars -- Les Cocottes (http://www.maisonconstant.com/fr_cocottes.htm) which was absolutely lovely. We sat at the long counter, and i had a delicious soup with little pieces of duck, and then a salad (which i can't seem to remember more about since we've eaten so much other delicious food since then!). But we both had a wonderful meal -- and i would definitely recommend it. Seemed a little touristy, but the food was still good.

Wednesday, i had two classes -- so in between then, i came back and met Marion for lunch. We went to a nice cafe in the Place Cambronne called Le Square Cafe. i actually went there with my parents when they were here, so i knew that the food was decent! After a nice lunch, we took the metro to Montparnasse to wander around a bit more, and then print out our boarding passes at Reid Hall. The weather, again, was spectacular -- and we definitely took advantage of it! After my class at Catho, we actually walked back home -- we stopped at the restaurant Suffren for a little something to eat -- i had the terrine de compagne, which is pretty much always reliably delicious!

Thursday, i swam early in the morning (as i had been the two days before as well), and then came back home to finish packing so that Marion and i could leave on time for our flight to Krakow! i introduced Marion to some new travel experiences, including the trip to and experience at Paris Beauvais airport -- which definitely earns its names as Paris' low cost airport. Our flight was on RyanAir which doesn't have assigned seats -- and so we made a run for it! The flight wasn't that full, so we lucked out by getting an aisle and window seat with no one in between us!

We were met by a taxi upon our arrival in Krakow, and he took us directly to our hotel, Cracowdays. it was an absolutely lovely place -- great bed and breakfast. Our room was enormous and clean, the service was great, and the array of foods at breakfast each morning was pretty incredible! We settled into our room, and then after a little bit, we walked to the main square of the city and had dinner at a restaurant called Wesele. it was a fun place -- with traditional Polish food. i had pierogis topped with crispy onions and little bits of bacon -- yum! We also split one of their "traditional" desserts which is a piece of cheesecake that's served warm and then has a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate on the top. it was interesting! Probably not my favorite way to have cheesecake, but i am glad i tried it.

Friday! One of the main reasons that i wanted to go to Krakow was to see the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. So that's what we did on Friday. We bought tickets for the Crakow Tours visit which turned out to be a very good idea. They took us there on a bus, split us up into groups with tour guides and then took us back to Krakow. All in all -- it was a very long day, but thorougly fascinating in a terrible way. i won't really go into details, but i would say that if you have the opportunity to go, it really is an eye opening experience. it is something that cannot be imagined without visiting a place like this. i did take a few pictures, but felt a little odd about doing so. i'll just include the one of what most consider the most "famous" view at Birenkau (Auschwitz 2).

After a long day, we headed back to the hotel to put our feet up and then went across the street to a restaurant that's actually number 1 on TripAdvisor for restaurants in Krakow -- Zielona Kuchnia. it was absolutely delightful -- a small but very modern place with sort of European fushion food. i started with three little pieces of toast topped with spinach, raisins, and melted parmesan cheese. Sounds like an odd combination but it was actually really tasty -- and then i kept seeing it on menus, so i assume that it's another Polish specialty. For my dinner, i ordered the duck which came sliced and then topped with a sauce of oranges, pomegranate seeds and cinnamon. Then on the side, there were potato wedges with little bits of chorizo sausage. So delicious.

Saturday (or yesterday), according to Marion's pedometer, we walked more than 22,000 steps! Which apparently translates into more than 8 miles! We started out around 11am, and we found the Starbucks in the Galeria Krakowska (the enormous shopping mall) so that i could do my obligatory stop for tourist mugs....i am building up quite the collection. From there, we continued to make a circle around the city and down towards the Wawel Castle. The weather was again, gorgeous, and so we decided to not waste our time by going inside. We basically just kept walking around -- saw the fire breathing dragon -- and pretty much all the major stuff.

Krakow's main square

The castle

We went for lunch at a place called Miod Malina, which was actually a sister restaurant of the restaurant where we ate the first night. it again served mostly Polish food -- and so i tried their potato pancakes with sour cream, and a nice salad with beef tenderloin and and a raspberry dressing (i don't know if that was traditional Polish, but it was still yummy!).

From lunch, we walked down across the river to the old Schidler's Factory which is now a museum about the Nazi occupation of Krakow. The museum was a bit disorganized, but overall still really interesting and depressing. We walked back to the hotel via the main square for one last look -- we attempted to find some postcards but were not successful! But after out 8 mile day, we were a bit fatiguees! We hung out for a bit before walking up the street for an italian dinner at Mamma Mia which was actually really good! i had a nice fresh pasta dish with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and garlic, while Marion had a quattro fromage pizza. Both were great!

Today, we left the hotel after breakfast around 8:45 and went to the airport. Fairly uneventful trip back! But we finally made it home around 3pm and i spent the afternoon doing homework and then we had a lovely dinner here with Marilu and Alain.

Here are some more pictures from Krakow that i liked:

Fire Breathing Dragon

Just found this too funny....

Alright, i am pretty wiped out so i will say goodnight! Sorry for all the lowercase letter "i"s -- my keyboard is a bit malade....

A bientot!!