"To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy." Hippocrates
What a crazy two weeks! For my spring break, I visited southwest France, Barcelona, Paris, and Normany. I have divided this blog by the different parts of my two weeks, so even though it’s long, hopefully you enjoy reading! Enjoy!!!
Southwest France
Oh, la vie en France. We stared our voyage by going to Bordeaux, Biarritz, and Bayonne. Though I was in Bordeaux in February, it was fun to return and see the city in the springtime ad explore some different places. We visited some of the parks in the city, a gallo-roman theater, the waterfront, and le miroir d’eau (the mirror of water). While in the southwest, we went couchsurfing. For those of you who have never heard of couchsurfing, it is essentially a networking system where you can stay at people’s houses for free and it is a cultural exchange sort of thing. The couple that we couchsurfed with was doing something called an Assistantship, which is where they teach are given a place in France to go teach English for a few hours a week. They were such wonderful hosts and made our short time in Bordeaux totally worth going again.
The next day, Claudia and I made our way down to Biarritz to meet our next couchsurfing host, an English boy named Charlie. He was also in France doing the assistantship. We met him at a bus stop, dropped our bags off at his house, and then he took us on a tour of the city. It was so beautiful and the view of the Atlantic was indescribable. We went to the beach, saw some markets, and walked along the coast of the ocean. That night we met a lot of his friends and we had a fun time mingling and playing Werewolves (essentially the card game, Mafia, but cooler). We did a lot of exploring the city on our own and fell in love with it. However, I feel like it is incredibly touristy and rather ritzy. Nice to visit, but only for a few days. We left on a Friday, explored the city of Bayonne for a few hours, and then plans changed a little…
FranceàBarcelona: (I wrote this part of this blog entry as I was sitting on a train Irun in western Spain, to Barcelona, which is on the opposite coast).
Qu’est-ce que l’on fait lorsqu’il y a des grèves? What does one do when there are strikes? An unforeseen change of events is causing me to arrive in Barcelona tonight rather than spending one more night in southern France. Ah the French whom I love, the ones who believe in liberté, fraternité et égalité, the revolutionaries who make changes when needed. My friends, les Français have done it again and j’en air as le bol! J’en ai ma dose! Ça suffit! The SNCF railway strikes have altered my plans and they have inconvenienced a large number of people. They better get what they were striking for, because these past few days have been full of a little too much improvisation and compliance with the SNCF.
Qu’est-ce que l’on fait lorsque la terre décide de changer enormement? What does one do when the earth decides to drastically change? Even though there are strikes going on in southern France, I had a beautiful first few days of my break and am still making it to Barcelona. However, as we all have observed, mother nature has been a little vengeful as of late…I personally think she was after those of you who have neglected the environment. Multiple earthquakes, tsunamis, and to cap it off…a volcano, in Iceland! Joy. Of. My. Life. My parents called me today and told me that over 16,000 flights were cancelled today. If my flight with Drew to Paris is cancelled, I will be super upset. Excuse me, I mean that it is highly unfortunate for those poor souls who are truly plagued by this natural phenomenon…
Barcelona
What a beautiful city, Barcelona. Claudia and I arrived Friday night and Saturday we explored the neighboring streets of our hostel. When Claudia went to meet friends she would be staying with in Barcelona, I went to the train station and met Drew. He and I took the metro to our hotel and were overjoyed about the quality and the centrality of its location in the city. That night, we went to the magic fountains on Montjuïc, and they were so incredible! These ornate fountains that have light shows synchronized to a fun variety of music honestly put the musical fountain in Grand Haven to a little shame. I will however have a lot of fun memories now whenever I see the musical fountain. We walked up the steps to the palace near the top of Montjuïc and though we could no longer hear the music, it was truly a magical experience to see the fountains down below and the sunset at the opposite end of the city. That night we walked down Las Ramblas, which is like the Champs Elysées of Bacelona. We ended up eating dinner at a nice restaurant right on the port, and I had the Spanish version of a crêpe (though my allegiances stay with the French).
The following day, we went to mass in the cathedral at Barcelona, and it was amazing! It was a beautiful cathedral, and though I don’t know Spanish (or rather Catalan, which is the mix of French and Spanish spoken in that region), I was able to understand certain phrases and words thanks to my knowledge of French. It made me miss church back home a lot, but it was a good experience. After that, we walked to a park at which many non-profit organizations were gathered. People were sitting in the grass, playing games, having picnics, and so we went and sat in the grass for a while and just took in the atmosphere. It was really cool. We then went to the Picasso museum, which was rather interesting, took a cable car up to Montjuïc, and spent a few hours exploring and getting lost in the parks on the hill. Eventually we reached the castle at the very top and had a breathtaking view of the ocean on one side and the city from the other side. I could have sworn that when I looked down at the ocean, that I was actually in Kirk Park or Rosy Mound Park back home overlooking Lake Michigan.
Our last day in Barcelona was spent visiting different places designed by Gaudi. We started with the Sagrada Familia and then went to the Casa Mila. Both of these places were so cool and any pictures that I took would not have done any justice to the crazy architecture. That night, Drew and I took a bus to Gerona and found a bus that would leave the next day from the airport and take us into Perpignan, France. Clearly, our flight to Paris was cancelled because of the volcano, and because of the train strikes, trains were not allowed to cross the Spanish border, as they normally would be.
Tuesday, we left for Paris as planned, but it took so long!!! Two hours by bus from Gerona to Perpignan, a two-hour wait in Perpignan before we were able to take a train up to Paris, and then eight hours on the train. There ended up being a delay of almost four hours because of a fire that was on/near the train tracks, so we didn’t arrive at our hotel until almost three o’clock in the morning. The train ride was well spent though, and our hotel reservation was still valid, thus we were content and at ease…and in Paris!
Paris
Wednesday morning, Drew and I woke up and went to the Sacré Coeur and Montmartre to explore the area a bit. We made our way to Châtelet by metro and had our baguettes with chèvre cheese and a bottle of wine right by the Eglise Saint Eustache. We then continued on our way to the Musée de l’Armée (Les Invalides) where we saw Napoleon’s tomb and a lot of interesting exhibits about wars in France. We ended our day by walking down the Champs Elysées, passing by the Arc de Triomphe, and seeing the Eiffel Tower.
The following day, we went to Versailles and had a blast. I have already been there twice, but it was so cool this time because I listened to a French audio guide and understood almost everything that was said. We also relaxed a lot in the gardens after exploring the château. We went back into Paris and visited next the Musée d’Orsay. My personal favorite part of the museum was the paintings by Camille Pissarro. Van Gogh was also grand, just not my favorite. That night for dinner we went to a wonderful restaurant called Ty Yann, which a man from Bretagne owns and he makes amazing crêpes and galettes. That night we walked along the Seine, and it was really peaceful.
Friday, we went to Châtelet again and did a little shopping, and then we went to Notre Dame and La Sainte Chapelle, both absolutely stunning. I can’t imagine how cool it would be to go to church every weekend in La Sainte Chapelle! We followed this up by walking through the Jardins de Tuileries, and going to the Louvre. That night we went to a really nice French restaurant for some authentic cuisine, and it was très délicieux. We ended our stay in Paris by going up the Eiffel Tower and it was absolutely fantastic. I have been up twice before, but this time was really different from the other times. At the top, I reflected so much about home and I wanted nothing more than for my mom to be there with me…one day both of us will be here.
Normandie
For the weekend, Drew and I visited Normandy. Because of train delays, we didn’t arrive in the town of Bayeux (close proximity to the beaches) until late afternoon, and so we saw the cemetery, Omaha Beach, and Pointe du Hoc right before sunset. Again, it was a super cool experience, and I was happy to have the opportunity to visit these places for a second time.
All in all, my two weeks of travelling were very busy, a little stressful at times, but a spring break that I will remember for the rest of my life. If was wonderful to escape the pressure of school for a while, to discover new places, and also to return to where I had been before. It was a huge relief that Drew and I got along so well and have become friends, especially seeing that we never talked in high school and that we were with each other virtually incessantly for a week. Lastly, I was able to laugh, smile, experience new things and cultures, and just breathe easily.
