Giverny.

Our first group wide excursion was to Giverny, Normandy, the home of Monet. As you can imagine, it was beautiful. We started off at Monet's house where we were able to explore his gardens and his home. Monet's home 1. Is incredibly colorful and thus, magnificent and 2. Full of his paintings and thus, breathtaking. Walking into Monet's parlor, you are confronted by so many pieces of his art that it seems hard to breath. So many famous, beautiful, pieces of art hanging there, just as he had them when he lived there. I wish pictures were allowed inside his home, but they aren't, so these pictures from the garden will have to suffice.

After the morning in Giverny, we headed to La Rouche-Guyon, one of France's top 100 most beautiful villages (because that's a real competition in France). Let me tell you, it really was beautiful. Located right on the Seine, it has a massive old manor that has a keep nestled into the hillside. This manor also has quite the history since during WWII it was used by Nazis during the occupation of France. Also housed inside the manor are some incredibly scary tunnels that we explored. The tunnels take you to the "time machine" but we're all convinced that said time machine is really a torture device because it was freaky. But boy, oh boy, was the view from atop the keep (after about 500 stairs) beautiful.

I have two favorite parts of the manor: 1. The library, of course. 2. The random assortment of couches in the courtyard that aided in producing my favorite picture, thus far, of the trip. Note that Jared is surround by 6 girls and yet looks completely unentertained. Oh, Jared, how we love you.

Indeed, it was a wonderful day excursion. This coming week, we are headed to the beaches of Normandy and I cannot wait. It should yield many a memory and an abundance of pictures.

Love always,
Ems

Our new Favorite Crêperie.

A few days ago, I started researching cheap eats in Paris because, well, I'm a college student, and so are all my friends, so cheap eats are a must. Well, we were in the mood for crêpes the other day, and I stumbled upon this gem: Crêperie Oroyona.

Imagine your perfect Parisian cafe: mini, filled with delicious aromas, Parisian youths, and mini stairs. That is Crêperie Oroyona. It is perfect in every sense, and we love it so much. It's located in the 5th arrondissement right next to the most beautiful little bookshop where I bought the BFG in french, as well as John Green's Looking for Alaska in french. I couldn't help myself. I can never help myself around books.

So, we love this place. We love the 5th. It's wonderful.

Love always,
Ems

Random Encounters with Old Frenchmen.

Here's a funny story for your Sunday.

Our little morning walks group consists of 5 people nowadays. There used to only be four of us: Jared, Rachel, Alex, and me (side note: we love having five and love that Linda joins us).

Left to Right: Jared, me, Rachel, Alex, Seine, Boat.

The four of us are the cast of characters for most of my stories- that's what happens when you spend everyday together. Here is the story:

So, we are sitting at a wonderful little restaurant on Rue Cler, waiting for our food, enjoying the Paris sun, good conversation, and many a laugh. We are seated thus:

Alex || Rachel

--------------------

Emma || Jared 

As we talk, a French man comes up to us. This man does not seem to be homeless. He seems like a normal, well dressed, kind, old Frenchman -- nothing out of the ordinary. He touches Alex's arm and begins speaking in French, telling her something about how it's  a shame, that she shouldn't be in love with Jared, that he's probably a nice guy, but she shouldn't be in love with Jared. Why is she in love with Jared? It's all such a shame. Rachel and I are trying to hold in our copious amounts of laughter, as Alex tries to act as though this is totally normal and she knows 100% what the frenchman is saying (which she doesn't, because she's not Jared and doesn't understand French perfectly). Jared, meanwhile, is sitting, a bit mystified at the whole scenario, as he listens to this old man profess Alex's apparently undying love for him. 

When the frenchman stops prattling  Alex's response is, "Oui. Il est très beau." That's all she could muster out without laughing, and really all she could think to say, in general. We think we're rid of this man, but he walks up to Jared, puts his hand on Jared's arm and essentially says, "Good luck, you handsome young man." Then walks away. 

And just like that, we all erupt into laughter over the entire situation. 

We still have no idea why this man felt the need to stop by our table and tell Alex her love was misplaced, but maybe he just could see the innermost places of Alex's soul and Alex isn't sharing everything with us. 

I suppose it's possible. 

Lucky for the old Frenchman, Jared is dating neither me nor Rachel, which would seem like the more obvious choice considering the seating arrangement.... That would have created some awkward moments. 

Love always,

Ems

A Monday in Montmartre.

Monday, we journeyed to Montmartre. I love Montmartre, let it be know.

We zoomed over via Metro, and as we exited the train, all the Parisians were lining up for the elevator. We looked at them, looked at each other, looked at the stairs and said, "We're young and spritely! Let's take the stairs!"

Bad idea, my friends, bad idea. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, the Montmartre stop is 6 flights of stairs underground. This would be why the Parisians were all taking the elevator. As we begin climbing, it's fun and there are beautiful murals on the wall. But then we keep climbing. And keep climbing. And keep climbing. And start laughing. And are dizzy (because they're spiral stairs). And are sure we're never going to make it out a live. And keep climbing. And finally reach the top of the stairs in hysterics of laughter. Do you know how hard it is to climb stairs whilst laughing your guts out?

We headed up to Sacre Coeur, and climbed the steps to the basilica, and then Jared and I decided to climbed the 300 steps to the top. Which was worth it, but took our stair count for the day to about 1,000. Guess it was the workout of the day!

              

       

We left the tourist trap that is Sacre Coeur to go out an explore where we found the oldest cabaret in Paris, after finding one of the oldest churches in Paris, because ya know, you gotta balance out your religious and sexual sides when in Montmarte. Rachel and I were big fans of the name of the cabaret: The agile bunny. We decided that's where the idea of the play boy bunnies originated from. Don't you think?

We wandered around Montmartre, found Renoir's house, found Van Gogh's house (with a blue door that made me really really happy), found the Moulin Rouge, walked up and down lots of hills, saw lots of tourists and also lots of gypsies, and then decided to go to ghetto-ville: Saint Denis.

Here's the real quick version of the story of Saint Denis. Saint Denis was preaching to all the Parisians about what sinners they are and some dude whacked off his head mid-preaching. Not to be phased by a whacked off head, Saint Denis picked up his head, continued to walk and preach, and walked to the area of the Basilica where he died. I love the saints. They are so incredibly awesome! Sometimes I wonder why we don't have cool saints like that in mormonism... 

This is Marie-Antoinette and her Husband

Anyway, now Saint Denis is home to all the tombs of the kings of France. So Jared, our French major, was in heaven. Apparently, it is also the first example of gothic architecture, so Alex, our art-history major, was also in heaven. I just asked a lot of questions. Fun fact of the day: Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty is based off of Philip le bel. So yup. I loved it all. I especially love that my nerdy friends were so incredibly excited to be somewhere. Nerds make life better.

Oh, also in this same day, Jared had to go buy some random things at the grocery store. So Alex and I accompanied him. However, he didn't have anything to put his goods in. I happened to have my very nifty expandable bag that Christine kindly bought me before I left to Paris, so he rocked it like a man. I made him stop for a picture after FHE because it just made my day that he kept walking around with this bag. What a man, what a man, what a man, what  a mighty good man. 

Aimer toujours,
Ems