Ciao! I've been so behind on blogging, but I finally have a weekend where I'm not traveling (and to be honest, it's been wonderful to just relax) but since I have a little extra time, I'll be recapping my trips to France & Spain! First up is my week in Paris and Marseilles (both of which I never wanted to leave!)

Paris

We got into Paris at about noon, and started off by walking around Paris and visiting Galleries Lafayette. (the week in Paris was an 'academic trip' with school, so it involved a lot of 'site visits' to different stores. Man I love being a fashion student!) After a quick nap, we took a boat cruise up and down the Seine, and got little glimpses of Paris' most famous places, Notre-Dame, Champs Elysees, and the Eiffel Tower just to name a few. Even more magical, we were sailing back past the Eiffel Tower just as it started glittering! 

The second day was by far one of my favorites! We left the hotel early and headed to Versailles, where we got to tour the Sun King's Palace and stroll through the gardens of Marie Antoinette. It was a pretty drizzly-rainy day, but the gardens were still beautiful! 

One of my favorite places we went to was the Christian Dior exhibition at the Musee de Beaux Arts. It was an extensive exhibit with entire sections dedicated to Dior's life and work, and then the evolution of Masion Dior through it's following Creative Directors, ending with the current head (and my icon) Maria Grazia Chiuri. 

And if you're making a trip to Paris, I would 10/10 recommend hitting up this adorable speakeasy called Lavomatic! The front is a small laundromat, and once you open up the right washing machine, it leads to a set of stairs and an upstairs bar! The place is cozy and small, perfect for a date or a quick drink before heading out with the girls, but such a fun atmosphere!

Marseilles

On Friday, we took the train down to the Cote d'Azur, more specifically Marseilles, to spend the weekend! My friend from NY, Naomi, who is studying abraod in Paris joined us for the weekend, and it was so much fun! On Saturday, after exploring the port of Marseilles and the area around it, Naomi and I took a boat to the Chateau d'If, which used to be a political prison during Napoleon's reign and exile. It is also the location of my favorite novel The Count of Monte Cristo, and since the book is so popular, they actually built the cells of the two fictional characters that 'lived' there! (to the left, I'm going through the hole that connects Edmond Dantes' cell and Abbe Faria's cell)

Sunday was out last full day of exploring, so we took a 3 hour boat trip out to the Catalans, which is where a group of Spanish fisherman settled hundreds of years ago and made thier own villages in these stunning mountains. They were breathtaking (though some of them were covered in fog and looked like we were in King Kong) and it was a great way to end the trip!

I'll have my next recap from Barcelona up soon! xx

Ciao,

Audra