Paris holds the Key.

Oh Paris.  I fell head over heels in love with Paris...of course, after I came to terms that we weren't going to be mugged while wondering around with our suitcases lost for about an hour.  Other than that.  True love.

Honestly, Paris is such an experience.  Everything is just..different.  A little better.  A little more amplified.  A little brighter.  People are more classy.  The language is more gentle.  The food is not as sweet.  The culture is enveloping.  I sincerely loved every minute of Paris (except for the above-mentioned lost part.)

We rode the Metro everywhere, and it was so hilarious seeing all of the Metro stops and their names.  It would go something like this:

"Ok, so we need to go to the Eiffel Tower.  We need to get off at E-coli Military (or Ecole Militaire for those of you that speak French)."

And then the little Metro voice announcing the stops would say:

"Eco Milay"

That is not an exaggeration.  You would tilt your head, look at the map, and hurry off hoping that you were getting off at the right stop.  Half of the word would just be dropped, I guess that's how they pronounce things?  Don't look at me, I can barely speak ten words of Spanish.

This is my reaction when I first saw the Eiffel Tower:

I could not stop smiling.  It was amazing. One of those surreal moments.

I feel like the pictures say it all...

Surreal is how I would explain my time there.  And a little magical.  It's a completely bizarre to be there and see all of these sites that you never actually thought you would and go see, and then all of a sudden you're there.  With all of the other tourists, classy French people, and the little kids on their third grade field trip (most of whom were better dressed then I was).   

Paris was my fave.

xo. Elise

A little country hopping for ya!

I've been all over the U.S.  Crossed so many state borders, I've lost track.  I live half an hour away from a state border for heaven's sake!

So imagine my surprise when crossing country borders....was kind of the same thing.  Except maybe even more anticlimactic because we didn't even cheer as we crossed.

See, over in Europe a lot of the countries are all part of the European Union.  Because of this union, there isn't any border control whatsoever.  Going from Germany to France to Luxembourg to Belgium was very similar to going from Utah to Idaho to Wyoming to Colorado.

Downside?  No passport stamps.

The first day we stop in Trier, the oldest city in Germany.  It's home to a Roman Gate (yes, as in bajillion years old Romans) that is nicknamed 'The Black Gate' because, well, it's black.

There were all of these kids everywhere on a field trip...and I wonder what type of life they live.  I mean, who goes on a school field trip to a Roman gate...in Germany.  Don't mind me, I just went to the Kingman Power House year after year after year.  (Kingmanites, you know what I'm talking about). 

Keep in mind it was 90 degrees over here.  Yes, 90 degrees and so humid it felt like a permanent sauna.  That is why my face felt like it was melting off.  This is when we vowed to never put any effort in our appearance in Europe ever again.  (That lasted until the next day).  We also visited some Roman Baths, a beautiful cathedral, and had the most amazing gelato ever.  I had blood orange and, oh my, it was heavenly.  Helped my craving for something cold.  Fun fact about Germany: they have no ice.  Anywhere.  They probably don't even know what ice is.  And their drinks?  Cool, not cold, at best.  

We then stopped at a U.S. military cemetery in Luxembourg.  This was amazing.  It was sobering to look at all of those white crosses in row after perfect row of people who died so I could live in a free country.  

 Luxembourg was gorgeous.  It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world (I guess their big income is banking? Who knew!), and you could tell.  Everything was clean and nice. Seriously, I would probably move there in heartbeat...actually, I would move there in a heartbeat.

Belgium was only about a half an hour away...so why not?  We tried some French fries from a little roadside stand.  Fun fact number 2: French fries are from Belgium. World War II soldiers were given some from soldiers that spoke French so they assumed they were from France, but they were actually from Belgium.  These fries were heavenly...fresh and hot.  We also had an assortment of sauces to taste test.  (Curried ketch-up?  Thumbs down.)

Our last stop was a war memorial, Battle of the Bulge to be exact.  This was an amazing experience for me because I had just learned about this battle, the history behind the name, and the significance of it.  The memorial was huge, and I would highly recommend looking up the story.  Again, it made me so proud to be an American.  It also reminded me of the great world we live in, at risk of sounding corny, it was a great reminder that there are good people out there.

('Scuse the appearance...it was a long day and as mentioned, I basically melted).

Sorry this was so long...when you do three countries in one day, it takes a while.

xo. Elise

A thing with wings.

I had always heard about the long flight to Europe...I mean, traveling across an ocean isn't exactly easy, but I always thought it would be a tad longer.  The actually leg across the ocean (to Dublin, Ireland) was only 6 and half hours.  That's manageable, right? But factor in my one-hour flight to Phoenix, 3 hour flight to Chicago, 6.5 to Dublin, 1 to London, and finally 1.5 to Strasbourg, France, it was a long 36 hours.  You also lose time flying to Europe.  We left on the morning of the 17th and landed in France the afternoon of the 18th.  Not going to lie, I started panicking when I thought of the day lost somewhere crossing the ocean.  It meant one day less in Europe.

On the two short flights we flew the airline Ryanair.  This was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had while traveling.  First off, I was mad about having to check my bag because it didn't fit in their strict regulations.  Second, the inside of their planes were a bright, pukey (yes, that is with a 'y') looking neon yellow.  I wish I was coherent enough to snap a picture...but you know.  The seats didn't move back and there were no tray tables.  I was so exhausted I feel asleep in the frigid ice block of the plane.  However, I was cheerfully awakened by the landing announcement.

(Insert the most annoying, loud, obnoxious trumpet noise you can conjure up).  Welcome to (insert whatever airport/city you just landed in)!  This is yet another on-time flight by Ryanair.  Last year 90% of our flights were on time, the best record for any airline.

Obviously they take their statistics seriously.

But the discomfort was all forgotten when we landed in France.  My cousin kept exclaiming, this is Europe air!  These are Europe water splotches!  This is a Europe road!  It's mind-blowing how much France actually looks like the animated set of Beauty and the Beast.  Seriously, take a second to picture how you think France would look like.....boom.  That is exactly what it does look like.

In Strasbourg there is a gorgeous cathedral.  You walk past a building and babam!  There it is.

This cathedral was my cousin's favorite...my favorite one was in Metz, France, but really, how can you choose?

xo. Elise

March 4th

On March 4, 2013 I was sitting doing my homework like any other day.  It was the end of the trimester and I was busy doing whatever mountain of homework I had to get done that day.  My phone buzzes, but I don't open it for a while.  I finally get a minute and check it.  It's a text from cousin and it reads:

"Hey, my family is going to Europe this summer.  Do you want to come?"

Fairly sure my response was an anomaly...it was something along the lines of "heck yes, why haven't we done this a bajillion years ago?" :)

And then on June 17th I boarded a plane by myself to fly to...Phoenix!  (And proceed to Chicago, Dublin, London, and finally Strasburg, France.)

I figured I would write a little bit about it.  Since Europe basically blows my mind every time I think about it.

Pretty much.

xo. Elise