traveling & endings

Hello, friends.

It's been a while. Last time I posted, I gave a list of all of these really exciting things that I was about to do and promised that I would write and vlog and document all of it.

It's been three weeks since those things have ended and I have posted nothing on this blog.
It's a shame because I have so much to write about and so many things running through my head! However, I had an online class to catch up with (literally months of procrastination) and have been exhausted. I have also been trying to spend my time very absorbed in my life here as it comes to an end.

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, I have an entire album dedicated to Euro Tour. I'm not sure how soon the vlog will come, considering I have LOADS of footage. Two weeks of traveling takes a while to compile. For the moment, feel free to have a look through my album titled "euro tour 2014".
The other part of this is that I want to write about my experiences in other countries, not just give a debriefing. When I have the time, I will most likely do a separate post for each country. This might have to happen after I return home due to my lack of time here. I know my stories won't be as good because they're not as fresh in my mind, but they will be better written and formatted if I give myself time to write them.

I also have some reviews to write. I did some neat stuff with my family while they were here and I finally got to see things that I've wanted to see for a long time. I got to explore Paris NOT as a tourist, see things in Le Mans, go to Omaha Beach, etc.. More to come on that soon.
I also want to write a review of my camera that I got. Yes, maybe it's a little off topic of this blog, but this blog is about my experience and me. I feel like gadgets and products I use are still relevant to travel and living abroad.

Anyways, much more to come soon. As I live my last week here in Angers, I'd really like to focus on being an exchange student. I will post more as my emotions and feelings differ as my return date rapdily approaches.

That's all for now.
A bientot!

~Effy
(P.S. 11 days left in France)

Overwhealmed

Bonjour!

I've actually been posting lately! And not only that, but I've gotten loads of new ideas and posts coming up soon. I'm going to try to post at least once a week now, considering I only have 65 days left.
Yay for motivation!

This purpose of this post is a heads up on what's coming up in my life. My family gets here on the 17th and they're staying until the 29th. The day they leave, I leave for my huge Euro Tour, which will easily be one of the highlights of my year (although, I'm not sure what can beat Barcelona. I already fell in love once!).
With my family is also the arrival of my sexy new camera, which means better quality vlogs and photos. That makes me very very happy and much more willing to post due to better quality content.

Here's the deal with Euro Tour:
This is a two week bus trip that will start the 29th of and end the 10th of Mai. Obviously this will be a lot of stuff to document. Again, I will finally have a proper method of this, but it's still a lot.
So I've decided that I will divide this voyage by city.
I'm not sure if I'll do a separate blog post for every city and do it as a chapter sort of thing, or do one huge post and separate it into sections.

I also have to write about my family and I's time together. I'm not sure which will come first and I'm not sure how much time it will take me to write about each part.
But there WILL be much to read in the next couple months. I will quite literally spend the next two months writing, taking photos, writing, and probably drawing. Traveling like this makes me want to sketch everything (Sorry, can't share that part of my documenting!).

But I wanted to give everyone a heads up about what's to come and apologies in advanced if I don't write until the end of Mai. At least there will be MUCH to read.

Thanks for sticking around. I can't wait to share all this stuff with you guys.

A bientot!
~Effy

Spain & Paris

Buenos dias!

I am fully aware of my absence and I feel awful about it. BUT today I come baring photos and loads of stories.

February 21st-28th: Paris & Barcelona

Here's the link to the vlog, as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsnX_3DCkDk

Day 1: Aller à Paris

 
Waking up at 4:00 AM is totally worth it when it involves hopping on a train to Paris and meeting a whole new group of Rotary kids from other districts in France. We spent the first day strolling around Paris, taking photos, finding cheap places to eat lunch, and getting to know each other. The first day is possibly the best day for bus trips. In my case, I only knew two people prior to meeting the group, so it's pretty inevitable that you're gonna make friends.
Here's some more things I saw while we took a drive around town:

Day 2: Mon Anniversaire

 Happy birthday to me! What's the best way to spend your birthday in Paris? Climbing the Eiffel Tower and eating crepes, of course! And by climbing, I mean we took the stairs...all the way to the second floor. Unfortunately we couldn't go to the very top because it costs extra, but we got an amazing view nonetheless.

 The view from this point is absolutely breath taking. It's not just seeing the entire city that amazed me, but all the people seeing you. I took a moment and looked at all the visible windows from this lookout, how each one is like a pair of eyes. How many people get to wake up every morning and see the Eiffle Tower? Or get to take a glace at it when they're on a work break? It's really amazing what you see when you can see so much.

 The Roomies: Dayna & Effy, USA ~Agustina, Argentina ~ Lais, Brasil

 Birthday lunch

Versailles

Day 3&4: Headed South

After we finished up in Paris, we started to make our way to Spain. It's a pretty drive to begin with, but on top of that, there was a rule that said we had to make a stop every two hours for the bus driver. On the plus side, it gave us lots of opportunities to stretch our legs!
We went to a city in the south on France called Toulouse where we did a castle tour. We didn't have a guide, so I don't know exactly what the history of the castle is, so I'll let the photos do the talking. We had to stay in the south for a night due to driving all day, so I combined day three and four.

Day 5: Hola, España!

After a day and a half of driving, we finally made it to Spain! And we didn't waste any time. We were staying at a hotel about an hour from Barcelona, which meant getting up early, napping on the bus, and seizing the day. We spent the first day in Spain driving around and going to some lookouts.

 guess what these are? glass bottles!

 

We were lucky enough to get to stay in a four-star hotel while in Spain. The only downside to that was it was about an hour outside Barcelona, which was never a problem because it gave us time to get a good nap in before we seized the day. 

Days 5, 6, & 7

We spent these last few days at the Dali museum, the Picasso museum, and walking around the city. Unfortunately I couldn't take photos in the Picasso Museum, but I got a few keepers from Dali:

Seeing the museums was probably my favourite part of this whole trip. I've always been really into art and I go to art galleries pretty frequently in the states. Seeing these two artists' museums was like a dream. It's all the paintings I've seen since I was a child and studied in school and I finally got to see them in person. It's something I didn't see myself doing until way later in my life, yet there I was.

 This was probably my favourite painting. It's on the ceiling of a huge room, and when we all looked up, we all took a step back. It looks as if there's people hanging from the ceiling and there's things falling on you. The depth in this painting is incredible.

 Most importantly, during the last couple days, we did some shopping. For those of you who don't know, Barcelona has some of the best shopping for two reasons. One being variety. Every designer shop that you'd find in Paris, H&M, Zara, Pull & Bear, you name it. The second thing that makes it so good is it's significantly cheaper than other big European cities. I'm telling you, if you go to Spain, take advantage of cheap shopping. Especially if you're like me and live in one of the most expensive countries in the world...

 I'll end the trip with this photo because this was one of the last things I saw before we headed home. The rooftops in Spain go on forever. There's little terraces with chairs and tables, clothing lines, chimneys, flags, and people cooking. They were filled with so much life, so rustic and original. I'd never really need houses like this before. It's a style I often see copied, but never captured.

I'll end this post with some of my favourite photos from my friends.

To end this post, I'll just say that this trip is probably one of my favourite things I've ever done in my life.Spain changed my life, I've never been to a place like it before.It's definitely a place I will come back to and spend a lot of time in.

Again, please go check out my vlog. It's really fun to do and captures some moments that pictures just can't quite get. 

Sorry for the delay of this post. I started it right after I returned from the trip and then totally forgot about it due to business. 

Like I said, lots of cool stuff ahead. Will write back soon.

A bientot!

~Effy