Yesterday we arrived in Paris! It was a perfectly beautiful day! We went to Notre Dame de Paris, la Sorbonne, l'Arc Rose, and we toured the city.

(Hier, nous sommes arrivés à Paris! Ce fut une journée parfaitement belle! Nous sommes allés à Notre Dame de Paris, la Sorbonne, l'Arc Rose, et nous avons visité la ville.)

Our first glimpse of France

(Notre premier aperçu de la France)

The view from my window

(La vue depuis ma fenêtre.)

La Sorbonne

Notre Dame de Paris

Again

(Encore)

For those of you who were worried that I might not find Coke Zero!

My friend Sara and I near the Louvre
(Mon ami, Sara, et moi, près du Louvre)

The following is a list of red-eye flight tips that I received from my friend Jenny. She is an airline stewardess for Delta, and she knows all the tricks of the trade!

1. Try to wear as little make up as possible before catching the flight. Your skin needs to breathe as much as it can.


2. Bring hand cream. I say CREAM as it is the BEST for retaining moisture throughout the flight. I'd probably recommend the Gold Bond Aloe Cream as it is thick but does not leave residue. Put it on as often as you remember to.


3. Drink 8 ounces of water for every hour you are in flight. This might mean you should bring an empty water bottle to fill after you pass security, or buy a bottle if you don't want to hassle with that. If you fall asleep, make sure to account for the water you didn't drink while sleeping, and drink extra.


4. Bring Chapstick, or better yet, Vaseline. It will save your life.


5. Bring a small blanket (because A. blankets on the plane aren't the cleanest, and B. it can double as a pillow if you need it to help you sleep.) Also, bring some socks so you can apply cream on your feet and help retain moisture.


6. Buy a face spray, like Evian, and spray your face basically as often as you drink water. Because the air on the plane is chemically generated, it causes extreme dehydration to your body.


7. Buy dry shampoo. I recommend "Ojah" from Sephora. Your hair will be disgusting when you land, so make sure to sneak into the bathroom 45 minutes before you land and apply it so it'll soak up the yuckiness.


8. Buy some shine spray like the Burt’s Bees Shine Spray for your hair. It is extremely pricey- I think like 20 dollars for a small 8 ounce bottle, BUT it is SOOO effective. When you apply dry shampoo, it makes your hair flat looking. So after you dry shampoo, you shine spray. Sounds like a pain, but you'll look perfect afterwards.


9. Bring your make up/ toothbrush/toothpaste and get ready at the same time you’re fixing your hair, so that it will appear fresh. DON'T wash your face with the plane water. Ask for some drinking water and bring it in with you.


10. Try to bring some non salted snacks with you on the plane because even though they serve food, it's usually saturated in salt. Salt makes your body bloat, so that’s why people feel awful during/ and after plane rides.


11. If you start to get a headache, ask for some Coke/Diet Coke. The caffeine reduces the swelling in your brain that's causing your headaches- which are pretty common during flights. It's more effective (and healthier) than taking aspirin.


12. Sleep as much as you can on the plane. Then when you land, if you're tired (or even if you're not) unwind, shower, and sleep/ rest RIGHT AWAY for 1 hour. NO MORE than 2. Then force yourself to get up and stay awake the rest of the day until night time. Try not to drink have caffeine to help you stay awake. This will combat jet lag.

Thanks Jenny! I hope these tips are as useful for other travelers as they have been for me!

Only 2 more days until Paris! I discovered another place that I will definitely be visiting during the week in Paris… it is called Ladurée, and it is a chic little macaroon shop!

(Seulement 2 jours supplémentaires jusqu'à Paris ! J'ai découvert qu'un autre endroit que je visiterai certainement pendant la semaine à Paris… ce s'appelle Ladurée, et c'est un petit magasin chic de macaron!)

I plan on buying this box!...Could it be any cuter?!

(Je prévois d’acheter cette boîte ! … Pourrait-elle être plus mignonne?!)

 Visit Ladurée online to buy some for yourself! Let me know if you know more hidden treasures that I need to visit while in Paris !

(Visitez Ladurée en ligne pour acheter pour vous-même! Permettez-moi savoir si vous connaissez des trésors cachés que je dois visiter à Paris!)

I am getting to go to the Yves-Saint-Laurent exhibit in Paris next week! Be jealous! Check out the exhibition website for videos and interesting info about the man himself.

 (Je me rendrai à l'exposition Yves-Saint-Laurent à Paris la semaine prochaine! Etre jaloux! Consultez le site Web pour les vidéos et informations intéressantes sur l'homme lui-même.)

"It has often been said that Chanel freed women. This is true. Then years later Saint

Laurent came along and gave them power.” Pierre Bergé

 (« On a souvent dit que Chanel avait libéré les femmes. C’est vrai. Des années plus tard,

Saint Laurent devait leur donner le pouvoir. » Pierre Bergé)

My daughter is helping me prepare for my trip. She is a tiny Francophile.

(Ma fille m'aide à préparer mon voyage. Elle est un petit francophile.)

   photo credit: Jerrod Seaton

I want to give a big thank you to Mary Catherine Moody for making my blog header. She is a great artist and designer with a bright future, no doubt! Follow her blog for more of her fabulous work!



(Je veux donner un grand merci à Mary Catherine Moody pour la fabrication de mon entête du blog. Elle est un grand artiste et designer avec un bel avenir, sans doute! Suivez son blog pour plus de son travail fabuleux! )

She made these...amazing! See her other work here.

(Elle a fait ces...incroyable! Voir son travail d'autres ici.)

Last week I received the name of my host family for my four week stay in Tours, France. I also received a brief summary about the family as well as their address. Thanks to modern technology I was able to search for it on Google Maps. The three-story house is cute! See for yourself! I can't wait to live there.

(La semaine dernière, J'ai reçu le nom de ma famille d'accueil pour mon séjour de quatre semaines à Tours, France. J'ai également reçu un bref résumé sur la famille ainsi que leur adresse. Merci à technologies modernes que j'ai pu rechercher sur Google Maps. La maison de trois étages est mignonne! Voyez vous-même! Je ne peux pas attendre d'y vivre.)