European Road Trip Part 2: Normandy

We drove from Bruges to Brussels on Saturday night, and got there just in time to head into town and grab dinner.

After dinner we wandered around the town square and saw a light show on one of their cathedrals!

However, Brussels just wasn't quite doing it for us, so we decided that instead of spending Sunday in Brussels (our original plan), we would re-configure our road trip!

And we settled on.... NORMANDY! 

Remember how I said in this post that it was on my bucket list? I was so thrilled that I was going to be able to see it!

So, Sunday morning we drove the 4.5 hours to Normandy. 

Along the way, because it's been quite a while since I've taken a history class, JP relayed the story of WWII in its entirety, from beginning to end, Hitler's rise to power all the way through America joining the war to the liberation of the concentration camps and the dropping of the atom bomb (it took a good 2 hours). 

It was incredible (both hearing the entire story of WWII in one sitting like that and also JP's memory for every single fact he's ever read about WWII) and made the experience at Normandy that much more meaningful. 

I don't really know how to put into words what seeing Omaha beach felt like, and how moving the endless lines of crosses at the American cemetery were, or what went through my mind when I stood on the cliffs of la point du hoc where the US army rangers climbed up make-shift ladders through german gun fire & barbed wire, and how I tried but really couldn't fathom the extreme bravery of the first wave of soldiers who landed on the beach on D-Day, but our whole day at Normandy was one of those experiences that makes you so proud to be an American and so grateful for the people who are still sacrificing their lives so that others can be free. 

American Cemetery:

Omaha Beach:

La Point Du Hoc:

European Road Trip Part 1: Bruges!

Friday afternoon, after JP was all done with class, we rented a car, picked up our friends Eric and Kimmi from the airport, and headed to Bruges, Belgium!

We stopped in Amiens (a little french town I actually went to on my study abroad!) for dinner, then arrived at our little bed and breakfast late Friday night (how awesome is it that Belgium is like a 3-4 hour car drive away from Paris?!)

The next morning we set off on foot to explore Bruges and my goodness, do yourself a little favor and put Bruges on your travelling bucket list, it's UNREAL!

Bruges is seriously the most gorgeous little quaint town, the people are so friendly, the buildings are amazing, and you pretty much never get tired of wondering the cobblestone streets because the whole town is on the water (I daresay it's more beautiful than Venice?! Am I allowed to say that?) and it's magic. 

There are candy and chocolate shops everywhere, not to mention waffle stands (of course!).

And while we did purchase a waffle (with nutella and whipped cream, thank you very much), we ate it so quickly that it wasn't documented with pictures haha

JP also had some shrimp for lunch that you can only get in Belgium or Holland, and he was preeeetty excited about them, to say the least. 

We loved it, every minute. Then we jumped in the car late that night and drove the hour and a half to Brussels!

Happy Independence Day!

I was a little bit bummed to not be spending the 4th of July in the United States... it's definitely one of my favorite holidays.

So we decided to make it a night out on the town!

First stop:

Musée d'Orsay

We got a grand tour of the incredible works by Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Gaugin, & Van Gogh. 

(ps did you know he signed "vincent" on all his paintings because he didn't want people mispronouncing his last name? Who knew!)

And I loved it, I had been once before for a brief minute but it was JP's inaugural experience! And we decided it's definitely one of the best museums in Paris (an opinion me and blair waldorf share) 

After the tour, we weren't feeling very American, so we decided to remedy that situation by having dinner at McDonald's!

And let me tell you, McDonald's has never sounded so good as after that 3 hour museum tour. 

And then we decided to walk home!

 It took about 30 minutes, and we both fell in love with Paris all over again! 

We walked through a carnival, people-watched by the Seine, walked through the Tuileries, and sang patriotic songs most of the way home. 

My goodness it was a perfect night. 

And today we're headed off on a little road trip to Belgium!

We're headed to Bruges and Brussels! 

Any must-sees or must-eats up there?!

6 Facts You Should Know...

Guys! I'm so excited, I got nominated by Katie, from The Silver Lining (I'm in love with her blog! She and her husband Kevin are so cute!), to join this "answer 6 fun facts about yourself"!
Which I'm pretty excited about, seeing as I usually just post things I do on here, not necessarily characteristics about myself 
(although those do inevitably come through.... i.e. you all know I'm a study-a-holic/I love weddings/I love JP/etc).

But anyways, here are 6 facts about me!

1. Let us in on a secret you haven't shared with your readers yet. 

>> Umm, lets see... Okay here's an embarrassing secret about myself: I think I can count on 2 hands the number of times I've made an actual non-frozen dinner since JP and I have been married... yikes! But I'm making up for it now in Paris! I'm cooking up a storm over here! (I might even share some of my favorite recipes I've found soon) And a storm is an apt comparison for how the "kitchen" (it's tiny) looks after the food is ready... it's been sort of a trial and error learning experience haha. 

2. What's your favorite part about marriage?

>> My favorite part about marriage has really got to be the fact that I always have a partner in crime! I was lucky enough to marry a guy that likes to do the same things I do -- we have the same desire to travel and see the world, we love getting dressed up and going out, or sometimes really just love staying home and watching all 9 seasons of The Office. But no matter what, everything is more fun with him, and I love it. 

3. If you could have your dream job, what would it be?

 >> A doctor! (surprise surprise haha) At this point I'm thinking I might like to be a dermatologist, or maybe a pediatrician! But I'm not really sure yet. 

4. Share one goal off of your bucket-list with us. 

>> My bucket-list is mostly travelling and places I want to see -- Santorini, Greece; Cliffs of Moher; Normandy Beach, etc. But I suppose a goal off my bucket list is a little bit different, and one goal I can think of off the top of my head is that I want to become scuba certified! I LOVE swimming in the ocean, and snorkeling is great, but I'm dying to go scuba diving. 

5. How did your blog come about?

>> I started my blog almost three years ago (can't believe it's actually been that long...) to document my experience on my study abroad in London. I discovered I liked blogging, and loved how it was a good alternative for a journal (since I am the world's worst journal-writer), so I stuck with it! 

6. Guilty pleasure? 

>> Jet Puff Marshmallow Cream. I can't have it at our house because I eat it with a spoon and the jar will last a week, tops! Seriously try it, it's a hidden gem of a treat.  

Okay now it's your turn! Take it away

Kimmi

Shayla

Beth

Brooke

Molly

Pick 6 of the following questions:

1) What's the one beauty product you cannot live without

2) Favorite song of the week? Provide a link if possible!

3) Why do you blog? What makes you stick with it?

4) You have a day off from work/school/responsibility/etc, what do you do with it?

5) Where do you see yourself/your life in 5 years from now?

6) Alright, what's your guilty pleasure? (this one is too fun not to include again!)

7) What's something about yourself that your readers don't know? (a fact about you, a goal, an embarrassing moment, anything!)

8) Post a picture of what you're wearing right now! And point out how it defines your personal style. 

PS- if anyone else wants to do this please do! Leave a link to your post in a comment because I would love to read it!

PSS - Google Reader is supposedly shutting down today! So, if you don't want to miss any updates, you can easily transfer your feed to bloglovin' by following these instructions, and be sure to follow me here if you don't already :)
OR, thanks to the tip off from Kylee, you can easily import your blog list to feedly! And follow me here if you want!
As always, thanks for reading!

Tour de la Seine

Through JP's school program, we get the opportunity to go on all these awesome guided tours in Paris! 

The first one we did was last night, and it was a boat tour on the Seine! Last time I was in Paris, this was hands down one of my favorite things I did, and JP had never been on one! 

So, I was probably a little more excited for him than I needed to be, but nonetheless it was so much fun! The other students in JP's program are from all over the world, literally (think Turkey, Greece, Denmark, France, USA, Brazil, Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria) and they are the coolest people and are so interesting to talk to and get to know!

Anyways, back to the river tour, I loved every minute of it. 

And JP did too, despite his protestations of how "touristy" it is haha. 

If you ever come to Paris, I highly recommend it -- get off the metro at Pont Neuf and cross the bridge and you're at the loading dock!

An Evening Stroll:

Last night, after a whirlwind first day in Paris that included finding JP's school,  getting him all checked in, finding every supermarket with a 3 mile radius of our apartment, and discovering our shower didn't work, JP and I decided we would go on an evening stroll!

About ten minutes later, we ended up at the Eiffel Tower and I couldn't believe it -- we live SO close! Just a short walk away! The lighting was perfect and we had such a fun time walking around; we saw brides and grooms taking wedding photos, a bachelorette party in a limo that stopped to have a dance party, and tons of parisians congregating on the park in front of the tower eating dinner and drinking wine. So we decided to blend right in with the locals and take a million pictures (ha ha ha). 

Enjoy!

*also, as of about 20 minutes ago, our shower is working! Hallelujah! :)