First to Vienna, then back to Paris

We left for Vienna right after classes ended on Thursday. When I say we, I mean me, Melanie, Annie, Jaci, and Bojana. Thankfully, having learned from my close call on the morning we left for the south of France, I made sure I was packed and ready to go the night before, so essentially all I had to do was put on my shoes and grab my bag as I walked out the door. 
I found myself reliving my metro-with-luggage experience once again, though this time was much easier because a) I actually knew where I was going b) I wasn’t alone and c) I had a backpack and a purse instead of two rolling suitcases. We had been nervous about making it to the airport on time but ended up having almost 2 hours to spare when we arrived. We patted ourselves on the back and felt like quite the accomplished jet-setters. 

We had a quick layover and connecting flight in Frankfurt and got into Vienna right around midnight. We opted to take a cab to the hotel rather than try and navigate a new metro system in a foreign language late at night; it was an excellent choice because driving through Vienna at night was absolutely stunning, even though I probably would have chosen a different soundtrack than Adele’s “Someone Like You,” which was the driver’s selection. In a way the architecture reminds me of Paris, but even more uniform and much better maintained. It looked as if someone cleans and restores the buildings every week—maybe they do I don’t know—but that’s how pristine it was! Immediately we all commented on the lack of garbage in the streets and the absence of the omnipresent smell of urine in the metro station and the odd realization that we were breathing air composed of more oxygen than cigarette smoke for the first time in two months. By Sunday we actually kind of missed the messy humanity of Paris, but I’ll get to that later.

When we got to our hotel, we were all giddy because it felt like we had walked into something out of a Wes Anderson movie…namely, the Grand Budapest Hotel. Maybe it was the exhaustion from traveling or the excitement of a new city or just our general weirdness, but we all talked in these horrendous German accents (except for Mel’s which was spot on) for the rest of the night.

We woke up early the next day because we wanted to make the most of our short weekend trip. After a quick breakfast we started walking in what we believed to be the general direction of Saint Stephens Cathedral because we knew that was top on our list of places to see that day. We did eventually make it there, but it ended up being our last stop of the day after several pleasantly unplanned detours. 

Among those detours were several other beautiful, baroque/romanesque churches and the Albertina Museum of Fine Art, into which we received free admission because we’re students under the age of 26. Europe knows how to do things the right way :) We were able to see works by Picasso, Degas, Monet, Modigliani, and Evard Munch. Another bonus? We were allowed to take pictures!

Walking along the Danube

Lots of cool graffiti 

And some street art

Hello to you, too.

Church #1

They must get lots of international visitors...

Church #2

Andy Warhol's Mao Zedong

And Jackie O

And Mick Jagger

Picasso

Matisse

Degas

Monet

We decided to stop and refuel at the Café Mozart right across the street, one of Vienna’s best known cafés. I had the “Traditional Viennese Soup,” a delicious combo of dumplings, beef, potatoes, carrots, and some other veggies in a broth base. Between that and the endless supply of hearty bread, I agreed with the other girls that I didn’t think I could tackle one of Café Mozarts monstrous desserts, as beautiful as they were, so we decided to all share a piece of warm apple strudel. Yum!

Lunch!

How can you choose??

Replenished and slightly bloated, we were all ready to do some more walking. This leg of our journey led us to stumble upon some of Vienna’s ornate government buildings. We saw the Parliament building, Palace of Justice, and the Rathaus (city hall) and its surrounding gardens as well as the Opera House and Rathausplatz, a charming square where we found various booths selling all sorts of treats, crafts, and knicknacks. Our trek from Café Mozart had gotten our metabolisms going again, so naturally we had to stop for a snack of pretzels and warm apple cider…when in Vienna, right?

Opera House

And inside

Rathausplatz

You can't pass up 3 for 6 euros!

 We finally made it to Stephansplatz, a labyrinth of side-streets surrounding the square where the actual church is found. It took a lot of willpower not to stop in every boutique we walked past, but our destination was in sight so we put on our blinders and tried not to notice the plethora of flannel scarves and made-for-fall boots we were passing up. And good thing we did, because the inside of the church was amazing! Pictures don’t even do it justice, but I tried.

Friday night, we went back to a cute side street near the Danube River we had walked down during our earlier wanderings and found a cozy restaurant with no fewer than 6 items on the menu containing pumpkin in some way, shape or form. I’m a pumpkin fanatic, so I may or may not have gotten pumpkin soup to start and then risotto with chicken and pumpkin as a main course. I regret nothing.

After dinner we walked around for awhile. It was eerily empty compared to Paris, and undoubtedly much more quiet, but we still commented on how safe the streets felt. We made our way back to our hotel, watched part of the Sound of Music on Jaci’s laptop (I wish I was kidding about that part but I’m not), decided which characters we would all be and sang a few off-key numbers before going to sleep.

Saturday we greeted the day early once again, though this time setting off in the opposite direction to find the Hundertwasserhaus, a modern art museum built right in line with its surrounding buildings but in a style all its own. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of those landmarks that people protest at first because of its strangeness but gradually come to love…just like le Tour Eiffel :) 

Afterwards, we enjoyed a traditional Austrian lunch…I ordered champignonschnitzel mostly because I liked the sound of it, and it was a very lucky shot in the dark! It ended up being chicken schnitzel (breaded and pounded very thin) with mushrooms and cheese dumplings in a white cream sauce. We then took a stroll through the nearby Stadtpark. Even I, with my non-existent German skills, could figure out that translation. It was a beautiful place to rest for a bit and of course snap some photos! We gave ourselves permission to go all-out tourist in Vienna since we usually try to keep that in check in Paris like the seasoned Frenchwomen we are. Ha.

Mel, Jaci, and me

Stadtpark

Me and Jaci

Our next stop was Schönbrunn Palace, which gives Versailles a run for its money if you ask me. This was our first time using Viennese public transport since we had arrived, and while we were waiting in like to buy tickets from the kiosk, a helpful young woman confided in us that nobody actually pays. The Austrian system of regulation is notoriously lax, and we could essentially hop on and off as we pleased. It turns out she was right, and it was quite a revelation to us: no pesky tickets or malfunctioning Navigo passes; no bars to hop over (figuratively for us, literally for those who jump over the ticket gates in Paris), and no uniformed officers waiting at the exit to check that you’re being honest! Crazy.

That night, Melanie, Jaci, and Bojana were heading to a performance at the opera they had bought tickets for earlier that day. Annie and I had opted out and instead were going to meet up with her cousin who just happened to be studying abroad in Vienna this semester with Wake Forest University. He and some of his friends took us to an outdoor skating rink (also free), and that was actually magical. It was sort of like Steinberg’s on steroids. There was a stage with live music in the middle of the rink, a small café/bar just on the side of it, and a magnificent Viennese building lit up against the black sky as a backdrop. I felt like I belonged on the cover of the book Angel on the Square (because of the picture, not the title, and ignore the fact that it takes place in Russia). Also, neither Annie nor I fell down so yay for small victories! We were still pretty full from our big lunch that we had eaten relatively late, so instead of dinner we opted to skip straight to dessert. I don’t even have the words to describe the hazelnut torte I ate, but I can assure you I will take the memory to my grave.

We tried to turn in early because we had a wake-up call coming at 4 am, and mind you with daylight savings it was going to feel like 3 am. Ouch. We were both reluctant to leave and also excited to get back to Paris. Vienna showed us an amazing weekend, but the city definitely has a different vibe and I think I prefer the bustle and vivacity of Paris. 

After our layover in Dusseldorf, we were on our final plane back to CDG. I was seated next to a man from China named Joseph. He was visiting France for the first time by himself with no French language capabilities. His predicament was all too familiar for me, so when he asked for my help in navigating the airport and heading in the direction of his hotel, I could hardly refuse. During the flight I gave him a quick crash course, a French 101 if you will, so he could at the very least ask people if they can parler Anglais. French people generally don’t appreciate if you just start right off in English, and I can’t say I blame them. We (myself included) tend to assume that EVERYONE speaks English, but imagine how we would react if someone just walked up to us in the States speaking German and expected us to understand? It makes their sass seem a bit more justified. 

Once we got to CDG, I did for him exactly what that lovely couple did for me on my first day in Paris. I helped him claim his luggage, take the airport shuttle to terminal 3, buy his ticket from one of those impossible machines, and then wrote out the directions he would need from the station where I would leave him. In return, he gave me his business card, so if anyone is heading to China, I might have a tour guide for you! 

Meanwhile, as I herded Joseph through CDG, another young man, Sam, asked if he could join our caravan to Paris. I looked at the other girls with an apologetic smile. They tell me not infrequently that I’m too nice to strangers, and this was not helping my case. Now in my opinion its the more the merrier so of course I welcomed him aboard. In a funny coincidence, Sam was a student studying abroad in Vienna and visiting his boyfriend in Paris, the flip-side of our circumstances. Even funnier, he’s originally from Manhattan and has a number of friends that go to NYU! I can’t stand the song, but its true: it’s a small world after all!

When I finally opened the door to ma petite appartement, I was surprised how much it felt like I was coming home. Don’t get upset, ma famille, nothing will ever be home like good ol’ Missouri, but it was nice realizing how comfortable I am here. Even though there are still some days where I feel like an outsider, they are few and far between, and nothing like it felt in Vienna where I didn’t speak the language or have any knowledge of the layout of the city. Not like here where my metro route home was almost second nature, and when I bumped someone with my bag on the street, “pardon, désolé” came out automatically. 

Now that I’m back in Paris, I have a couple more updates for you all—spoiler alert, I’m officially a working girl— but I’ll save those for my next post because I don’t anyone falling asleep at their computer screen after this novella. À bientôt! 

My first visitor

My friend Paulina got in from the airport at 7:30 pm on Wednesday night. I had prepared for her visit by proactively doing my homework and studying, making my bed, cleaning up the mound of clothes next to it, and finally addressing my sink full of dirty dishes. It’s probably a good thing she was coming because I needed a little push to do some housekeeping. Naturally, the day after I got around to it, the residence collected everyone’s sheets for washing so I had to do it again but that’s beside the point

For anyone who hasn’t been to CDG, it’s HUGE. Thankfully, getting there is pretty easy, just a straight shot down the RER B line, but once I was inside the terminal I found myself walking in circles. I checked my phone to make sure I wasn’t going to be late meeting her and found that it had died. Several elevator rides and loops around Terminal 1 later, I noticed the board for the flights arriveés, and saw that the connecting flight she was on from Norway had just landed. Success!I waited anxiously outside the gate alongside moms, dads, friends, and people carrying signs with strange names (There were lots of international flights landing). She ran out and gave me a big hug, and then it began: “Oh is this your sister? No? Cousin?” ….we are not related, but our friends at Kirkwood took to calling us “the twins.” 

She was pretty exhausted from her flight, so we headed back to my apartment; I helped her with her suitcase up and down the stairs and only had a few PTSD flashbacks of my own struggle through the Paris metro system. We dumped her suitcases rather unceremoniously in my room then went back out to grab a late dinner. I introduced her to the beauty of “le menu,” a cheap option at many take-away places that gets you a panini, a crepe, and a drink for usually 5 euros or less. It’s safe to say that by the time she went home I had created another nutella-banana crepe addict.

The next day, I still had class, and a midterm no less, so we turned in for the night early. I let her sleep in and snuck out of my apartment early the next morning. I ran into my friend Shoshana while I was putting on my shoes in the hallway and we walked to school together, doing some last-minute reviewing about The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and Troilus and Cressida. What better way to start the morning? Thankfully, when the time came, I felt very prepared and even finished with time to spare.

While I was in classes, Paulina was doing some reading/studying of her own, so when I got back we were both ready to get out and enjoy the day! I showed her around my neighborhood a bit first; we walked to the Place de la République and took the metro from there to the area where school is. I showed her the Jardin du Luxembourg, Musée de Cluny, the Panthéon, the Sorbonne, and Notre Dame. It sounds like a lot, but that area is jam-packed with lots of sights with little distance in between, so it was a perfect place to start our sightseeing. 

Our next stop was my favorite bakery. I got a big piece of spinach artichoke quiche and helped Paulina give her order in French. We both got eclairs as a treat for later, chocolate for her and coffee for me! Thursday night we went to dinner with Annie at one of our favorite places. It’s called Chez Justine and it’s our next-door neighbor at the residence hall. They have a great happy hour, and we’ve made it our mission to become known as “regulars” there. It has a really cool atmosphere with those quintessential parisian tile floors, glass chandeliers, an old piano, and plenty of cozy seating. Plus, they play awesome music!

Afterwards, we had planned to walk along the Seine, but we had been hearing that rain was in the forecast so we decided to stay closer to home, and good thing we did. We made it a few blocks down Rue Oberkampf before it started, and then we ducked into the first place we saw with reasonable prices and open seats. We got really lucky; it ended up being a cute bar/coffeeshop with live music. There were three guys… one on piano, one on guitar, and one on saxaphone, and then a girl maybe a few years older than us singing. They were doing covers of Beatles songs, and doing them pretty well in my opinion! After a couple songs, the girl went and sat down with a group of people next to us and ordered a drink. We were very confused until we asked and she explained that she doesn’t usually sing here but it’s her birthday and one of her friends had mentioned to the musicians that she sang, so she joined them for an impromptu performance. Then, everyone in the place stood up and sang happy birthday to her…or rather, joyeaux aniversaire. That’s one of the things I love about Paris. You never know where the night will take you or who you will meet!

Friday, we went shopping in Le Marais with Annie, Jaci, and Bojana (not sure if I’ve mentioned her, but she’s from Chicago and is going with us to Vienna this weekend!) Le Marais is a neighborhood in between my apartment and school with tons of little boutiques and galleries. We ate lunch at this taco place that was nothing special from the outside but had probably the best guacamole I’ve had in my life. They also had the Mexican soda brand Jaliscos which made me think of Global Foods back home :) If you’re ever in Paris…check out Candelaria! The owner was a friendly woman who spoke fluent English, French, and Spanish. Pretty impressive.

Friday night we made chicken pesto pasta at home for dinner then headed to Montmartre, my personal favorite! I thought Paulina might punch me when we got off the metro and started walking up the giant hill, only to come to the mountain of steps leading the rest of the way up. But I assured her it was well-worth it, and it was. We ended up at a bar with my friends Nathalia and Pei, they’re from Costa Rica and Singapore, respectively, and wouldn’t you know we were right in the middle of another birthday party! When some of the guest heard us speaking English, they wanted to know all about where we were from, why we were here, and how we were liking Paris so far. They insisted on introducing us to the birthday guest of honor, and suddenly it was like we were guests too. The night was a mix of English, French, and even a little Swedish on Paulina’s part when she met a girl who’s mother was from there. The highlight of my night: being told by a French girl that I spoke French very well AND that she liked my American accent. I would prefer no accent, but hey, I’ll get there.

Saturday we went to the Champs Élysées/Arc de Triomphe. We window shopped at Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc. Neither of us had a strong desire to go in; I don’t really see the appeal in shelling out that much money for a bag with a tiny name on it, and to be honest the saleswomen in all black intimidate me. We did, however, make a stop in Ladurée for some macaroons. Now this is just my opinion, and I don’t want to offend anyone, but I don’t think Ladurée is the place for the best macaroon in Paris. I doubt I’ve found the best yet, but I do think I’ve found places I like better, and for much better prices! But Ladurée is definitely the place to go for photo-ops and lots of fancy flavors. I tried a gingerbread one and a lavender-blackcurrant one. I knew I would love the gingerbread, but I was pleasantly surprised by the other one, too!Sunday, we rounded out our whirlwind tourist weekend with a few more landmarks. We didn’t go into the Louvre but walked around outside and peeked in because we were a little short on time, and it’s pretty overwhelming to even try to cram it into a few hours. We walked along the river for a bit and I pointed out the buildings I knew. I was surprised to realize how much I’ve gotten to know the city so far! We of course had to stop at the lock bridge where people inevitably tried to sell us our own locks to add. When I said no thank you, the man who had offered gave an exaggerated gasp and said, “Vraiment!? Pas d’amour???” I gave him a deadpan look. No, monsieur. Pas pour moi.

Our last night was spent at the Eiffel Tower with a baguette, a hunk of cheese, some chocolate, and a bottle of wine. (Don’t worry, mom and dad, I promise my homework was already done!) We got there right as it sparkled at 9 pm. One of the best views of tower is right at the metro stop called Trocadéro. We took a few pictures there, and I taught Paulina how to ask/offer picture taking, then made our way down to the base. We passed underneath it then went to the other side, near the École Militaire, and sat to enjoy our picnic. There were tons of people around us, and two people, a girl and a guy, were performing. He played guitar while she sang a variety of Janis Joplin, Carole King, and whats going on? They really seem to like the American classics here…I’m not complaining! After it sparkled again at 10, we said one last goodbye, and went back home. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Of course she found the Finnish Cultural Center

Candelaria...yum.

The Louvre

If you can't read it, his sign says "Street Kitchen Orchestra." He was very talented!

Arc de Triomphe

Plus Annie looking very California in her sunglasses

View from Trocadéro

Walking in the Jardins de Tuileries behind the Louvre

Our last night!

It was so much fun getting to show Paulina the places I’ve found and watch her reactions to seeing Paris for the first time. It feels like just yesterday that I got here, but I’m already taking things for granted that seemed so crazy to me at first. Walking by Notre Dame on the way to school, what’s so weird about that?? The weekend reminded me how lucky I am to be here and also showed me just how much I’ve adjusted in less than two months. Currently taking applications for my next visitor :) 

Au revoir! 

My latest news and more chiens of Paris :)

Bonjour, tout le monde! (I'm writing this instead of studying for the French test I have on Monday, so at least now I can pretend I'm still practicing a little.)

Getting back into the school routine after our mini-vacation to Avignon, Nîmes and Arles wasn't exactly a breeze, especially after having to cram a whole weekend's worth of work into a single Sunday, but thankfully on Monday in my writing class we had a fun activity to ease us back in. We just finished reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, which is basically a memoir of his time in Paris in the 1920's/30's, so we spent the hour-and-a-half class walking around the Latin Quarter to see some of the places where he lived, worked, and "hung out," i.e. drank; Poor Ernest was a bit of a tortured soul and evidently liked to drown his sorrows in rum St. James. Really though, Paris is amazing as it is now, but I would love to be able to go back and see it as it was then. I guess reading about it is the next best thing!

Also this week, we officially planned our next trip: Vienna! Melanie, Jaci, Annie, and another girl named Bojana whom I don't believe I've mentioned before are all going October 23-26, and I can't wait! Apparently it's absolutely beautiful in the fall. Before that, though, I'll have my first visitor here! My friend Paulina has her fall break next week, so she'll be visiting from Finland from Thursday to Sunday! I haven't seen her since June, so it will be awesome to catch up and see a familiar face.

Hmm. What else to fill you in on....I don't think I wrote in any of my previous posts that I ran for student government, but I did, and I got elected! The five representatives are me, Jaci, Mel, Ethan (he was in some earlier pictures) and another girl named Shoshana. We get to help plan group activities and decide how to spend the rest of our class budget for the year. I'm so excited!

This weekend has been pretty busy so far, also. On Thursday, we all went to see a play that NYU provided tickets for. In our Cultural Foundations class, even though some of us have different teachers, we are all currently studying ancient Greek literature/history; my class is reading The Iliad, and another section is reading The Odyssey, so it fit perfectly that we got to see a play about the story of Agamemnon, a character in both of Homer's works. The only catch? It was a hip-hop interpretation. So instead of typical Greek tragedy there was beat-boxing, dance fighting, and rapping...in French. It was actually really interesting to see it presented that way, and I enjoyed it!

Afterwards, some of us went to hang out in our friend John's room. He lucked out and somehow got a room on the 5th floor that's bigger than everyone else's and has a REAL balcony, but I guess NYU figured out the mix-up and decided it wasn't fair that he had more space than the rest of us, so he had to switch into a different room this weekend, so he had one last hurrah to share the glory of the balcony with all of us.

He definitely had the best view!

Rue Oberkampf...home sweet home :)

Mel and Annie

And now, as promised, some more puppy pictures :)

Of course Parisian pooches have to be just as stylish as their owners

Okay, not a dog, but he finally let me pet him!!

Spotted on the metro

Just grabbing a bite to eat in a café

Are we there yet?

Speaking of the metro...I realized something odd this week. You know how sometimes you're driving, and then you sort of drift onto autopilot, and before you know it you're pulling into your driveway? That's started happening on my commute to/from school. I have to transfer lines once or twice depending on which route I take, and there have been several times where I completely zone out, and then when I look at the map to see how long I have left until my stop to transfer, I realize that I've already switched and am only a stop or two away from my final destination. It's a very funny feeling, but much better than having to stop and look at a map every time! Anyways, just a random tidbit I thought I'd share. Hope everyone is doing well at home! Hugs to everyone and thanks for reading!

Rainy Paris Days and the Sunny South of France

After a month of clear, sunny skies, I'm getting my first glimpses of the iconic gray Paris I was anticipating before I came here. It's definitely feeling like fall, and I'm loving it! There hasn't been any torrential rain, just drizzly days, so it hasn't been too much of a pain getting to school and running errands and what not. I've also found another ideal rainy day place when Shakespeare & Co. is too crowded. It's called Angelina's, and they have the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted in my life. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out they made it by just melting chocolate chips then pouring it into a mug; that's how rich it is. I'm starting to drool just thinking about it...

The only issue I've had with the rainy days so far: it gets slippery!!! I completely wiped out one morning entering the metro station. Remember that game we all used to play as little kids where you would slide down the stairs on your butt? Yeah, that's basically what I did in a dress and tights in the middle of the Paris morning rush hour, but once I came to a rest at the bottom of the steps, a nice old woman helped me up, shook her head, and lamented with me, "La pluie, c'est horrible!" And shortly after I witnessed a woman looking very elegant in her black stilettos do the same thing I had, so I didn't feel as mortified. I guess I'll just think of it as a rite of passage.

Last Wednesday, Annie, Melanie, Jaci and I had another "family dinner." This was my turn to cook, so I decided to fall back on my mom's trusty old spaghetti and meatballs recipe. Needless to say, it was a hit, and it was nice to have a comforting meal that tasted like home! This week is Annie's responsibility, so that means she gets to do the dishes, too :)

On Friday and Saturday, we went on our first NYU-sponsored weekend trip to the south of France. We started off in Avignon, then went to Arles where we spent Friday night,  traveled to Nîmes on Saturday, and returned to Paris that night. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but we managed to see so much!

Friday morning we were supposed to meet at the Gare de Lyon, which is about half an hour from our residence, at 6:40. I set my alarm for 5, giving my plenty of time to pack, eat some breakfast and straighten up before leaving...at least that was the expectation. Reality? I woke up to my doorbell and my friend Ethan asking if I was awake. I looked at my phone and found that it was 6:15. OOPS.

I told my friends to go ahead and leave because I didn't want to make them late, and I rushed around my apartment like a madwoman throwing random clothing and a banana into my backpack, cursing myself for choosing the absolute worst day possible to oversleep. Miraculously, I made it to the train station only 10 minutes late, and the great mystery is that I somehow managed to beat my friends there. As soon as I caught my breath I realized I hadn't packed pajamas. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Our first stop was Avignon, a sleepy little town where the pope resided for about 70 years in the 12th century after t was "politely suggested" by the French king that the papacy be moved to France. We visited the papal palace then had free time to walk around the town center and get a coffee. 

Charming Avignon

View from a turret of the papal palace

The palace (now a museum) is also something of a gallery for local art...pretty cool! They host concerts during the summer in the main courtyard, too.

The palace had window seats galore, and my family will attest to my love of window seats, so I was quite envious of the papal digs.

Then, it was off to Arles! Our bus brought us right to the historic city center where we were let loose for lunch. Annie and I wandered down a side street and found a little restaurant with different types of homemade pasta. I had pesto tagliatelle with pine nuts and fresh tomatoes...fantastic! We met back up with the group for a walking tour through the Roman ruins and historic sites of Arles.

These three pictures are all the former theatre of the city. It was partially destroyed by orders of a ruler who decided the productions had become "too decadent" and were promoting immorality among his citizens. Thankfully, though, the basic structure remained and it has been partially rebuilt and still hosts concerts today. So now citizens of Arles can casually see performances in the same place as their 2000-year-old predecessors.

Amphitheater of Arles (fun fact...amphitheatre means double theatre because amphitheatres were designed as two of the traditional half-moon theatres put together. Sorry I'm a history nerd.) 

The subject of one of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings

Such a quaint town!

 We finished up our time in Arles with a fantastic dinner at the hotel and a brief walk around to settle our food and see the streets at night. Next stop: Nîmes!

The Pont du Gard, a former aqueduct just outside the city.

So beautiful!

The amphitheater of Nîmes is one of the best preserved

Les Quais de la Fontaine--all the city's water originally came from a single spring. They've upgraded since then, but it's still pretty.

The area surrounding the spring has now been turned into a public park....you can sort of see a wedding party in the very back. They were there taking pictures :)

Melanie and Annie looking like divas in their sunglasses at the Jardins de la Fontaine.

Part of the former city wall

And the view of Nîmes from the top.

All in all, a fantastic weekend!