50 Days Left

I have been in paris for just over nine months now and have only updated my blog a handful of times. I would like my excuse to be that the weather has just been so beautiful I couldn't stand to be inside, but for those of you who have talked to me in the past few months know very well that is not the case. The end of April came the first little signs of spring. We even went to the park for a few afternoons with food, wine, music, and our cute spring clothes on, but that lasted about two weekends. Since then, we have seen the usually rainy Paris, but this time something has changed. We no longer mind the constant rain. While it is frustrating, we still get to do all the things we want to do, just add an umbrella! Apart from the weather (which is a super boring and superficial topic) a lot else has happened here within the past several months.
So I finally got my first two vacations! At the beginning of March I went to Rome which was amazing. As I ever so eloquently described it to a few friends: You know it was really special I went to the most romantic city in the world by myself. All of which is true. I absolutely loved Rome. After a few years of looking at art history slides at UGA I thought I had seen all of Rome, but not even close. It was breathtaking to see all of these sights in person. Yes, my cheesy self even cried while walking into St. Peter's Basilica. I saw all of the sights and walked around the whole city a few times. I loved how friendly and helpful the Italian people are. Also, the Italian food is literally amazing. Y'all know me and my pizza obsession; well, Italy just made that even worse. I am pretty sure I came back from that weekend at least 15 pounds heavier, but it was well worth it. After being in the "winter wonderland" of Paris it was nice to see palm trees and even have a few days of 20 C weather. Rome was the perfect long weekend get away.

 Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain 

Inside of St. Peters 

After Rome, I was craving to get out of Paris again. My host family told me that they would be taking a 12 day vacation to the south of France, so I would have that time off to do what I wanted. My first question was where can I go to be in the hottest weather possible for a week. Well after a lot of research, Christina and I chose Malta. It's a tiny little island nation off the southern coast of Italy. The people there are lovely and are definitely on island time. Although there isn't much to do there, we really enjoyed getting our fair share of sleep, food, and sun. We got to celebrate Christina's birthday on a sailboat cruise of the island which was fabulous! Shout out to the captain for letting us drive the ship.     

 Sliema Harbour 

 Golden Bay (sandy beach we went to)

 Just before we got on our ship for the day!

 Sunset on our last night 

Overall, Malta was the perfect getaway. Just what I needed for a relaxing week!

Back in Paris, we have had visitors galore and it has been so much fun! We get to show everyone around to our favorite spots and retell stories about our favorite times there. For me I love having visitors in Paris because I want them to love this city just as much as I do. I know the same goes for Christina, Annie, and Jenna. A lot of our time here in the spring has been visiting new restaurants, bars, cafes, and parks. We love a good afternoon in a park. The four of us have a bucket list that we are trying to check off but sometimes it gets hard, especially when we are already obsessed with some of the places we frequent. The four of us have had so much fun together. Sad as it is, we are all parting ways soon and it is seriously depressing. We have seen each other at our highs and lows and have been each others family for the past 9 months. These girls have been my backbone through this year and I can't wait for our paris wine-filled reunions to come!

Christina, Annie, and Jenna 

Now that I am crying writing this post, I have some super exciting news. I am officially moving back to Atlanta! I will be home July 20th ready for some Chickfila, Taxco, family, and friends. I am so excited to see all of y'all in a few short weeks and I can't thank you all enough for your support of me for being over here! I have had the best year here in Paris and I am so excited to share all of my stories with everyone. Also HUGE thanks to my parents for letting me come here blindly. Y'all are amazing and I don't know how I can every begin to thank you for supporting me through this year (and listening to my frustrations). 

This post is really long and probably only makes sense to me in my mind, but just wanted to give a little update!