Sigh... I'm back :(

Europe was AMAZING. I don't even have words. So I'll share some pictures.

Sacre Coeur Church on the way up the hill

The steps to Montmartre

Sacre Coeur Church

The Eiffel Tower at night

The view from the top of the Dome at Sacre Coeur

The first of about 7 wedding dress models we saw in Paris

The "I Love You Wall" near Montmartre

Bugsy's! This was our home bar during the 2002 internship days

A Rose Window at Notre Dame de Paris

There's this bridge in Paris where couples put a lock on the fence to symbolize their love, then throw the keys in the River

Notre Dame

Palm Trees in Paris! Les Jardins de Luxembourg

Saint Sulpice, one of the churches featured in The DaVinci Code

The best cookies EVER.

Beer at the Stuttgart Fest

A real live German Flume ride!

Party in the Beer Tent!

I have a ton more, but that's just a taste. 

So yeah, I was definitely sad to leave Paris, and wish I'd had a little more time to enjoy Stuttgart, but I'll take what I can get. Now to start planning the next trip....

So much to do, so little time, so I'm procrastinating, as usual.

I'm supposed to be writing a final right now, but I just can't concentrate.

I've got all the notes done. I know what I need to be saying to answer the three essay questions that make up the final. I also know that I'm going into the final with a 99 in the class, which means as long as I score a 74 on the final, I'll have an A in the class. Not that I'm going to aim for the 74, but still...

Why am I so distracted, you ask? Well, the time has finally come, and I leave for Paris in just about 58 hours!! I am seriously so excited for this trip. But I also have a TON to do. Between the final, getting some work things ready for this trip (because yes, Paris is fun, but the only reason I'm going is because I have to go to Germany for work), doing the final, and going to actual work... guess what on that list I want to do the least.

So here I am, procrastinating on the final. Seriously, if I'm not going to do the final, I might as well get off my bum and get some of the other things I need to do done, right? One of those things is a trip up to Annapolis - gotta find a gift for the guy who's letting us stay in his apartment for free. Eek! Better get moving!!

(Oh, and for those of you who may have been wondering... (Ha. Sure you were.) Traveling on 9/11 was... interesting. There were a ton of police at the airport, but the airport was pretty quiet. A little extra security, but the lines moved and it wasn't crazy. Seems as though pretty much everyone just wanted to keep their heads down and get through the day. I'm also very proud of myself for not watching the news for about 3 days - I had my own way of memorializing the day, but the rehashing of the coverage of that day is not it.)

Is it September 20th yet??

Because on that evening, I'm getting on a plane to Paris! And I just needed to share.

I am seriously SO EXCITED. I last went to Paris in 2002, and when a work trip to Germany came up, I decided to take a couple of extra days of leave and go back to Paris for a few days too.  Even better, it looks like one of my good friends is going to be joining me. I seriously can not wait. I just made the hotel reservation, right around the corner from where I lived the first month I was there in 2002.  Now the only thing left to do is put aside the right amount of money and, MUCH closer to the trip, book the train ticket from Paris to Germany.

It really will make the days go by faster (I hope) knowing that in just 6 short weeks, I'll be enjoying Paris once again, even if it is for just 4 days. Better than nothing though!

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 23

Day 23: Something you wish you had done in your life.
I wish I had done more of the toursity stuff when I lived in Paris after USNA! I spent 2 months taking classes and then interning at the Embassy, and never went to Versailles, or Provence, or Givenchy. I did the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and a dinner cruise on the Seine. And as much as I enjoyed being a "local" and doing local-ish things, I wish now that I had done more of the touristy stuff too. There's so much history over there, and so many neat things. Maybe I just thought I'd be back over there sooner (I haven't been back since, and that was in 2002). I don't know. Next time, no such thing. I'm touristing it up!