Europe in Photos: France

Part Duex of Lillie's excellent adventures in Europe.

Amiens: We took a bus to France and they didn't even check our passports. I understand this sort of thing is pretty lax in Europe. So I don't have a stamp for France (although I have one for Germany as I was in the country for only 4 hours) We stopped in Amiens! I ordered a sandwich in French (végétarien avec fromage), had my first kinder egg, and learned that there is more than one Notre Dame. The picture on the bottom middle is a *replica* of John the Baptist skull. They had in caged in so we thought it was the real thing; alas, twas not. The cathedral has these amazing floors all through out. Cathedrals are one of my favorite things about Europe. Speaking in general, Europe is probably my favorite place because of the history. Things that were hundreds of years older than my country are still around and still holding out their purpose. It's very surreal. We played Uno on the way there and on the way to Paris AND I WRECKED EVERYBODY.

 Paris: It's been a life-long dream to go to Paris. All this time I have thought that New York City was my city, but when I visited Paris everything felt right. Being in Paris made me feel like I was home. Cliche as it sounds, it's exactly how I felt. I didn't want to be anywhere but there. I call Paris the Golden City because everything is golden. The way the sunset hits the Sine is golden and beautiful. Paris wasn't all pastry and sunshine. It's actually scary at times. There are loads of sketchy people selling you things (they are harmless really) but it feels like you will mysteriously get taken or robbed. I felt like this most in Montmartre because there were people searching the crowd and waiting for prey. Montmartre was actually one of my favorite parts of the city. My favorite restaurant on the whole trip was there; I tried escargot and had the most heavenly dessert. Breakfast in Paris was probably the best overall, though Bruges had a lot working for it. Our hotel room had a leaking toilet. I notified someone about it before we left to explore the city for the first day, but when we got back the bathroom was completely flooded. Our hotel was less than a block away from this AMAZING place where we ordered banana and nutella crepes at least 3 times.

We visited Versailles one day, which has always been on my bucket list since I saw Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. To be honest, the move gives you a much better view of the palace than the tour does. I felt claustrophobic and basically wanted to die the whole time. I was pushed and shoved by many a asian tourist during that time. Side note: if you know how to say Pardon, oui, non, Je suis végétarien, and excusez-moi, you are golden in french speaking nations as a tourist. You literally need to know nothing else.

 I knew a few phrases here and there and I can read key words, but I don't have very extensive french vocabulary.The photo on the top left corner is a rack of naughty french themed condoms. It because a very juvenile joke with my group to say "Eat my Baguette." I think we found them so hilarious because they were EVERYWHERE. I'm sure most of my classmates don't even know where to get condoms in America, so it was interesting to see them everywhere. We also saw a condom vending machine in Amiens. Holler at your safe sex practices France. Also, the photo in middle bottom is me. At Versailles. You can tell I was just overwhelmed with culture.

 

I don't drink. It's just never been something I wanted to partake in. But, when you are told the drinking  age is much lower in Europe and French wine is included in your dinner ON THE EIFFEL TOWER, you sure as hell want to partake in that. Alas, the group from my school was not allowed. A hilarious side note: the school group from California evidently got wasted on multiple occasions and their wack job, french teacher let them roam around Paris ALONE while intoxicated. Class act. So, because we were not allowed wine, we got free drinks. I grew particularly fond of European Fanta, it's kind of the best stuff ever. It's the drink below. The meal at the Eiffel tower was pretty good, but not exactly remarkable. They did have excellent mashed potatoes and the dessert was the best part.  I can't believe I missed the best part of this experience though. It deserves it's own paragraph.

Earlier in the day, we had spent a few hours in the Louvre. It was the only thing on the schedule for the day for the entire group. We were then able to split off and do our own thing. Because none of the other groups wanted the tour guide we got Mariam. She had to take someone back to the hotel room, so we were instructed to go across the bridge to the Musee D'orsay, which was on our list of things we wanted to do. Once we got there we realized that we had to pay to go to the Museum and we didn't want to rush through, so my group and I walked around to some shops, found a free war museum, and waited till our guide was going to meet up with us. We waited for over an hour for the guide at the front of the Musee D'orsay. Our guide NEVER CAME. We tried to call her but she never answered. So, my teacher had to figure out how to get to the Champs Elysees on a bus. It was hectic, and we eventually got there but we had very limited time because we had to get back to our hotel at a certain time 

 

Being able to visit France was amazing. Every second, I felt myself falling in love with the this gorgeous, golden city of Paris. Hopefully I will be able to recount another adventure in Paris soon.

HOW TO: Take over Europe 2013

In lieu of taking photos during my trip, I took mosty videos with a flip camera and a point-and-shoot canon. Now that I no longer have the photos I did take with my phone (they were backed up on the hard drive that crashed), I appreciate the footage I captured of some of my favorite places while there. This is my first travel video, and I know it's rough but I they will get better with time. Also, the song is Sleep Alone by Two Door Cinema Club.

Enjoy.

Europe in Photos: Belgium

How dare I have the audacity to go to Europe and not share photos from my trip on my blog.

In short: it was f*ckng great.

The trip consisted of two days in Belgium, three days in France, and two days in Switzerland. I got sick, spoke french, and ate ungodly sums of french bread. The only thing I would have changed about my trip was its length. So now, straight from my iPhone, is a collection of photos of things, people, and food. Along with them, loads of excellent stories. 

Belgium

To be honest, I didn't think I'd like Belgium much. The group hit the ground running after a 7 hour flight from DC to Brussels. I'm pretty sure first thing I did there was have a Belgian wafel (heaven), Belgian frites, and get yelled at in french to push in a chair (lucky to have known what "Chaise" means.) I saw the peeing baby of Brussels (truly iconic) and visited my first European cathedral (St. Michael and St. Gudula) The cathedral had a really cool front area, but all the trees where painted white. Overall, rockin place though, it is slightly hard to appreciate fully due to extreme jet lag. 

Bruges was a different story. I had actually never watched the movie with Colin Ferall before going to Bruges, but let me quote Ralph Fiennes in saying that "It's a f*cking fairy tale." I had never been to a canal city before. Bruges was simply amazing, except for the fact that I was sick one of the days with dehydration and a killer fever. It eventually broke but it took a few days to feel myself again. The main square of Bruges is just awesome, we spent a lot of time there. I don't have too many ridiculous stories from Bruges besides my friends taking a loose brick from the streets for me when I was sick in the hotel room. We also took a canal tour where our guide was hilarious "That building is used for retired politicians. Retired, not retarded."Bruges was just this place that almost didn't feel real. There were horse rides and a ridiculous amount of history. Loved it.

What It's Like for Me

I thought I would take this opportunity while I have it because I am currently (like right now) rolling down a hill.

That's what it feels like to me. One minute I'm fine, then slowly I feel myself fall and tumble. I can tell right before I trip because I lose my temper, I become violent. I throw and break things. Then I lash out at myself. This usually involves crying while my hands scratch or pull at my body as a form of punishment. The truth is I blame myself far too often. My chest tightens while I gasp for air. This is when I start having a panic attack. My breaths are short and I try to calm my crying. My whole chest is heavy like someone is sitting on it. At this time, I avoid thinking about things. I distract myself with a book or my phone: anything that stops me from thinking. I wrap myself in blankets and avoid looking at my room. My room is a mess and the chaos amplifies the stress. I'd clean it, but I get overwhelmed and shut down.

I do that a lot, shutdown. It is my coping mechanism. When I can't handle the world around me, I shut it out and engulf myself into my own mind. If you find me zoning out or looking blankly into space, this is probably what I'm doing. I won't do school work because I can't physically get my homework out and even when I do, I can't concentrate on it.

It doesn't hurt all the time. I'm not always rolling down a hill. Frequently, I am a very happy person who is talkative, excited, and funny. But there is always this threat that I'm not quite at the top of the hill. In fact, I just pause until I fall again. 

I've always joked that I'm my own worst critic and my parents know that, but I don't think they fully understand to the extend. Really, my parents treat my depression like it's a phase. Like I feel bad for myself for a moment, but I'll get over it. I've spent my entire life trying to "get over it" but alas, here I am. It is really difficult opening up to them because whenever I have, it's usually brushed off as me "overreacting" or being "paranoid." The same thing happened when tried to explain my Dermatillomania. So now, I silently roll. 

So what pushed me down the hill today?

My college art portfolio is due in a few weeks. The school I'm applying to is super competitive and I honestly think I won't get it. But, I already sent in my application and there is no turning back. Like I said before, I am my own worst critic and I don't have a huge body of work to choose from, so I've been extra critical of myself. I've been trying to make art but I get frustrated because I can't do it. for various reasons. I'm not a very good painter and I really can't draw worth a shit. I've been forcing myself to do things because I have this idea of what the college wants and I know I'm not it, so I've been trying to mold myself into the idea. I honestly wanted to share this story with them and maybe they'd understand why my grades aren't what they should be or why my art isn't as good as it could be, but doing that makes me feel they would perceive me as weak and too unstable. I over analyze this to death, if you couldn't tell.

I stopped for a moment and looked at my blog as a whole. I've spent hours working on it's design, which is simple but, is something I did by myself and I am proud of. I checked out the My Photography tab and remembered why I wanted to apply to this school in the first place: because I am good at what I do. I am a photographer, not a painter or illustrator, but a person who captures time at the best moments. I compare myself to other people too often and I forget how quality of a person I am. 

I'm not 100% better, and I probably won't be for a long time but as long as I have the things that distract me (my photography, books, this blog), I think I'll be ok.

My mission from the start has always been to be truthful and share experience when possible. The contents of this post is part of who I am, and if one person can relate and feel comfort that they are not the only one, I have succeeded.

xo