The MOST amazing year I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Thank you, Jesus.

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Monday, September 1st

While everyone in America had the day off for Labor Day, I was attending my first day of class! I cannot complain about that, though, because I had two extra weeks of summer break compared to my peers at USC (hehe). My first class was Portfolio Management from 1pm to 4pm, and I had an online class from 4:30pm-7:30pm. I think I’m going to enjoy Portfolio Management this semester, it seems like it will be a good transition from the introductory finance course I took last fall into more complex financial concepts. It was a great first day of my Junior year, and I am excited for what is ahead!

Tuesday, September 2nd

Normally, I have two classes to attend on Tuesdays; however, my 4:30pm course was cancelled, so I only had to attend my 1pm class, which is International Cash Management. It is a fascinating class, conceptually, and I think it will give me a better understanding of the intricacies within the foreign exchange market.

Wednesday, September 3rd

On Wednesdays I have two classes, Business Ethics and Supply Chain Management. The first one is at 1pm and the second one is at 4:30pm. Both of them are required for my program, so I am not as interested in the content; however, they seem relatively simple, so I am grateful for that. After class, I had to hop on a call and ended up doing a bunch of computer work. Then it was past midnight, and I still really wanted to watch the latest episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty, so I was awake until almost 2am watching TV. Oops!

Thursday, September 4th

On Thursdays, I only have one class, and it is Leading & Managing Teams at 1pm. It is also a required course, so I am not entirely excited about it. It is very assignment and project-heavy, so I’m sure it will be a lot of work.

Once class was over, I went to the mall to do some shopping for my weekend trip. I went to H&M for a new swimsuit, I went to a shoe store for sandals, and I went to Normal for a few random items that I needed. Once I got back to my dorm, I started packing and getting ready for my weekend trip!

Friday, September 5th

Day 1 in Nice!

My flight to Nice was at 10:55am, so I got to the airport with my friend Madison at 9:30am. We left our dorm at 7:50am, and we took public transportation all the way to the Orly airport.

It was a quick, easy flight into Nice, and I had no one in the aisle seat next to me, so that was a treat! Once we arrived, we took the public transport system to get from the airport to where our hostel was in the heart of the city. Our hostel was right next to the main train station, so it was a quick walk once we arrived to Nice-Ville. We were not able to immediately check in, so we stored our luggage in some lockers they had. We had plans to go to Antibes at 3:15pm, so we each bought a beach towel and some snacks from a nearby Monoprix before walking back to the train station.

Our train ride was incredibly quick; it only took 20 minutes to get there! We walked from the train station to the closest beach, and we saw glimpses of the cute old town of Antibes along the way.

Once we made it to the beach, we laid out our towels and started soaking up the sun! It was wonderful, and we stayed on the beach for about two hours. Our train back to Nice was at 7:45pm, so we had about an hour and a half to see the town. We wandered around, along the promenade, up and down different streets—you get the gist. The walk along the sea was so pretty, the Mediterranean Sea is so blue, and the contrast of the water and the sailboats was very picturesque. We tried to see as much as we could before we had to catch the train, and I would say we did pretty great! The weather was so beautiful, besides the fact that it was super windy.

We caught our train back to Nice, and then took an Uber to the Old Town so we could get a nice dinner. We ended up finding an Italian restaurant in a very cute, vibrant part of the Old Town. I got pesto gnocchi, and it was pretty good!

Once we had finished eating, we walked back to the spot where our Uber dropped us off, and we got another one to take us back to our hostel. We grabbed our luggage from the lockers and headed up to our room to get ready for bed. It was a lovely day, and I was excited for all the things we had planned for Saturday!

Saturday, September 6th

Day 2 in Nice!

Our friend Quinn got into Nice around 9am, and we all got ready for the day in the hostel. In need of coffee, we set out for a cute coffee shop I had seen online called Blend. It has a vinyl record shop inside, and it was very adorable! I got a latte and a yogurt parfait, and they were both delicious!

Following our breakfast stop, we walked up Castle Hill to see all the beautiful views from the top. We took a route that led to a cemetery at first, but it ended up being a cool place to check out. Once we found our way to the right side of Castle Hill, we went and saw all the amazing, picturesque spots from above. The view of the water was incredible, it is so so blue!

We made our way down the hill and stopped in a Monoprix to get bits of food for a beach picnic. Once we made it to the beach, I immediately laid out and started soaking up the sun. It was the perfect weather for a beach day, the sun was so warm, and I could not have been happier!

We hung out at the beach for about three hours, and I was definitely sunburnt by the end of it! On our way back to the hostel, we passed by a rock concert in the middle of the street outside the opera house. It was so random, and I can confidently say you will probably never find me at a heavy metal music concert ever in my life.

Once we were back at the hostel, we freshened up for a evening in Monaco & a nice dinner in Villefrance-sur-mer. We caught a 5:30pm train from Nice to Monaco, and it was a quick ride into Monte-Carlo. We did not spend much time there; we saw the yacht harbor, the casino, and a famous part of the F1 racetrack. It was kind of underwhelming, I imagine if we had better planned our visit or had more time there it would have been a bit more interesting.

We got back on the train after about an hour and rode to Villefranche-sur-Mer. We walked from the train stop down to a cute cove, and we got dinner right on the water and watched the sunset. It was such a gorgeous spot, and I will forever remember the beautiful evening!

We made our way back to Nice after it got dark and went to bed soon after we returned to our hostel.

Sunday, September 7th

Day 3 in Nice!

Our last day in Nice! I had a rough night of sleep, and I awoke at 4:30am and did not fall back asleep for much more than an hour afterwards (yikes). We all got out of bed around 10am since we had to check out of the hostel by 11am.

Once we had checked out, we walked to the Old Town and got sandwiches at a cute shop right by the water. I customized my own sandwich, and it was delicious! We ate them on the beach and hung out there for about an hour.

The beach had a lot of souvenir shops nearby, so we stopped in a couple and I found a cute bracelet to add to my collection. Ever since Amsterdam, I decided to collect one souvenir bracelet from each trip I go on. So far, I have one from Amsterdam (it has tulips on it), one from Mont Saint Michel (it has a Mont Saint Michel charm on it), and one from Nice (it has a surfboard on it). I love them all dearly, and they each contribute beautifully to my colorful stack! We walked through a cute farmer’s market and scoured all the amazing goodies people had made. I love a good market! We then we headed towards the train station to catch public transport to the airport.

It was a quick and easy plane right back to Paris; I watched my favorite movie, Little Women, the whole time. We then had to take the trains back to Cergy, and that always feels like the longest journey when you’re on the return end of a trip. However, we made it back at a good time, and I was able to FaceTime my parents and enjoy a beautiful sunset back at my dorm!

It was a fabulous trip to the South of France, and I would love love love to return one day. I highly recommend the area if you’re looking for a good place to go to while you’re in France, it has so much charm and beauty!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Thursday, August 21st

My plane landed in Paris at 11:30am, and I went from the airport to Cergy, France to start the move-in process.

I first had to get my room key from ESSEC, and once that was done, I made my way to my dorm to check out my new room. I'm in a single studio this semester, so it's a bit different than last semester when I had a roommate.

I dropped my luggage off in my room and FaceTimed my parents for a bit before I headed to my storage unit to retrieve the things I had left in France over the summer. Once I had everything I had stored, I called a Bolt, rode back to my dorm, and brought all of my things up to my room. I decided that before I would conquer the unpacking, I needed to run to the store and get cleaning supplies and other necessities. So, I went to Auchan and got all sorts of household items. Once that was over, I tried cleaning and unpacking, but I got a wave of exhaustion and felt so disgusting from the long day that I paused to shower and relax for a second. Then, I could push through the tiredness and get everything out of the suitcases, bags, and boxes. I cleaned the floors and tabletops, made my bed, decorated, and washed all my dishes. I finished everything before it was too late into the night and went to bed feeling very accomplished! It was a great, productive first day!

Friday, August 22nd

There was no way I would spend my first full day in France in Cergy, so I planned to go to Paris and experience what I would describe as my "perfect day." I woke up somewhat early because of jet lag and got dressed and ready to head to Paris.

I took the RER to the middle of the city and walked to a coffee shop I had seen recommended online called Cortado. I got a hot latte, and I sat and read while sipping it. It was so lovely! The coffee shop was not too crowded, which was nice because I was worried I would not be able to find seating.

After I had finished my drink, I walked towards the Seine to a famous English bookstore called Shakespeare & Company. It is a somewhat popular tourist destination because it has a fascinating history and is featured in a few movies, including Owen Wilson's Midnight in Paris. It is right next to Notre Dame, so of course, I had to stop and admire the church.

I popped inside and scoured the shelves for something that would capture my attention while I read outside. I found Taylor Jenkins Reid's new novel Atmosphere, and I bought it knowing nothing about the book. (It is not very good, which is surprising considering all of her more recent works are amongst my favorites.) Once I had a new novel in my possession, I walked to my favorite spot in Paris: the Luxembourg Gardens.

I love relaxing there. It is very big, so there is always somewhere to sit. I found a nice spot and a lounge chair, and I cracked open my book and read for a couple of hours. I got lots of sunshine and even got a little sunburnt (oops!).

I made dinner plans with some friends and decided to return to the train station around 6 pm to return to Cergy in time. I took a very scenic walk back to the metro, passing by the Dôme des Invalides and seeing a peek of the Eiffel Tower.

I returned to Cergy and got dinner with two friends in the Port.

It was such a lovely first full day, giving me a great vision of how the semester will go!

Saturday, August 23rd

After sleeping in a bit due to jet lag, I excitedly got ready for another day in Paris! I decided to skip the coffee run this morning and head straight to the Luxembourg Gardens to read in the beautiful sunshine! I hopped on the RER, walked to the park, found a seat in direct sunlight, and cracked open my book to read for a while.

I had only been there for a couple of hours when I got a text from a friend asking if I wanted to hang out and get dinner. So, I said yes, of course! I headed from the Luxembourg Gardens to the Tuileries Gardens, and we met there.

We walked around for a little bit before deciding to go to a popular ramen restaurant. Since we're Americans who eat early (lol), we got a table very quickly. It was delicious, and I would definitely go back to eat there at another point.

After dinner, we walked to the Seine and watched the sunset with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Once it was almost dark, we went to Quinn's hotel room and changed outfits for a night out.

We walked to the Eiffel Tower area for photos and met with five other girls in our cohort.

We all spent the night out on the town (it was lowkey terrible and further solidified for me why I do not do that sort of thing), and got back to Cergy by the wee hours of the morning.

I FaceTimed my parents to tell them allll the stories of the night and then we went to bed at the same time. Yeah, that's how early/late it was for me here when I went to bed. Crazyyyy!

Sunday, August 24th

After going to bed around 5 am (yikes), I got very little sleep and awoke around 11:30 am. I took some time to prepare for the day, as I was going to Paris with friends. We all left Cergy a little after 1 pm and made our way to the city for some fun activities! Our first stop was lunch, and we got sandwiches at a boulangerie near the Louvre. We made a little picnic out of it and ate them in the Tuileries Gardens.

From there, we took the metro to another part of Paris and popped into a few different vintage stores. They were all so gorgeous, and if I had oodles of money to spend, I definitely would have purchased an item or two!

After our shopping excursion, we headed to a pretty restaurant for some refreshments after a lot of walking. While we were there, this random magician guy came up to our table and did card tricks with us—it was quite entertaining!

Once we had all finished there, a few of us headed over to the Seine to watch the sunset with a pretty view of the Eiffel Tower. It was an excellent end to an excellent day! We rode the train back to Cergy, and I tried to go to bed at a normal-ish time (contrary to the previous night!).

Monday, August 25th

Truth be told, I did not do anything very interesting today! I stayed in Cergy so I could go grocery shopping and be productive.

Tuesday, August 26th

After a day of staying at my dorm, I decided I definitely needed to get back to Paris, so that's exactly what I did on Tuesday! I took the train into the city around 2 pm, and I headed first thing to a coffee shop. Fun fact: on my walk to the coffee shop from the train station, I accidentally missed a turn and had Google Maps reroute me a different way, and on my detour, I passed by a famous actor/singer sitting at a table outside a restaurant. That was so fun because I don't think I've ever had a celebrity sighting! Anyways! I got coffee at Cortado and tried to read my book; however, there was an adorable redheaded toddler in the coffee shop who kept stealing my attention, and I don't think I read many pages.

Once I had finished my latte, I walked to one of the areas of the Seine where I love to sit, read my book, and hung out there for a little bit.

I caught a 6pm train back to Cergy so I could make it on time for dinner with a few friends in the Port area. We got dinner outside and it was so nice to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a few months. It was a lovely day filled with both solo time and time with friends!

Wednesday, August 27th

Caroline and I planned to spend some of the day in Paris, so after I finished doing my laundry around noon, we headed into the city! We got off in the middle of Paris and just kind of wandered around the city for a couple of hours.

We eventually decided to find the best view of the Eiffel Tower and sit near it at the end of our walk. We ended up walking over 20,000 steps, but the view was so worth it, and the weather was so lovely.

We headed back to Cergy around 6pm so that we could make it back in time to watch the latest episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty (comment "Team Conrad" in the comments section if you watch the show!!). This episode was crazyyyy, so it was really fun to watch it with a group of people.

Once the episode was over, I headed back to my room to pack and plan for my trip to Mont Saint Michel the next day! So exciting!

Thursday, August 28th

I made the trip to Mont Saint Michel with my friend Quinn, and we had a very early bus ride to catch the morning of our trip. I woke up at 4 am and got ready for the day. We headed to the train station at 4:50 and got to Paris to catch our bus at 6:30 am. The bus ride took a while because it had to stop in some other cities around Normandie, so we got to Mont Saint Michel around noon. We got off the bus, checked into our hotel, and got lunch at a restaurant right across from where we were staying. It was a massive restaurant; there is not much around Mont Saint Michel, so I imagine they get tons of tourists daily.

After lunch, we returned to the hotel to freshen up before going onto the island. I then realized my camera batteries were dead, but thankfully, they sell some at the gift shop/general store right across from the hotel. I was very grateful for that! Quinn and I walked the path to the island of Mont Saint Michel, and we were absolutely mesmerized the entire time.

It is such an incredible place and it blows my mind how historic it is. It is rather small, and you can cover pretty much all of the accessible places in a couple of hours. So we spent about 3 hours walking different paths, climbing different sets of stairs, seeing different views. It was absolutely beautiful everywhere we went.

We went inside the Abbey around 5:30 pm because we got free tickets since we have student visas (yay!). It is so so so old, it blows my mind how well it was constructed. The construction of the first Abbey began in 1023; however, it was almost completely destroyed during the Hundred Years' War, and it was rebuilt to what we see today around the 1500s. You can read more about its fascinating history here. It was a place where Western Christians would make a pilgrimage to pray to Saint Michel, and it truly does feel like, as you walk up the pathways and stairs to the Abbey, you are making a pilgrimage. You can feel, just by making a trip there, like you are a part of the history of all the people who have traveled there over a thousand years.

Quinn and I exited the Abbey and then waited in a line to go back inside for the nightly Vesper. It is a liturgy of evening prayer, and it was very cool! A group of nuns and monks sang prayers, scriptures, and hymns in French inside the beautiful, historic Abbey sanctuary, and I loved it. It was such a beautiful way to experience and finish out our "pilgrimage" to the Mont.

Afterwards, we got dinner at a restaurant on the island, and we took some pictures at sunset.

After the sun went down, it got kind of cold, so we took the bus back to our hotel. It was such an incredible day, and I spent the rest of the evening looking through my pictures from the day!

Friday, August 29th

Our second (and final) day at Mont Saint Michel! Quinn and I got up and got ready, we checked out of our hotel room, and grabbed coffee at the general store next to the hotel. It was very disgusting coffee. We then headed to a photo spot I had researched before our trip; it is in the sheep field across from the Mont. We had to do some gate hopping and maneuver around lots of sheep poop to get there; however, it is truly the most amazing view of Mont Saint Michel. There was a little herd of sheep that passed by us on our way there, and they were so, so cute!!

Once we got to photo spot, we spent about an hour taking pictures and just having fun in the field. It was probably one of the coolest places I have ever been, it is just so so beautiful there! We got lots of great pictures, which was a win!

We headed out a different way than we came, passed more cute sheep on our walk, and grabbed a quick lunch before going back to the hotel to get our bags.

Once we had those back in our possession, we made our way to the bus stop to head back to Paris. It was a very lengthy bus ride to the city, and it was pouring rain when we got off the bus. The only upside to that was the rainbow that later appeared, and the sky looked so beautiful once the rain let up.

Quinn and I parted ways in Paris, she stayed in the city for the night and I made by way back to Cergy to upload and look through all my photos! That has become my new most favorite activity, if you can't tell. It was such an incredible trip, and I am so grateful that I was able to go and experience it!

Saturday, August 30th

Not much happened on this day! I kind of chilled out most of the day. I painted my nails (oooh la la) and I made paper stars! I stuck some of them to my door for a little decoration!

Sunday, August 31st

This day was so so fun!! I went to Disneyland Paris with a group of friends and had such a great time! We wanted to get there when the park opened at 9:30am, so we took the RER pretty early in the morning.

We first rode Hyperspace Mountain, which is a Star Wars version of Space Mountain, and it was so fun!

We then did It's a Small World because we wanted to see what America looked like (it was so cute!).

We continued to do various different rides in Magic Kingdom, ones like Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Phantom Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain (it shut down our first time in line, but we still rode it later), and more.

We then took some pictures at the Sleeping Beauty Castle, and then went inside of it to see the Male

Once we had spent a good bit of time in Magic Kingdom, we walked to the Walt Disney Studios park to do the rides there. We did the Tower of Terror (so fun!), an Avengers ride, a Nemo ride, a Ratatouille ride, and a few other things.

My favorite area was the Paris section for Ratatouille! It was so, so cute to see how well they replicated all the iconic Parisian architecture since it's literally Disneyland Paris.

The whole day was so so fun, and we rode rides until the park closed. We watched the fireworks show at the Sleeping Beauty Castle, and it was amazing.

It made me feel like I was 9 years old again, experiencing the magic of Disney for the first time. If I get the chance to go back, I definitely will! It was the perfect end to my week and a half in Paris before classes started, and I am so grateful we made the trip there.

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

In the meantime, I want to do a fun little post while I wait to board my plane back home. So, here are 11 things I loved about France and 11 things I did not quite enjoy as much (to total it up to twenty-two things… see what I did there?)

11 LOVES

1. French pastries. So so so so so so so good. Croissants, pain au chocolats, tartlettes, macarons, palmiers, the list goes on.

2. The architecture. French architecture is incredibly stunning. Everywhere I looked, there was a building that I thought was so gorgeous I had to take a picture. As you can imagine, I now have hundreds of photos of random buildings in my phone.

3. Public transportation. I am a huge fan of being able to take the metro, bus, the RER, etc. It is so easy once you figure it out, and it is so nice to travel throughout the cities using public transportation.

4. Walkable cities. I would walk around 20,000-30,000 steps a day when I would visit Paris or another larger city, and it was incredible. There are sidewalks at all times, and everything is compact and easy to get to on foot.

5. Trains. The trains throughout France made it so easy to travel within the country itself and visit the beautiful cities that were on my bucket list. While they’re not always super budget-friendly, for the most part it is a great way to do a weekend trip to somewhere cool and full of culture on a whim.

6. Coffee. I love the simplicity of coffee in France, there are no crazy specialty drink flavors you have to choose from, and I got very used to basic coffee + almond milk lattes. I even got used to drinking black coffee during my Field Experience. It definitely got me detached from my unhealthy habit of sweet coffee with lots of syrups, which I appreciate.

7. Rest days. The French are experts at taking breaks on the regular. Almost everything is closed on Sundays, and sometimes Mondays too. Breaks happen every six weeks, and the entire month of August is a vacation month, from what I have been told. The resting culture is serious here, and I can appreciate that as an opposite of the hustle culture found in America.

8. Spring in Paris. I felt like I was a butterfly that had just escaped the cocoon when spring arrived in the city, and I was just flying everywhere, experiencing the beauty. Everyone sits on the bank of the Seine with their friends, lounges in the parks, rides their bikes, and more. People go out and about and soak in the extended hours of sunlight, and it is truly magical.

9. Clothing. It is true what they say, you do not find athleisure in Europe. People are intentional with their outfits, and I became obsessed with seeing the fashion choices. I found that older French women were always the best dressed, and I like to imagine those ladies are the ones with the best-decorated apartments in the city.

10. Art museums. Of course, there are incredible art museums in the United States, and I do hope to visit them one day (the MET, I’m looking at you). However, getting to see incredible art throughout my time in Europe was definitely a highlight. Surprisingly, I did not make it to the Louvre (*gasp*), but I have strong intentions to do that when I return in the fall.

11. Incredible beauty — everywhere. I truly could have taken photos of everything I saw while I was abroad. There is so much beauty, especially in Paris. The cobblestone streets, bridges, churches, mansions, and more. Everything is curated to perfection, and it is a city that you feel nostalgic for even while you are right there. It feels like you know you’ll miss where you are so deeply when you leave it, even as you’re standing there in the moment.

11 things that I did not quite enjoy as much

1. The absence of small talk. I can imagine that most people do not dislike this aspect of French culture; however, as a southern girl, I am used to striking up a conversation with the people around me while I wait in a line or stand in a crowd. Obviously, it might be different with the language barrier I have, but it was not something I really noticed happening between locals either. French people are quiet and keep to themselves in crowds, and I missed the ease of small talk from Americans.

2. French food. Besides the amazingness of French bread and pastries, I am not a huge fan of the food combinations the French put together. I will admit that I am a picky eater, but I genuinely did not go to one stand-out restaurant in Paris once. I am not a foodie in general, so it’s not like I was going out to eat at highly-rated restaurants, but I was not a fan of the food options at places I did eat out at. Dublin was my favorite food scene, I rate that over Paris 100%.

3. Cafe culture. I loveeee American cafe culture, so so much. The ability to have your laptop out, have your headphones in, and have a big enough table to do work is something I really missed. Doing work in cafes is not normal in Paris, and if a cafe does allow laptops, it is only for a few hours during the day. Coffee shops exist in Paris, but they are more for a quick grab and go, or they are for sitting and talking.

4. Sidewalks. This was not just in Paris, but in most European cities I went to, people are horrible at walking on the sidewalk. In America, I find that most people walk on the right side of the sidewalk, similar to how you drive on the right side of the road. In Europe, people go every which way and rarely notice someone walking directly towards them. And they don’t say “pardon” or “excusez-moi” either! I was absolutely stunned by this every time, and when I pointed it out to a French person, she was shocked that Americans walk on the right side for the most part. Oh la la.

5. Scarves. Why do French people wear scarves all the time? Especially when the weather is not scarf weather? It is interesting to me and a fashion choice I do not foresee myself partaking in…

6. Coats when it is literally spring weather. This is something that truly baffled me. There were days when I was sweating in a tank top and all of the people around me were dressing for 40-degree weather. I was absolutely amazed at how they were wearing winter coats in temperatures like that, and it made me feel underdressed.

7. The absence of water bottles and the size of water glasses. Do Europeans not drink water? Someone pointed out in class one time how the only people with water bottles were us Americans, and I started noticing it all the time. Cups served both in restaurants and in people’s homes are very small, and no one brings water bottles with them, which was very surprising to me.

8. Not much smiling. This might just be something I am used to being from the south, but people don’t really smile at you much in France. It is obviously not necessary to smile at strangers, but I am so used to making eye contact with people and giving them a smile that it is always a shock when they don’t do it back, and then I remember that it is not normal to do that in France.

9. Colloquial phrases that do not make sense. As with most languages, slang is popular, and phrases are shortened for simplicity. But it gets confusing sometimes when you’re learning the language. For example, if you want to say “don’t worry”, you would say “ne t'inquiète pas”. However, the French shorten it and just say “t'inquiète,” which translates to “worry.” But when they say “t'inquiète”, they’re saying “don’t worry.” Confusing? Yeah.

10. Very late dinner times. This was not difficult to get used to; however, it was not something I particularly enjoyed. Dinner before 7:30pm was honestly considered “early,” and dinners are supposed to go on for a long time.

11. The sharp difference between “bonjour” and “bonsoir”. As soon as it hits around 6pm, it is important to switch from saying “bonjour” to “bonsoir”, and if you do not, the person will correct you. This was something I was not prepared for, and I quickly learned the importance of greeting during the day versus during the evening. Additionally, if you do not say “bonjour” to someone before speaking to them, they will correct you then, too. It is important to greet people here in France, which is a nice touch that I do appreciate.

Okay, that’s the end of my list! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you learned a little bit more about French culture from this. I loved my time abroad, and I cannot wait to come back!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

Share

Saturday, May 17th

My travel journey started with a 10:40am bus ride from Lille to Amsterdam. It was a great way to travel there, especially since it was only 3 hours and 35 minutes on the road. Most train options I saw would be at least an hour longer than that and were way more expensive.

I arrived in the city at 2:15pm and took the metro to the city center. From the metro stop, I walked about 15 minutes to my hostel to see if I could check-in, and found out I could not. So, I headed back in the direction I came and realized I would be spending the entire rest of the day with my bag (whoopie).

I had a 4pm ticket for the Van Gogh Museum, so I excitedly headed there and made it in time. Van Gogh was born in Zundert, which is a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. Therefore, a lot of his original, famous artworks are housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I was so excited to see some of the iconic paintings in person. Here are some of my favorites:

I saw a couple of timelines across the different rooms, and every time I saw the description of where and when he died, I thought about how cool it is that I’ve been to Auvers-sur-Oise and seen the restaurant he lived and died above. Each time I stood near one of those timelines, I thought “I wonder how many people in this museum can say they’ve been to where Van Gogh died?”

The museum was wonderful, and I am so grateful I got to see his famous pieces in person! I left around 5:30pm, and headed to get some dinner. I had seen online about a cool food hall, and I thought that would be an easy option as a solo traveler. So, I walked over there and ended up getting something from an Indonesian restaurant. It was a very random option, but I was starving and it was pretty good.

After my dinner stop, I decided to walk around the city and try to see as much as I could before it got too late. The views were so stunning! All of the individual canals were so unique, and I loved seeing the houses on the water.

I decided it was the proper time to get a stroopwafel, so I walked to a famous spot called Hans Egstorf, which has been around since 1898 and is the oldest bakery in Amsterdam. It is beautiful on the outside and smells absolutely incredible on the inside. They press the stroopwafel dough right by the door so the smell wafts outside and lures people in (pretty effective, if you ask me). Mine was pretty good, and I was glad to have experienced an Amsterdam stroopwafel, considering that it is one of the food items they are famous for.

Following my sweet treat, I walked to see the Amsterdam Royal Palace. It was under construction, so I could not get a great view of it. I might be too used to the look of French palaces, but this one did not seem very impressive on the outside, if I am being honest. I’m sure it’s gorgeous on the inside, though!

After that, I did not do much else besides walk around. Solo travelling is a little odd in the sense that I get to do whatever I want, but all I really want to do is sightsee and eat pastries, so I end up just walking a lot.

I headed back to the hostel around 8pm so that I would not be walking back alone in the dark. When I got there, I met a few of the ladies in my room and then went to bed to rest up for the next day!

Sunday, May 18th

Knowing I would have to leave the city at 5pm, I woke up early so I did not feel like I was rushing in my day. I checked-out of my hostel around 7:30am, and walked from there to the Anne Frank House because I wanted to see it without there being a lot of other people around.

My walk there was incredibly lovely! Since it was a Sunday morning, there was hardly anyone out and about, so it was very peaceful.

I arrived at the Anne Frank House around 8:20am, and I stood outside to get some pictures and see what it looked like. It is fascinating to think about what it must have been like to hide the way her and her family did. It’s equally fascinating to think about the family that hid them and how careful everyone in that situation had to be.

The area around the house was so beautiful with the sun deciding to peek out!

I decided to get some breakfast and coffee, and I had both a bakery and a coffee shop on my list of places to go, so I decided to get the two things separately. I first stopped at the bakery, it was called Saint Jean, and they had gorgeous pastries. I chose a pain au chocolat, and I ate it on a bench by the canal. It was delicious, and I can see why that bakery is highly rated.

I then headed to an adorable coffee shop called Luuk's Coffee, and I had a delicious latte. It had the cutest interior, and the mug it was served in was so pretty!

Following my coffee stop, I headed to the Rijksmuseum, which is the big art museum in Amsterdam. On the way there, I passed by the Amsterdam Tulip Museum, and they had such gorgeous flowers outside their store! It was a lovely walk there.

The museum was my favorite out of all that I have been to in Europe so far! It had such iconic, beautiful pieces of art, and there was a wide variety of things to see inside. I spent 3 hours there, and it was worth every minute. Here are some of my favorite pieces from the museum!

The museum has a very cool library inside, and it is an art-historical library. According to a description, “It is the largest of its kind in the Netherlands. Completed in 1881, the library has largely retained its original form and ornamentation. A characteristic feature is the brick-red and gold polychromed cast-iron colonettes (thin columns). The walls are decorated with painted bricks, and the ceilings are galleries with foliage motifs. The names of writers on art are inscribed in cartouches in the highest gallery and on the colonettes. The most striking element in this interior is the cast-iron spiral staircase, which connects the galleries and draws one’s gaze upward.”

It was incredibly beautiful to look at, and I was amazed by how it looked! I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to study in a library like that.

When I left the museum, I decided to get another coffee (I guess getting two coffees in one day makes up for having zero the day before?). On the way there, I took what has to be my new favorite photo:

I stopped in a cute little coffee shop and got a latte and a stroopwafel flavored bar. It was delicious!

After that, I still had some time before I needed to get to the bus stop, so I decided to go to the Amsterdam Tulip Museum and see if there would be a good souvenir there. I am horrible at picking souvenirs, so I usually just collect postcards from museums I go to. However, I thought if I was extra intentional about finding something on this trip I might find the perfect thing. I ended up getting a pretty hand painted tulip bracelet from the Tulip Museum, and it is my new favorite piece! It is so cute and fits in perfectly with my everyday stack of bracelets.

From there, I went to the The Begijnhof, which is one of Amsterdam's best known hofjes (almshouses). It consists of a group of houses built around a secluded courtyard and garden which provided modest homes for the Beguines - a group of unmarried religious women who lived together in a close community under vows of chastity. The last Beguine died in 1971; however, it is still occupied by only unmarried women. It was pretty to look at; however, the one I saw in Bruges was definitely prettier.

After seeing that, I walked to another side of the city so I was close to the metro I needed to get on. While over there, I went to see Rembrandt’s house, which was pretty cool. It has a gorgeous green door, which my mama of course loves!

I headed back to Lille on the bus at 5pm, and I made it back to the house around 9:30.

It was an absolutely phenomenal trip, and I loved it as a solo travel journey. It was such an easy city to navigate, I felt super safe, and I loved all the options of things to do. There are tons of museums, tons of tourist attractions, and so many things to explore. I had a wonderful time, and I highly recommend the city for anyone going to Europe.

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

Monday, April 28th

Knowing that the best time of year to visit Claude Monet’s gardens is the summertime, I wanted to visit Giverny before I left Paris. So, Quinn and I planned to go the Monday before we both left for our respective Field Experiences. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and it was a perfect day for our visit.

My day started off rather early (6:30am) because I wanted to be able to do my laundry and know that I would not have to compete for a washing machine. So, I allocated just the right amount of time to wash and dry my clothes and get ready for Giverny. Quinn and I left Cergy around 9am, which was not a great decision in hindsight because we got off at a stop in between Cergy and Paris and had a 40-minute wait for the train that would go to Vernon. During our wait we went to a little boulangerie and got ourselves each a breakfast pastry, so that made it more tolerable.

We took a pretty long train to Vernon, which is right on the edge of the Ile-de-France region. Giverny, where Monet’s house is located, is right outside of the Ile-de-France region, so we had to take a bus from Vernon to Giverny. We got to the gardens around 11:45, and it was absolutely packed. With it being such a beautiful day, there were many people who I’m sure had the same idea as Quinn and I and decided it was the perfect day to visit the gardens.

The flowers at the garden are so incredibly beautiful and varied. A quick Google search tells me that there are 66 different species of flowers and trees growing in the gardens. The array of colors is so stunning, and the flowers are arranged in color groups. All the red flowers are together, all the yellow flowers, and so on and so forth.

We then walked to the other side of the garden, where there is the famous lily pond and bamboo trees. It was also incredibly beautiful, but the lilies had not bloomed yet, so we did not quite get the full image.

After making our way around the pond, we went into Claude Monet’s house. This was by far my favorite part of the trip, his house has such a versatile, interesting interior design. The outside is a pretty pastel shade of pink with green accents, which is so cool right off the bat.

When you get inside, the first thing you see is a room full of copies of his paintings. It makes it slightly less cool knowing that they’re not the original artworks; however, it gives you a glimpse into what his studio must have looked like when he was there and working on his paintings.

We continued walking through the home, peeking into different rooms and getting glimpses of the unique design choices.

The dining room and kitchen were by far my favorite spaces in the house. The dining room was decorated in the most beautiful butter yellow color, and it was complemented perfectly with the blue and white china in the cabinets as well as the tile in the fireplace. If I were to pick the most perfect yellow shade for a home, it would be this exact one. The kitchen was also stunning with the blue and white tiles covering and the copper accents everywhere. I was simply in awe of the perfect color pairing throughout this house, and these rooms are definitely at the top of the rankings.

After our tour of the stunning home, we stopped at a cute little cafe in the town called Salon de Thé. While the vibes were there, my latte was insanely small for the price I paid, so I would have to label it as a tourist trap for sure.

Unfortunately, our plan for being taking public transportation back to Cergy was going to take around 4 hours… and that was not about to happen because my phone was at about 15%. So, we took a Bolt ride back and made it to Cergy in about 30 minutes! Much better!

I was pretty exhausted when I got back to my dorm, so I chilled out for a bit and took a nap. When I woke up, I started packing up my room and got about halfway through the process before I decided to call it a day. It was a good thing I stayed up late working on it, though, because my roommate got back from her Italy trip at 1am that night, so I was able to talk to her about it a bit before she went to bed. Overall, it was a great day, and I was so happy I got to see Monet’s house and gardens!

Tuesday, April 29th

This was another packing day! I packed up everything that I could live without for my month in Lille and 3 months at home. Then I went to the storage unit with one of my friends who I am sharing it with and we played some real-life Tetris and got our luggage in there. After the storage unit visit, I went to the mall to grab a few cosmetics. Then I headed back to my dorm, watched a movie, and did some cleaning.

Wednesday, April 30th

This was moving day! I woke up early, packed up the last of my items that would be staying in Cergy over the summer, and took them to the storage unit. I was worried that due to my height, I would not be able to get everything in there, but thanks to a sturdy boxed up air mattress that one of my friends was storing in there, the task was completed successfully!

I made a visit to the bank to do a quick deposit, and then I headed back to my dorm. I had a good bit of time until I had to leave, so I did lots of deep cleaning, and once it felt like there was nothing else to clean, I sat on my mattress and waited until it was time to depart.

I headed to the train station at 2:50pm, and rode the RERs to the CDG airport because (fun fact) they have a train station there! My train departed from CDG at 5:43pm and I arrived in Lille around 6:45pm. Once I got to the city, I walked to my hostel and just kind of chilled out there for the rest of the night. I was the only person in my 6-person room the first night, which was both nice and weird.

Anyways! It was a great moving day, and I was so excited for the start of my new journey!

Thursday, May 1st

I woke up sort of late into the morning and got ready for the day. It was Labor Day in France, so a lot of places were closed. Knowing this, I did my Google Maps research and found a cafe that was open where I could get brunch and coffee. It was super cute and had a great selection!

After breakfast, I decided to spend as much time outside as I could since it was such a nice day. I walked all around the city, and I also walked around the Citadel park, which was so beautiful and busy on the holiday!

According to Wiki: “The Citadel of Lille is a pentagonal citadel of the city wall of Lille, in France. It was built between 1667 and 1670. It hosts the Corps de réaction rapide France. Dubbed "Queen of the citadels" by Vauban, it is one of the most notable citadels designed by Vauban.” Also according to Wiki: “Sébastien Le Prestre, Marquis of Vauban (May 1633 – 30 March 1707), commonly referred to as Vauban, was a French Royal Army officer and engineer who served under Louis XIV. He is generally considered the greatest military engineer of his time, and one of the most important in European military history.” Vauban’s citadels are incredibly fascinating. I’ve been in two museums in France that have his relief maps, and it is so interesting to see the way he designed fortified cities. Okay, enough of me being a nerd, here are some pictures!

After my walk, I was wanting a sweet treat, so I found a cute ice cream shop and headed there. The line was veryyy long, but I decided to wait it out because it had to be pretty good if the line was that size! It was rather worth the wait, and I got a delicious lemon sorbet.

After my ice cream stop, I headed back to the hostel to work on my overdue blog posts. There was a beautiful little library on the first floor of the hostel, so I worked in there for a couple of hours.

I got pretty hungry after a while, so I went down the street and got a little pizza for dinner. Then I headed back to the hostel and continued working on my blog posts. It was a great day in Lille, and I went to bed excited for my trip the next day!

Friday, May 2nd

My day trip to Bruges, Belgium! This trip was incredibly unplanned, I booked the train tickets the day before and did not pick out much to do before getting there. I arrived in the city around noon, and I was immediately impressed with the cuteness of it all! All of the buildings looked very historic, and the architecture was so unique.

Since I got in around lunchtime, I decided my first stop would be getting a famous Belgian waffle. I was very overwhelmed with the amount of tourists in the streets and the copious amount of options for places to get a waffle, so it took me a second to chill out and pick a place. I eventually settled on an adorable shop called Laurence Take Away, and it was delicious!

Following my waffle stop, I continued to walk around and take in the beauty of the city. It is such a cute city, and I felt like everything was very clean and well maintained.

I needed to get rid of my caffeine headache, so I popped into a super cute cafe called Vero Caffe. The service was not super amazing, but the coffee and cake that I ordered were great!

While I was sitting there, I found an amazing art museum in the city, so I bought tickets to go there afterwards.

After about 30 more minutes at the cafe, I made my way to the Groeninge Museum, which is famous for having artwork by Jan van Eyck. On the way there, I passed by the prettiest canal with swans!

The museum was wonderful! It was not very crowded, and the artwork was beautiful. Every room had big cards you could walk around with that had information on all the paintings in there, which was cool. Here are some of my favorite works I saw!

An amazing museum! Once I was done there, I walked into a beautiful church nearby. It had beautiful artwork and statues inside, and the architecture was stunning.

I then walked to a cool place called the Beguinale House. It is an architectural complex created to house “beguines”: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world. The area surrounding the complex was so beautiful, there was a little canal and swans sitting around.

I went into the complex, and I was so stunned with the beauty inside. It is so lush with trees and very peaceful. The homes are incredibly historic, as you can imagine. I also walked and sat inside the church on the property, and nuns were singing. It was beautiful to listen to, and so cool to think about how they live their lives.

After the Beguinale House, I walked to get a sweet little souvenir in the form of marzipan since it is famous in Belgium. I picked out a box of assorted flavors, and they were all pretty delicious! On my way to the train station, I stopped in the cutest boutique and picked out a pretty gift for my mama for her upcoming birthday. It was a successful day in Bruges!

I got back to Lille, grabbed a quick dinner, and headed back to my hostel for the night. I spent some time writing a blog post, planned what I would do the next day, and then went to bed. A lovely Friday!

Saturday, May 3rd

I started my day with a delicious brunch at one of my favorite spots in Lille, Tamper! It is a cute little restaurant/coffee shop in the Arts District, and I went when I was in the city in February. If you know me, you know I can be a bit of a picky eater, and genuinely the only thing that looked appetizing (and vegetarian) on their menu was a tartine, which is toast, butter, and jam. I chose that, and it was absolutely amazing. So so incredibly basic, but it was delicious. Delicious to the point where, when I found out I was going to be in Lille this summer, one of the first things I thought about was getting to eat that tartine again. So, you know I had to go back there and order it, and that is exactly what I did!

Okay enough about my tartine. After breakfast, I went to the Lille Art Museum, which I actually went to when I was in Lille in February, but I never made it past the decorative arts exhibit because the people I was with did not really want to be there. So, I had to redeem that moment and actually see the art! It was an amazing museum, they have some incredible pieces, especially from the Impressionism era. Here are my pictures from the museum:

Yay for another amazing museum visit! When I left, I walked to a nearby bookstore and got a cheap used copy of Pride and Prejudice in French because I was having an internal freakout about having to speak another language. (Spoiler alert: I have not read the book. Anytime I have ever tried to read Pride and Prejudice, I fall asleep, and I am not joking about that.) After the bookstore, I went to a coffee shop near my hostel and got a little afternoon latte. Then I popped into a nearby grocery store to grab a little dinner, and headed to my hostel for the night.

Sunday, May 4th

The day I moved to Wambrechies! It was not very eventful, but still a documentable day. I went to a super cute coffee shop for breakfast, and got a delicious latte and muffin (which was lowkey more of a cupcake).

The vibes were great, but I got sort of kicked out because people with reservations started coming in, and they needed the table. Oh well. So, I went for a walk since I had time to kill. I headed to the park and sat on a bench for a bit preparing to experience something super new later that day.

When it was time, I went to the hostel to get my luggage, and I walked to the bus stop that would take me to Wambrechies. I did not have exact cash for the ticket, and a super kind stranger bought my bus ticket for me, which was such a God moment. Praise the Lord for that nice stranger! When I arrived to Wambrechies, I walked to the house I would be volunteering and living at, and I was greeted by an incredibly kind assistant! She showed me to my room let me unpack, and then I ate lunch with them.

My room here is super cute and the surrounding area is also adorable. It is the perfect small French town, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it here.

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Leave a comment

Share

Monday, April 21st - Wednesday, April 23rd

I spent the entirety of Monday studying for the final I had Tuesday, which was for my European Kaleidoscope class. It was certainly interesting to study for, I now know a whole lot more about the European Union and current world affairs than I did before.

I took that final on Tuesday, and then studied for my last one, which was for my Responsible Marketing course. I took that one Wednesday morning, and it went well from what I could tell! Afterwards, I did some quick grocery shopping, helped a friend move out of her dorm, spent some time with my cohort before two of our friends went to the airport, and FaceTimed my family! It was a great day!

Thursday, April 24th

There was no better feeling than waking up in the morning and knowing that I could go to Paris guilt-free because I was done with school work! Yay!! Quinn and I met Madison and Sophia in Paris around 1pm, and it was a shopping day! Well, I was not shopping, but I was accompanying the shoppers, which is just as fun. We went to Brandy Melville first, then on our way to find a lunch spot stumbled upon a makeup/skincare store where I actually did purchase a lip gloss (but I promise that was all the shopping I did). We got lunch at a restaurant across from the Bon Marche, and it was mediocre. I will be completely honest with you, not that I eat out at sit-down restaurants a lot in Paris, but I am not a fan of the food in the city. Aside from the boulangeries (which don’t count in this scenario), I have yet to have had a meal that I found really good. Oh well, that is besides the point! After lunch we went to a bakery/patisserie to pick up a sweet treat, walked to the Luxembourg Gardens, and ate our desserts there. The vibes were phenomenal, it is always a good time at the Luxembourg Gardens!

After the Gardens, we walked to Pierre Hermes so Madison and Sofia could get chocolates for their families, and I thought this church on the way looked so lovely!

We then walked towards the Louvre area and sat along the bank of the Seine for a few minutes. It was such a pretty day in the city!

Then we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and went to the top to see the ariel view of Paris! It was my first time up there, and I have to say it is a fantastic sight. Plus you get a great view of the Eiffel Tower, which is always a treat.

After the Arc we made our way back to Cergy and that was the end of my day!

Saturday, April 26th

After sleeping in a bit in the morning, I planned a fun afternoon/evening in Paris for myself! I made my way to Parc Monceau and got there at 3pm. It was my first time at that park and in that area in general, and it was so beautiful! There were so many people lounging on the grass, walking, running, sitting on the benches, and hanging out. I sat near the little pond, journaled, and people watched for a couple of hours. It was Parisian perfection!

After hanging out there for about two hours, I wandered around the city and eventually decided to go to Le Marais and check out a store that has been on my list for a few weeks. It is called Galerie Kim de Raucourt, and the owner sells antiques and handmade goods! It is the cutest store, and I’ll have to go back sometime next semester and get a souvenir from her.

From there, I crossed the Seine and went to one of the little “islands” and walked around just soaking in as much of the city as I could knowing I would be leaving soon. The vibes were just so high, everyone was sitting out in the sun and enjoying the day!

Then I went and sat along the bank of the river while I waited for some of my friends to get into the city so we could meet up for dinner. I’ll have to go back to that spot at some point, it was a great view.

My friends and I got dinner at an American diner in Paris, and it was pretty good! I got sweet tea (not as great as authentic, Southern sweet tea) and banana pancakes. After dinner, we went and walked around the Seine and watched the sunset from the bank. It was so beautiful! We also stayed out long enough to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle, which, if you know me, I absolutely love doing!

It was such a lovely day, and one that I treasure as it was one of my last days in Paris for the semester!

Sunday, April 27th

Quinn and I went to the Château de Sceaux, and it was so incredibly beautiful! We first went to a little bakery in the town and picked up two pastries and a baguette to have a little “picnic” in the park. Then we walked onto the castle grounds and found a little spot by the pond to sit. The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was such a stunning area.

We eventually made our way up to the castle area, and I have to say I was blown away. The landscape artist for this Château was the same as the Versailles gardens, and it is very obvious in the beautiful design. There were people all out and about enjoying the sunshine and nice weather!

We went inside the Château and toured the museum that’s there. The original Château was much bigger; however, it was destroyed during the French revolution and the building you see today was built between the years of 1856-62. It has a fascinating history, and you can read about it on here. The inside was beautiful, and it was cool to see the paintings, furniture, and read about the history of the area.

After touring the inside, we continued walking around the gardens and saw the most gorgeous flowers! I was so in love, they were just so stunning and colorful!

Quinn and I took the train back into Paris and decided to walk around the city for a bit. We then stumbled upon the cutest thing!! There was a musician singing and playing guitar along the bank of the Seine, and he had people listening to him, and an elderly man was just dancing without a care in the world to every song. He was dancing right in the middle of the walkway, and so all the bikers, walkers, runners, and people on scooters were maneuvering around him. It was so cute because people kept stopping to watch and he drew quite the crowd of us on the bridge above. I just love little moments like that when I see them in the city, and it made my heart so happy!

That was the end of my last day in Paris! It was the most fun way to say au revoir to the city I love so much. Until August, Paris!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Tuesday, April 15th

On my trip to the grocery store I saw this cute house with wisteria on it, and I thought it was really pretty!

Wednesday, April 16th & Thursday, April 17th

I mainly worked on my online class and term paper these two days, I was very productive (whoop whoop!).

Friday, April 18th

I got my paper turned in around 5pm, and then went for a walk around the lake since it was such a pretty day! This really brightened my mood after being very focused on school for the past couple of days.

Saturday, April 19th

This was Quinn’s birthday, so we had a picnic in Paris for her! It was so cute, and she executed her idea perfectly. We also went to dinner in the port to celebrate, and of course we had to sing happy birthday!

Sunday, April 20th

Happy Easter! I went to the American Church in Paris with Abella to celebrate our risen Savior this day! It was a beautiful church, and I was very happy to find a place to worship and congregate for the holiday.

We got brunch afterwards at a great restaurant. The vanilla latte I had was delicious, and I loved the pancakes, too.

Overall, while it was difficult being away from my family on the holiday, it was still a great one and I am thankful for FaceTime!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Monday, April 7th

I had the final exam for my Monday afternoon course, People & Organizations, so it was great to go ahead and get that out of the way. It was a group assessment where we had to successfully complete a simulation together, so it was nothing I had to necessarily study for — thank goodness! It was then time to focus on the finals I had Wednesday, so I got to working on that!

Tuesday, April 8th

Yeah… all I did this day was study. Hooray!

Wednesday, April 9th

I had my French final, and it went well!

I had my E-Business final, and it also went well!

I had my final Entrepreneurship 2 pitch, and that also went well!

A successful day overall, if I do say so myself!

Friday, April 11th

The last day of classes! I had a final presentation for my Marketing class and that was it! The presentation actually went really well, and my group is one of the finalist teams. We’ll find out in the next few weeks if we end up winning the challenge for the brand we were given, so that’s exciting!

I spent the rest of the evening packing for my trip and cleaning my room. Then I got some sleep before my early morning train ride!

Saturday, April 12th

Ellie and I arrived in Annecy, France around 10am! The train ride there was so lovely, and it was so cool to be surrounded by the beautiful landscape of the French Alps. We checked into our hotel, stored our bags in their storage room, and then set out to see what the town had to offer. We walked along the canal, but it was kind of gross because there we a gazillion gnats flying around for some reason. So, we did our best to avoid them and grabbed a quick gouter in a cafe. I got a delicious latte and a tartiner.

After our quick detour, we braved the gnat infested area and headed to see the lake! It was so incredibly gorgeous, the water was crystal clear and the mountains were marvelous. The photos do not even do it justice, I was in awe at how beautiful it all was.

We kept on walking around, and decided to check out the castle at the top of the hill, but it was closed for a private event. So we walked back down the hill and went for a walk around the lake. The sun started coming out a bit more, which made it even prettier! And all the ducks in this area were so cute, we sat on a bench and did some duck-watching.

We then headed back to the main town area and sat by the canal for a bit just chatting. Around 3pm we were able to go into our room, so we went back to the hotel and rested for a couple of hours before dinner. I finished the book I had bought in Ireland, and it was incredible! We headed out for dinner around 6:30, and decided on a classic French restaurant. It was good, but definitely too fancy for my own personal liking. You can see in the pictures… very French gastronomie!

After dinner, we wandered around the town for a bit and then headed back to the hotel for the night!

Sunday, April 13th

This day was rainier than expected, to be honest. And I had forgotten to bring my umbrella, so that was not a great combination. We started the day off a little late and grabbed a quick brunch at a great little restaurant. It was the brunch of my dreams: a latte, orange juice, tartiner, and a croissant.

It was market day in Annecy, so the streets were lined with vendors and filled with shoppers! It was so cute and so French, there was lots of meat, cheese, nougat, produce, and baked goods.

We made our way to the lake, but it was so cloudy that you could hardly see the mountains. We planned on going to the castle again, since it was closed the day before, but when we got there it was not going to open for another hour. So we headed back down the hill and got drinks at a restaurant. I had my second latte of the day (yum!).

Once the castle was for sure open for visitors, we headed back up the hill and got a ticket. It was an interesting museum, there were many different exhibits that all contributed to showing a different aspect of Annecy’s history. There was an art exhibit that had paintings featuring Annecy through different time periods, exhibits of castle furniture, exhibits about the history of the lake, the different fish that are found in the late, and even legends of the lake. It was all very interesting, and something fun to do on a rainy day! After the museum, we went back to the hotel and chilled out for a bit before getting dinner.

Since Annecy is close to Switzerland, fondue is a popular dish there. So, we picked a fondue restaurant to get a taste of the culture. It was super cute inside, and the food was delicious. It was my first time trying fondue, and I am happy to report I really liked it!

After dinner we tried looking for a sweet treat, but nothing was open (sadness). Oh well! So we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.

Monday, April 14th

We got up this morning and packed up our stuff since we had to check out and head back to Paris on an afternoon train. We had a few hours to spare, so we got lunch at a cute Australian cafe (and said hello to some ducks on the way there!). It was delicious and so beautifully plated!

After eating, we walked to the lake to get one last look before leaving. It was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the water was so clear!

On the way back to the hotel to get our luggage, we stopped at the gelato stand to satisfy our sweet treat craving from the night before. It was delicious, I got a pineapple coconut sorbet and a lemon basil sorbet.

We made our way to the train station and began the looooong journey back to Cergy. We took a train to Lyon, then switched trains and went from Lyon to Paris. Then we had a public transportation fiasco because someone fell onto the tracks in a Paris RER station, but eventually made it back to Cergy for the night after figuring out the whole mess.

It was an amazing trip, and I loved seeing a part of France that was so new and different!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Wednesday, April 2nd

This was really great day! I had a French presentation that went well, one of my classes was online, and I was able to write the Ireland blog post at night because I did not have much homework. Also, my favorite Cergy flowers were looking beautiful, so I just had to add a picture to the blog!

Thursday, April 3rd

I had an interview for an internship this day, which was exciting! (I did not end up getting the position; however, it was nice to get asked to interview in the first place!) I got all business professional and spent most of the morning preparing for it. The interview went until 4pm, and after it was over I got ready for Neeha’s arrival! I cleaned my room, went to the store, and then headed to Paris to pick her up from the train station!

Friday, April 4th

I had two classes this day, which was unfortunate because I really just wanted to spend the whole day in Paris with Neeha while she was here! Oh well… school is important. The beautiful flowers were blooming even more this day and Cergy had amazing weather!

After my classes were over, Neeha and I caught the train and got into Paris around 6pm.

Now, Neeha had been to Paris not that long ago, so I did not have to play tour guide to a large extent, but I still thought it would be fun to see the major landmarks first. We walked through the Louvre/Place de Concorde area, crossed the Seine, and saw the Eiffel Tower. It was stunning, as always!

After seeing that area, we walked back in the same direction we came and got dinner near the Louvre. Neeha really enjoyed a specific Indian restaurant when she was in Paris in the Fall, and she wanted me to try it. It was my first time having Indian food, and it was really good!

After dinner, we wanted to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle, so we headed back in the same direction again (hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it…) and made our way to Trocadero to see it from the best viewpoint.

We headed back into Cergy pretty late, and got to bed in preparation for another exciting day in Paris!

Saturday, April 5th

After sleeping in a good bit, we went to see the Port area of Cergy because Neeha was really curious about what it looked like over there.

Then we caught the train into Paris and got into the city around 3pm. I first took her to my favorite gardens of Paris, the Luxembourg Gardens. Since it was such a nice, warm day there were tons of people there. It was honestly so cute, everyone goes to soak up the sun in this beautiful place.

After the Luxembourg Gardens, I took her to see the Pantheon on the way to go see the Notre Dame. I also stopped to get a coffee and had my first all-French-no-mistakes ordering experience, which was quite the confidence boost! We went to see the Notre Dame because when Neeha was in Paris in the Fall it was still covered up by construction, so this was her first time seeing it. The line to go inside was insanely long, so we opted to just sit on the stands and people-watch for a while. It was quite the entertaining experience.

We then crossed the Seine and wandered around the Marais district for a couple of hours, just sightseeing and chatting! I thought I had made dinner reservations to a vegetarian restaurant, but it turns out I had just been added to a waitlist, so we found an Italian restaurant for dinner instead. It was pretty good!

After dinner we wandered around for a bit more then caught the RER A back to Cergy. When we got back to the dorm we went to a little party that someone in my year was hosting in the building. It was a fun way to hang out with my cohort and other people in our classes. It was a great day overall, thanks to having the best visitor!

Sunday, April 6th

We slept in a good bit since we were out super late, so we opted to just stay in Cergy until Neeha’s train back to Germany. We got lunch in at the cutest spot in the Port, Lina’s Tea. It was delicious, I’ll have go to back again sometime.

After eating, we crossed the bridge in the Port (which I’d never done before since it had been closed for months) and went for a nice walk. It was so pretty around the lake/river! We went back to the dorm for a bit so Neeha could finish packing up and getting things in order. Then we headed to Paris and I said goodbye when she got on the train. It was the most amazing weekend, and I am so so grateful she got to visit! Now we’ll see if I have time to go to Germany and do the same…

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Tuesday, March 25th

One thing I struggle with as an American in France is the difference in coffee shop culture between the two countries and how it is very challenging to find ones that are laptop-friendly. I wanted to go to Paris with some friends to do some computer work, but it was quite the task trying to find a cafe with a) enough seating and b) the freedom to use my laptop there. We eventually found one in the 10th arrondissement, so we decided to go there! We made our way from Cergy to Paris around noon and first headed to a vegan bakery (shoutout Quinn!) to get a snack/lunch. I got a cinnamon roll; however, I do not recommend this particular one. Maybe I am too used to the American version of cinnamon rolls that are gooey and iced, but this one was not great in general. Then we headed to KB Coffee Roasters to do our work. The area we walked through to get to the coffee shop was so pretty!

After working for about two hours, we decided to walk around Paris since it was such a nice day! We stopped in a beautiful bakery since they had the famous cookie croissants and we wanted to try them. It was pretty good (I mean it is a combination of a croissant and a chocolate chip cookie — how can that not be good?), but the one I had from Maison Bergeron was better.

Then we continued walking and ended up at the Palais-Royal. This was my first time there, and it was so pretty! The gardens were gorgeous, and I loved those cool striped pillars. The palace has a very old, fascinating history, and you can read a quick overview of it on this website if you want: Palais-Royal History: A Peaceful Place for Parisians.

From the Palais-Royal we walked to the Louvre/Tuileries Gardens area and continued walking until we got to the Place de Concorde, then we hopped on the Metro and headed back to Cergy for the day. It was a lovely way to spend my no-class day, and super fun to go to new areas of Paris!

Sunday, March 30th

Earlier in the year, my mom (shoutout Mama!) sent me an Instagram reel about a cool vendor at one of the Paris flea markets, and I had saved the shop on my Google Maps hoping to make it there at some point. Well, I was kind of itching to check it out in person, so I planned to go to the flea market this Sunday. I went with two friends (shoutout Madeline, shoutout Caroline!), and we got there around 10:30am. It is right on the outskirts of Paris, in the Saint-Ouen area. It was truly one of the coolest places, there was so much stuff, and it varied heavily. There were vintage clothes, silver pieces, china, random collectable items, and so much more. It made me wonder who actually buys this kind of stuff, and what do they do with it?

After spending some time wandering around, we got a quick brunch at a restaurant nearby. I got this cute French toast, and it was pretty good!

Then, we went into Paris to see the Eiffel Tower from Metro Line 6, and from there hopped on the RER A to get back to Cergy.

Yay! So many fun days in Paris and many more to come!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Leave a comment

Friday, March 21st

This day started off with a very early morning! I had to get to the airport around 7am, which meant I had to leave my dorm around 5am since I was taking the trains from Cergy to the Charles de Gaulle Airport. I got on my plane around 8:30am, and I had a window seat in the very back row, which was a cool experience. There was no one in the seat next to me, so I had a very nice, uninterrupted flight.

Once I got to the airport, Neeha and I met up and took a bus to the center of the city. We found our hostel, checked in, and stored our bags so we did not have to walk around the city with them. After the stop at the hostel, we started exploring what Budapest had to offer! We began by going to lunch, and on our way over there, I saw some pretty cool architecture.

After lunch, we went to St Stephen's Basilica. It was incredibly gorgeous, definitely the biggest and most extravagant church I’ve ever been inside of!

We continued walking, and stumbled upon the Hungarian Parliament Building! The architecture is insanely gorgeous, and I was just in awe with how big and vast it was!

From there, we started walking down the side of the Danube and went to look at the “Shoes on the Danube Bank” memorial. It was very beautiful, and the views from the bank were just stunning!

From there, we crossed the bridge to go to the “old” side of Budapest, and walked to the Fisherman's Bastion. The monument is extremely beautiful, especially during the time of day when we were there. You can see the city so well when you get to the top of it, and I was just blown away by the views!

We continued walking around the city, and stopped in a bakery and a souvenir shop. Then, we got on the giant Ferris wheel to see what kinds of views it offered. It was fun, and a cool way to see sights of the city!

After our Ferris wheel excursion, we walked around for a while just yapping! On our walk we saw the Parliament building lit up, which was beautiful! We got dinner around 8pm at a Thai food place, and it was pretty good. Then we walked back to our hostel for the night, and got ready for an exciting day tomorrow!

Saturday, March 22nd

This day started off with some coffee! We went to a little cafe that was near the Budapest Central Market, so we went inside of there afterwards. It was super cool! There were tons of different shops set up inside, and they were all so different and fun!

After the market, we went to get brunch from a great little spot! I got the most amazing french toast, and it was delicious!

After the restaurant, we went for a long walk to see a castle! It was so pretty, and the area around it made me feel like I stepped onto the set of a Disney movie.

After seeing that area, we walked across the park to an interesting monument, climbed a bunch of stairs, and saw a cool view! Oh! And on the way we saw a statue of George Washington which was such an interesting thing to come across. But, hey! Any sight of America in Europe is fun to me!

Then, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts (which is right behind us in that selfie!), and saw some cool art! It was an absolutely stunning building, and I was so obsessed with the architecture inside. It made me feel like a princess inside of a castle!

After the museum, we went for a long walk to get dinner at an amazing pizza place. The food was great, and it was so cheap! The weather was misty and not too cold, and I thought it made everything look so pretty!

After dinner, we went on a riverboat cruise, which was so fun! It was freezing, but we still went up to the top to see the Hungarian Parliament from the famous river viewpoint. It was such a cool experience!

We took another long walk to find a sweet treat, and then walked back to the hostel to enjoy the brownies we had gotten. We both had flights back to our respective countries in the morning, so we went to bed and prepared for our travels the next day.

Sunday, March 23rd

I had my flight to Paris in the morning, and it was a quick trip back to CDG. We had the most amazing time in Budapest, and I would recommend the city to anyone looking for a fun European city to travel to! It was so stunning in so many ways, and truly the most amazing experience!

Thank you so much for reading, as always!! I love sharing my journeys with you all, and I’m so grateful for my subscribers.

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Friday, March 14th

My plane to Dublin was at 1:15pm, so I left to get to the airport around 9am.

It was a quick flight, and I arrived in Dublin around 3pm. I then waited for about an hour for the friends I was staying at the Airbnb with. We left the airport around 4:30pm and got to the Airbnb (which was in a cute village called Enniskerry) about an hour later due to the Dublin traffic. There were the cutest cows next door to the house, it was such a fun surprise!

We took some time to figure out the Dublin public transportation and got into the city around 7pm. We had dinner at a great burrito place (they had a fantastic vegan burrito!) and then walked around Dublin for a little bit. We had some friends staying at the Shelbourne Hotel, so we went there and hung out till it got later into the night. The hotel was so beautiful, and I loved the beautiful flowers in the lobby!

We ventured out to the famous Temple Bar district around 11pm, and went inside the one and only, iconic Temple Bar! It was so insanely crowded, I felt like I was packed like sardines! It seemed like everyone in there was an American college student, so it was definitely a fun experience.

We spent some time in there, and then walked around Dublin for a bit before deciding to get the iconic spice bag from the famous Xi’an Street Food. Y’all. I have never had something so delicious. I still think about this spice bag, it was absolutely perfect and nothing like I had ever had before.

We got back into Enniskerry pretty late, and went to bed pretty much right after. It was a wonderful first day, and made me so excited for the rest of the weekend!

Saturday, March 15th

Our Airbnb hosts were the absolute sweetest, and made us scones every morning! They were soooo delicious, and it was such a king gesture! We went into the town square of Enniskerry to get coffee at the adorable Poppie’s, and it was so cute that I considered moving there in the future so I could go inside every morning.

We then got into Dublin and did some sightseeing! On our way to St. Patrick’s Cathedral we stopped in a beautiful wool goods store called Cleo. It was there that picked out a little sheep ornament to be my souvenir for the trip (unfortunately, after the long day in Dublin, I lost it, but it will forever remain in my heart).

We made our way to see some sights; we stopped at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and the Dublin Castle. They were cool, but if I had to compare the architecture to others I’ve seen, they were pretty basic. It was interesting to see such important buildings in Dublin history, though.

Afterwards, we went to a famous pizza place called Bambino. There was a super long wait to get inside, but it was very worth it! It was delicious, and I definitely get the hype!

After pizza, we went to a bar to meet up with some friends. It was much better than the one from the previous night in the sense that there was lots of room to sit down! After that, I spent a couple of hours on my own when everyone else went to the Guinness Factory. I got a book from a bookstore near Trinity College and then went to St. Stephens Green to watch the sunset. After they closed the park, I went to a coffee shop nearby and read my new book! It was lovely!

After that, I met up with my friends to get dinner at a nice restaurant. The food was great, and they had Irish dancers who would come out and dance at different points of the night.

After dinner, we went back to Enniskerry, and that was the end of our Saturday adventures!

Sunday, March 16th

Our Airbnb hosts had scones for us this morning again, and it was such a treat! I didn’t get a photo, but they were just as pretty and delicious as the day before. We took the public transportation to a nearby town called Bray for brunch by the sea. The restaurant was so cute, and I got a delicious latte and oatmeal.

We took the train up to a village called Howth, which is famous for beautiful cliffs close to Dublin. It is right on the sea, and when we passed by sailboats, I captured the most beautiful photo I think I have ever taken!

The hike up and around the cliffs was so lovely! At one point, we went and sat on the grass, and it was so soft and squishy you could have slept on it. I was not wearing the best hiking clothes, but if I had been, I could have walked around there for hours. It was such a gorgeous day, and the views were perfect.

After the hike, we got back into Dublin and got delicious sandwiches at a great restaurant called Beanhive for a late lunch. It was then that I realized that every single restaurant I had been to had vegan options, which earned Dublin tons of stars in my book!

We ate our sandwiches in the Shelbourne and hung out there for a couple of hours before venturing out to the bar scene for the night. Around 7pm, we went to the first bar of the night, and we were there for about four hours (which is kinda crazy to think about because it definitely did not feel that long). We went to the second bar around 11pm, and that one was not as great. It was America themed, which was so weird to me. There were Route 66 signs, a University of Tennessee jersey on the wall, and Native American statues, to name a few things. After about 45 minutes at the strange American bar, we went to my favorite one of the night! It was in the upstairs of a building, and the live musician was fantastic. There were not too many people up there, and there were a lot of short people, which made me feel very included.

After a fun night, we ventured back into Enniskerry around 1am, and it was off to bed!

Monday, March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day!)

Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of pictures from this day (I suppose I was living in the moment for most of it). Our Airbnb host made her amazing scones for us again this morning, which was so sweet! Then she drove us to the train stop, which was so kind and helpful. We took the train into Dublin, and got coffee and breakfast at Beanhive (the same place from the day before). The barista drew the cutest doodle on my latte, which totally made my day!

Then, we went to a little gathering that our friend’s friend was hosting, and it was so cute! Ignore my insane paleness in the photo, the digital camera did me a little dirty.

After the little party, we went to watch the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Due to my height, I could not see anything, but the vibes were fun!

My plane was at 7pm, so I got to the airport around 4:30, and that was the end of my amazing time in Dublin. It was the most amazing weekend, filled with so many different, exciting activities. I would go back to Ireland in a heartbeat, the country was so beautiful and has so many other interesting cities that I cannot wait to visit!

Thank you so much for reading, as always!! Stay tuned for my Budapest post coming soon!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Leave a comment

Friday, March 28th

Our train from Paris to Nantes left the station at 7:44am, so we had a very early wake up call! The ride took a little over two hours, and we arrived in Nantes at 10am.

We were not able to check into our Airbnb until 6:30pm (yikes…), so we decided to wander around the city and check out what it had to offer. We grabbed coffee first, as that is a must in my daily routine, and it was such a cute little spot!

Then, we went to the Château des ducs de Bretagne and explored the castle and the museum inside of it. The buildings date back to the 15th, 16th, and 18th centuries, which is so crazy to me! It was very beautiful; standing outside of the buildings made me feel like I should have been in a Renaissance princess dress making a wish in the wishing well, riding on a horse, and singing to the birds.

We walked all around the perimeter of the buildings because there was a cool pathway that connects all of them. Then, we went inside of the main castle building, as that is where the Nantes History Museum is located. It was a fascinating museum, I learned a lot about how the maritime business was the main reason Nantes became such an important city. There were exhibits about the royal history of Nantes, how the French Revolution spread to the city, the fact that Nantes was a major player in slave trade in France, and how World War II affected the city. There was a lot to see in the museum, and I thought it was wonderfully curated.

Now, you guys know I loveeee a good sweet treat. Well! In 1886, there was a man by the name of Louis Fefevre Utile who took over his family’s artisanal biscuit factory to turn it into a modern business in the heart of Nantes. He came up with a type of Nantes shortbread biscuit and called it the Petit-Beurre LU. There were a lot of interesting artifacts of this business in the museum, and all of it was so pretty! Quinn and I ended up finding the modern LU treats in the grocery store later that day, and our first time trying LU was in the city the company was born in!

You can still see the original LU factory in Nantes; it is a quirky, colorful tower in the heart of the city, which is pretty cool.

After the museum, we continued to walk around Nantes, got lunch, and went into a beautiful shopping arcade constructed in the 1840s.

We continued to wander around until it was time to check into our Airbnb at 6:30pm. We met the owners (they were so kind and very French!), got the keys, and rested after a long travel day. Around 8pm we made our way back out and got crepes at a very cute restaurant.

We walked back to the apartment after our dessert/dinner, and planned what Saturday would look like!

Saturday, March 1st

First things first, coffee! We went to the cutest little tea shop and got coffee and pastries for breakfast, which is the best way to start your day in my opinion. When we were leaving we saw kids playing with bubbles in the town square area, and I think that alone convinced me I could live in Nantes. So precious!

Then we wandered around parts of Nantes, came across a pretty theatre, beautiful streets, iconic green doors (shoutout Mom!), and then we stumbled across the coolest jazz themed coffee shop!

This coffee shop pays homage to the fact that the first jazz concert on European soil took place in Nantes in 1918. I found that so so cool!! After getting coffee we walked through another beautiful church, there are lots of gorgeous ones in this city.

We made our way to the Nantes island (in the middle of the Loire), and explored what that had to offer. It was interesting, there are lots of things on the island relating to the history of the maritime business and Jules Verne (he was born and lived in Nantes). We then took a ferry thinking we would be crossing the river, but it actually just took us farther down Nantes. Oops. So we took the ferry back to the island and got lunch, then we walked to the other ferry port to actually cross the river. (slightly confusing!)

Once we got across the river, we walked around the adorable neighborhood of Trentemoult. The houses are so cute and colorful!! It is a former fishing village, and it is famous for its beachy vibe since there are lots of palm trees and cute restaurants.

After visiting Trentemoult, we took the ferry back to Nantes and walked back to the apartment. We rested up for a couple hours, as it had been quite a long day of walking! We went out for a quick dinner around 7pm, and we got gelato at the cutest place!

Fun fact about the wall in the bottom left photo, it is one of the oldest remaining structures from the medieval times of Nantes. It features a mantle from an old castle, and it is so fascinating to me how it exists amongst all of the newness surrounding it.

We headed back to the apartment afterwards, and then planned what we would do the next day!

Sunday, March 2nd

We wanted to start off our day with a pancake brunch, but the restaurant required reservations, so we decided to just go to a boulangerie and get pastries. I got a pain au chocolat, and we sat on the steps of the town theatre, people watched, and enjoyed our breakfast.

After that, we went back to the Airbnb, grabbed our bags, and “checked out” since we wouldn’t be making it back to that side of Nantes and wanted to be efficient. Then we walked to the gorgeous Nantes Art Museum, and I was absolutely blown away by their collections. It is one of the most extensive art museums in France since it houses a collection of 13,000 artworks dating from the 13th century to the 21st century. It is also very gorgeous in architecture, there are very high ceilings and beautiful rooms.

Fun fact about me: Wassily Kandinsky is one of my favorite artists. This museum had a lot of his works, and I loved looking at all of them.

After the museum, we walked through a beautiful garden to get to the train station. It was such a nice day, so there were lots of people out and about. It made me fall even more in love with the city, so definitely do not be surprised if I move to Nantes one day.

We got to the train station about two hours early to do some homework, then had a two hour train ride back to Paris. From that train we took the metro to another train station, then rode the RER back to Cergy. We got to see the Eiffel Tower from the metro we took, which was the best way to end a very fun weekend!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog!! It means so much to me, and I love documenting my travels!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Monday, February 3rd

Monday consisted of two classes and resting after my weekend in Lille! The sun was out on this day, which was so lovely and rejuvenating! I also went to the Aldi in Cergy with a friend after our classes, and it was nice because we got to walk through a part of the city we had never been to before. A very chill day!

Tuesday, February 5th

On this day, I went into Paris with two friends, and we went to a couple of different places. First, we went to the Army Museum, which is a national military museum of France.

We went to the top floor of the museum first, and I’m very glad we made it up there because I really enjoyed the exhibit. There was a collection of 28 examples of relief maps of fortified towns, made between 1668 and 1875. Relief maps were invented in the 17th century when Louvois, Louis XIV's Minister of War, commissioned Vauban to make a scale model of the city of Dunkirk. Something interesting I noticed when looking at all of them was a lot of the towns replicated in these maps had barely changed over the course of time. You can see it in the picture I took of the description, a lot of houses, churches, and roads constructed when these maps were created are still standing and used today. That just goes to show how people built things to last back then, and it is sure not like that anymore.

After exploring that exhibit, we went to the Modern Department which has weapons, paintings, uniforms, relics and more from the time of Louis XIV to Napoleon III, which is everything from the years of 1643 to 1870. It was pretty interesting, as I was walking through it I kept thinking about how much I wish I knew more about that time in France’s history. There was truly so much inside of this museum, we did not even make it to the contemporary department, which tells the story of the French Army from 1871 to 1945, and the two great conflicts of the 20th century.

From there we went to the Dôme des Invalides, which consists of The Dome Church and The Tomb of Napoleon I. It was so beautifully breathtaking inside!! There was amazing architecture, stunning sculptures, and gorgeous paintings. Napoleon’s tomb was so much bigger than I imagined it being, and it was such a cool thing to see. I really loved the crucifix inside of the Dome as well, I thought it was beautifully made.

After the museum, we went to Maison Bergeron and got a cookie croissant! It was so delicious, and I will 100% be going back for another at some point! Then, we walked around a little bit and got coffee.

Following that, we headed towards the train station and got back to Cergy for the night. It was a very fun day spent in Paris!

Thursday, February 7th

This day, my cohort went to Auvers-sur-Oise to explore the place where Van Gogh spent the last few months of his life. We got there on the bus and had lunch at a very cute coffee shop. Their food and coffee was delicious, and it had a great vibe.

Then, we walked to a church famously painted by Van Gogh, and it was honestly super cool to see it in person after seeing the artwork in Musee d’Orsay just a few weeks before.

After seeing the church, we also walked past the building where Van Gogh died. He is buried in Auvers-sur-Oise, along with his brother. I think it would be interesting to go back to this town in the spring or summer to visit their gravesites and see more places that Van Gogh painted.

Then, we went to a museum inside of a beautiful mansion. There were lots of Van Gogh replicas (most of the originals are in Amsterdam) and artwork by other artists, including Degas. It was an interesting museum, I can’t quite say it was my favorite, but I liked seeing what was in there.

After Auvers-sur-Oise I did my laundry (and got locked out of my dorm for an hour in the process haha), cleaned my dorm, and packed for my trip home!

Friday, February 8th

TRAVEL DAY HOME!!! My plane ride from Paris to Dallas, TX was about 10 hours long. It was a good flight, I watched three movies to pass the time, which was fun. Then I took a plane from Dallas, TX to Nashville, TN, and slept the entire two-hour flight. My dad (shoutout dad!) picked me up from the Nashville airport and took me home. I was very grateful to be back in Franklin, I can honestly say I missed my hometown.

Saturday, February 9th and Sunday, February 10th

Saturday I went out of the house for a bit with my mom (shoutout mom!) and sister (shoutout TR!). We went to the Factory at Franklin and the Wilco Public Library, which was fun! Sunday, I went to church with the family and we also had a family birthday celebration lunch at my grandmother’s! It was so amazing reuniting with everyone and getting to give hugs and catch up.

I am not going to be posting blogs for week 7 or 8 because I’ve been home, so expect the next blog to be about week 9!

As always, thank you so so so much for reading!! C’est la vie!!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

Share

On Friday, January 31st, a group of fourteen of us from my cohort hopped on a train and went to Lille, France! We left Cergy around 6pm, rode the RER to Gare du Nord in Paris, and left Paris at 7:50pm. The train ride was fairly quick, and we arrived in Lille at 9:16pm. From there, we took the metro to the center of the city and walked the rest of the way to our hostel. I quickly got settled in, and then went downstairs to the bar/lounge area with the others in my room to meet up with the rest of the group. After hanging out there for a little while, we went to a bar downtown for about two hours to socialize and have some fun. It was a late night, for sure, so we went to bed and got some sleep before embarking on the next big day!

Saturday, February 1st

We started the day off with breakfast at the original Paul. I got a palmier and a latte, the pastry was delicious, but the coffee was pretty awful.

After the mixed-review breakfast experience, we headed into “old Lille” which encompasses all the original, Flemish-style buildings in the city. It was so beautiful, the sun was shining, and everyone was out and about!

After walking around for a good bit, we went inside a super cute second-hand store, Les Djadjas, and looked around. I ended up purchasing a cute Giesswein wool jacket that I have been completely obsessed with since then.

After the thrift store, we went into Meert, which has a tea shop, tea room, pastry shop, and chocolate shop all inside. Each place was so beautiful and looked very gourmet. Then went next door to Maison Georges Larnicol, which had beautiful, unique chocolates and desserts as well.

Following our tour of chocolate and dessert, we went to lunch in the center of Old Lille at a place called Aux Moules. It was not particularly my favorite, but I everyone who got the mussels really liked them (mussels are popular in Lille).

After lunch we continued to walk around the old city, and we went to The Vieille Bourse where people sell vintage books and prints. There was some pretty cool stuff, and the architecture of the building is beautiful.

Following our time there, we started walking back to our hostel to get some rest before we went out that night. Seeing all of the buildings while the sun was setting was so beautiful!

Sunday, February 2nd

The breakfast this morning was much better than the previous days, I went to a restaurant called Tamper with some people and had a much better latte than the one from Paul. It was a super cute place, tucked in a little alleyway called the Passage des Arts.

Then we went across the way to a beautiful bakery and got pain au chocolats since they looked so gorgeous. It was quite phenomenal, I loved how it wasn’t too sweet.

Following our breakfast, we walked around Old Lille a little bit. It felt like with every corner you turned, you saw a new side street and more pretty buildings!

Then, we went to the Parc de la Citadelle and got up to the entrance of the Citadelle of Lille. It was built between 1667 and 1670, when Lille became a city of France!

Then we went to the Palais des Beaux Arts for a short bit and saw some of the china collection and sculptures. Everything was very beautiful!

Then we got lunch at Le Barbier Qui Fume, it was alright… nothing special. After lunch, we continued to just walk around Lille and go down new roads and paths to try and soak in all we could. While it was a cold day, it was so sunny and beautiful out. There were such cute shops, and the architecture is so cool and unique!

Our train left at 7:00pm, so we headed towards the train station around 6pm. It was a nice, peaceful ride back to Paris which was very needed.

Overall, the trip was absolutely fantastic! I loved seeing a different city in France and getting to experience it with such fun people made it so nice.

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog! This post was long overdue, but I’m glad I got it done! Much love!!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

A selfie from my grocery run and a doodle I did when I was bored in class!

Sunday, January 26th

This was a fun day!! I went to Paris for a little excursion, and I got to do a few of my favorite things. I arrived in Paris around 12:30pm, and I walked to the Louvre for my visit at The Musée des Arts Décoratifs. This museum was super cool, it is dedicated to the exhibition and preservation of decorative arts. It is located in the Pavillon de Marsan, which is in the north-western wing of the Palais du Louvre. There are approximately one million objects in its collection, so it is the largest museum of decorative arts in continental Europe. If I am being honest, I had no idea what was in this museum when I booked my ticket, so I was grateful to be genuinely interested in the collections when I got there. Enjoy some of my *many* photos!!

The first exhibit I visited was “Fashion in models: Photographs from the 1920s-1930s,” which displayed more than 120 photographs from the collections of photos used to fight against counterfeiting in the world of pre-war fashion. The photos were placed alongside fashion silhouettes and accessories from great designers. As someone who loves fashion, it was a neat exhibit!

These are some of the first pieces I saw, which started giving me a feel for what was in this museum. I was so obsessed with that dresser, I literally gasped out loud when I saw it. It is so so so beautiful, I love the flowers and the color scheme of it!

Who knew walls could be so beautiful? I thought these were so darling, I imagine they were in a nursery.

The upper floors of the museum had more modern/contemporary pieces of decorative art, and while I definitely did not like them as much as the eighteenth century pieces, I still had appreciation for the uniqueness and creativity!

I ended up exploring the bottom floor last, and there were gorgeous Renaissance pieces throughout that section. It was cool to see true Renaissance art, I enjoyed seeing all of the different artistic representations of Biblical texts!

After the museum, I walked to a coffee shop I had really been wanting to try, Ralphs Coffee! It is Ralph Lauren’s coffee shop, so it was very fancy inside. It tasted amazing, I highly recommend it, especially for the cool vibes.

Then I walked a little more (in the rain) to a super, super cute stationary store! It is called L'Ecritoire, and they had such a wonderful array of paper goods, stamps, stickers, and crafting supplies. If you know me, that is exactly my kinda store! There was also a really pretty French bookstore next door, so I went inside there as well!

After visiting those two shops, it was time for me to head back to Cergy. It was a lovely afternoon in rainy Paris, and I had such a wonderful time getting to do all of my favorite things!

Thank you so much for reading, as always!! Please feel free to comment, and let me know if there is anything I should add/subtract from my blog posts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

Share

Monday, January 13th

Guess what I did on Monday? I went to Paris with some friends! We were in such a beautiful part of the city and had a lovely time. We started off by walking through the Tuileries Garden and around the outside of the Louvre, which were both really pretty on a sunny day. Then we walked down the Rue de Rivoli a bit and stopped at a beautiful restaurant, Angelina. I got their amazing, unique avocado toast and an absolutely phenomenal hot chocolate.

After lunch, we walked through Place Vendome and down Rue de le Paix, looking in a couple of shops along the way. Then we went into the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps and walked around exploring the different luxury brands. There were so many cool stores, and the interior is so beautiful in and of itself.

The 1st and 9th arrondissements of Paris are so stunning, and it was really fun exploring them!

Tuesday, January 14th - Friday, January 17th

Honestly, there was nothing particularly interesting that happened throughout the week. I went through my days like normal and worked on figuring out how to open a French bank account (quite the adventure).

Saturday, January 18th

Another Paris day!! I got on the train around 11:30am, and got to Paris around 12:30pm. My first order of business was going to a cute coffee shop, Sevenly Heart, for a delicious latte. It is so unique, especially on the inside! I will definitely be back, there was such a neat vibe there. I walked through Le Marais a bit, crossed the Seine, and drank my coffee outside the Notre Dame. It was the most beautiful view!

Then I crossed the Seine to the other side, and went inside the iconic bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. There was only a small line waiting to go in, so it was not a bad wait at all. I got inside, went into all the rooms, saw the upstairs, and then browsed to find a good book as a fun souvenir. I settled on buying Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation, BUT the title is different in France! The copy at Shakespeare and Company is titled You and Me On Vacation, and I thought that was super cool! The bookstore is so charming, and it has such a neat history!

After Shakespeare and Company, I ended up just walking around Paris for about two hours. My goal was to end up at the Eiffel Tower, so I went through the Louvre, crossed the Seine, and walked around a super charming area with beautiful antique stores to get to more of a direct route. Once I got to Rue Saint Dominque, it was a straight shot to the Eiffel Tower, so I walked through the quaint area and decided it was time for a pastry. I stopped in Maison Bergeron and got a delicious pain au chocolate. From there, I walked to Rue de l'Université to get a pretty picture of the Eiffel Tower, and then I walked up to the Trocadéro to see another great view of it.

That was the extent of my Paris journey for Saturday, so I took the train back to Cergy and enjoyed the rest of my night there.

Sunday, January 19th

Guess where I went on Sunday? Parisssss!!! I went with a group of friends this time around, which was fun. We started off at the vintage markets in the Italian Quarter, and there was some super cool stuff! I loved seeing the table of antiques, there was such beautiful china.

From the vintage markets, we walked up to the Latin Quarter, and saw the Pantheon. It was so beautiful! We also walked past the Sorbonne, which was extremely gorgeous and iconic.

We got lunch in that area at Corner Saint-Germain, and I cannot say we particularly loved the experience. (aka I don’t really recommend the restaurant). Then we walked to Westfield Forum des Halles to do some shopping at Zara, which was lovely. After that, we went to a cool art exhibition in an old Parisian apartment. There was such unique art, and it was fascinating to see the different creative niches of these artists.

After this we walked down the Rue de Rivoli up to the Champs-Élysées and Arc de Triomphe, and saw many amazing landmarks along the way. Peep the Eiffel Tower:

I just love that area!! From the Arc de Triomphe, we got to the train station and headed back to Cergy! Such a fun day/weekend!!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog and catching up with me!!

Feel free to add a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

C’est la vie!

Xx, Taylor Marie Reid

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

Share

Monday, January 6th

The first day of classes at ESSEC!! I was so excited to go into the building, meet my classmates, and learn more about the school in general. It was an early wake-up call compared to the previous mornings, but I made it through just fine. We had an introduction ceremony, then a meeting with everyone in the RIL Cohort, and then we got a school tour. It was so lovely getting to know some of the ESSEC students in our program; they were so kind. Afterward, I got lunch with some friends at a sandwich shop across the street; it seemed a popular place for ESSEC students. Then we had our first class at 1:00pm, People & Organizations. The class essentially studies the science behind how workplaces operate and how to best manage and lead teams of people. Classes at ESSEC are 3 hours long, with a 15-25 minute break in the middle. My first 3-hour class was quite an experience, and it will probably take me a couple of weeks to get used to. After class, I went to the mall, painted my nails, got dinner with some friends, and then got ready to spend the next day in Paris!

Tuesday, January 7th

Paris day!!! A couple of us who did not have class on Tuesday decided to go to Paris for a couple of hours. We left around 10:30 a.m. and got into Paris a little before noon. The Arc de Triomphe was the first thing we saw when getting out of the train station, so of course, there was a picture stop right out of the gate.

We went to a café on the Champs - Élysées, then set off to discover what was in store for us the rest of the day. After walking to get a good view of the Eiffel Tower, we decided it was a good day to go to the Musée d'Orsay and use our student discount for a free ticket (yay!). So we took a nice walk along the Seine to the museum and waited in a line for only about 30 minutes, which was a pretty good wait time for a Paris museum. I did not know much about this museum, except that they had many famous paintings from the Impressionist era. After appreciating the beauty of the ground-floor exhibitions, I went to the top floor to see all the famous art. There were so many gorgeous paintings, and I have added pictures of some of my favorites with links if you want to read about them!

1. Auguste Renoir | Dance of the Galette mill | 1876

2. Auguste Renoir | Danse à la ville | 1883 & Country Dance | Pierre-Auguste Renoir | 1883

3. Claude Monet | Saint-Lazare Station | 1877

4. Claude Monet | Le Bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie verte | 1899

5. Vincent Van Gogh | Crown Imperial Fritillaries in a Copper Vase | 1887

6. Vincent Van Gogh | Portrait of the artist | 1889

I had such a great time walking around the beautiful museum, and I hope to go back and see even more paintings and sculptures I may have missed.

Our group then walked across the Seine and through the Jardin des Tuileries to a cute Parisian cafe! I got a hot chocolate (my first one in Paris!) and enjoyed hanging out with the people in my cohort.

We then walked back to the train station and headed back to Cergy! It was the first of what I hope to be many day trips to Paris!!

Wednesday, January 8th - Saturday, January 11th

Truth be told… these four days were not very interesting. I had two classes on Wednesday, one from 1:00-4:00pm and another from 4:30pm-7:30pm. The first class was E-business, where we will learn about how business is moving and transforming in this current era of technological developments. The second class was Entrepreneurship, where we have been put into small groups and must develop a business idea and pitch it at the end of the semester.

I had no classes on Thursday, but I went to the grocery store! My first solo shopping trip here in Cergy was a success, and I had fun looking at all the different options France has compared to America. (AKA there is a vast, diverse array of meat and dairy… they are passionate about those food groups for sure.)

I had two classes on Friday, one from 8:30-11:30 and another from 1:00-4:00. The first class was European Kaleidoscope, were we learn about the politics within the European Union. The second class was Responsible Marketing, where we learn about the ethical and sustainable practices within business and how that is marketed to consumers.

Saturday was highly uninteresting… I quite literally do not have anything fun to report about that day, haha.

Sunday, January 12th

Versailles day!!! My roommate and I got to Versailles around 11:30 am, and we toured the palace for about an hour and a half; it was so gorgeous!!! I was absolutely amazed that people got to live in such a lavish, beautiful place.

Marie Antoinette's bedroom was definitely my favorite room, and I was also so amazed by the ceiling paintings in almost every room we went in! There was also a lot of war history in the palace, which I thought was interesting. I liked how, as you walked throughout the portion of the palace open for tours, you went through the historical timeline. There were a lot of paintings of older nobility and scenes from earlier depictions of Versailles at the beginning. The end contained a lot of post-revolution paintings and sculptures. They did a good job setting up the walkthrough flow to take you through the different stages of Versailles in French history.

We spent the remainder of our time walking through a farmers market in Versailles, which was so fun! I am used to the cute, tiny Franklin TN Farmers market that has stayed pretty much the same way my whole life, so it was super cool to see what the French version of that looks like! So many unique cheeses, meats, seafood, olives, fruits, vegetables, bread, crepes, and more! They truly came to set up shop and sell fresh food! Then I got a pain au chocolate from a cute boulangerie by the metro station; it was delish!

We returned to Cergy and chilled out for the rest of the day! It is so fun being able to take trips to beautiful palaces and cute towns!

Have the best rest of your week!!

C’est la vie!

xx. Taylor Marie

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Friday, December 27th - London

We took a British Airways flight from Nashville on Thursday, December 26th, and landed at London Heathrow on Friday morning. We took the London Underground to our hotel in the city and rested up for a bit before taking in some of the sights. We enjoyed seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace.

The sun set relatively early in London, and we had a very early morning train to catch, so we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to the hotel after a long travel day.

Saturday, December 28th

It was a 3am wake up call to be on board the Eurostar around 6am. The train took a little over 2 hours to get us into Paris, and it was a lovely way to get into the city. We arrived at Gare du Nord around 9am Paris time and began the chaotic process of making it to our hotel in Cergy, France. We had to figure out how to purchase a train pass and then find the metro to take us to another train station. Our metro was shut down past a certain stop, so we had to get off two stops early and walk to the next station (envision six people hauling luggage through the cobblestone streets of Paris). Once we arrived at the station, we took a 40-minute ride from Paris to Cergy, and once we arrived in Cergy, we had to walk 15 minutes to our hotel. It was quite an adventure if you ask me. We all rested for the remainder of the day and got baked goods from the local boulangerie for our dinner (very Parisian of us, no?).

Sunday, December 29th

This day was… not predicted to go the way it went, to say the least. I spent most of it getting my bearings around Cergy with my parents. We went to the grocery store, I got my phone on a local data plan, we walked around the Port area of Cergy, and we picked up dinner at a local Poke bowl place. It was a day that allowed everyone to recover from jet lag and helped us get the most out of the rest of the week!

Monday, December 30th

This was the day we saw a lot of Paris, and it was an absolute blast!! We started by taking an early morning train ride from Cergy to Paris, and we got off at the stop that offered the best view of the Eiffel Tower. As I ascended the steps to exit the underground station, I was quite literally jumping from the excitement of seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. When I laid eyes on it, I genuinely had tears. It was, and is, so so so beautiful!!! Our family had many photographic moments while we took in the sights. It is way better in person, and no amount of internet photos could have prepared me for how gorgeous it would be. Enjoy my montage of Eiffel Tower pictures!

We then got breakfast at a beautiful boulangerie called Maison Bergeron on Rue Saint-Dominique, and it was delicious!

After breakfast, we headed toward the Jardin du Luxembourg, which has been on my Paris bucket list for years. On the way, we walked past Napoleon's tomb, which is so beautiful from the outside.

The Luxembourg Garden was gorgeous, and I loved seeing so many people there, even in the cold weather. It is on my list of places to return when it is warmer and sunnier; I cannot wait to see all the flowers they have in the spring!

After the Luxembourg Garden, we made our way to the Notre Dame, which had recently reopened after years of reconstruction. It was hectic, and we did not go inside, but seeing its beauty from the outside was incredibly impressive. The architecture is just stunning, and looking at it and knowing how old it is is truly a wonder.

After seeing the Notre Dame, our family walked along the bank of the Seine to get to our next destination.

We made our way to the Louvre, and I absolutely loved the architecture. It was much bigger and more gorgeous than I anticipated, and it is at the top of my list of museums to visit.

Following our trip to the Louvre, we made our way to a famous boulangerie in Paris called Stohrer, which was incredibly stunning. I ordered a raspberry tart, and it was divine. I also tried two of their macarons, which were equally fantastic. I highly recommend a visit if you are a fan of traditional French pastries, as Stohrer is one of the oldest patisseries in Paris.

After visiting Stohrer, our family returned to Cergy to rest up for the next day!

Tuesday, December 31st

Our main goal for Tuesday was to watch the New Year's fireworks in Paris. Knowing we would be out late, we set off for Paris around 5pm. We took the train from Cergy to Paris and got off at the stop next to the famous Palais Garnier, a gorgeous opera house constructed between 1861 and 1875. After taking some photos in front of it, we headed to grab dinner near the Champs-Élysées. We stumbled upon a cute little crêperie, and all enjoyed it. Many roads were blocked off due to the chaos of New Year's Eve, so we walked for a while in an effort to find a good spot to watch the fireworks. We ended up standing at the end of the Champs-Élysées, at the Place de la Concorde, and had a great view of the Arc de Triomphe. Since we got there around 9pm, we had a while to wait until midnight. Looking back, though, we had such a prime view of the Arc without being in the crazy pack of people on the Champs-Élysées, so it was worth the wait.

Wednesday, January 1st

This was the day we got the keys to my dorm! We all slept in late after getting back into Cergy at 2am, so it was around 2pm that we made our way into ESSEC to get the entry card for my room. Going into ESSEC for the first time was a fun experience, and it made me more excited for my first day of classes.

After getting my key from the security office, we went into my room to survey the space and make a list of essential things to purchase the next day. It is my biggest bedroom at college so far, which is nice!

After our time at the dorm, we caught the train and headed to Paris for our last night there! We got dinner at a plant-based restaurant (yay for the vegans in the family!) and then made our way to the Place de la Concorde so we could walk the length of the Champs-Élysées and end our night at the Arc de Triomphe. My favorite stop we made on our walk was at Ladurée, a famous French boulangerie. They had the most magnificent macarons and came in the prettiest packaging!

Following our macron pit stop, we continued the walk to the Arc, and I was astonished when we got up close. It is so much bigger and more beautiful than I realized it would be, and I loved walking around it and noticing all the details.

After visiting the Arc, we caught the train and headed back to Cergy for the night.

Thursday, January 2nd

This day was all about getting things for my dorm and saying goodbyes! It was incredibly sad saying "see you later" to my family, and I have to say it was the most challenging goodbye I have ever done. Watching them walk down the street with their suitcases from my dorm window, knowing they would be making the journey back to the US while I stayed in France, was an unfamiliar feeling. I had a good cry, then busied myself with making my space feel like home (even though it is temporary). My bedroom turned out rather cute with the little items I could bring and buy, and I am quickly feeling like Cergy will be an incredible adventure!

Friday, January 3rd - Sunday, January 5th

These past three days have been rather dull compared to the earlier ones! They have been filled with mundane tasks and movie-watching as I rest up and pass the time until classes start on Monday. If you want to see the little things I have done, you can watch my little vlogs on my Instagram account @toldbytm. Stay tuned for more from my creative outlets; I love sharing about my life and creating fun memories!

C’est la vie!!

xoxo, Taylor Marie

Share

Subscribe now

Leave a comment