melissa grace kreider

   The Eiffel Tower

Spring Break has come and gone, and readjusting to getting up early and being productive has led me to neglect this blog! I'm sorry! Update: My life has been marching along to the beat of something like this: class, class, darkroom, class, darkroom, avert thine eyes in the sunlight, sleep, repeat. 

       I was lucky enough to travel to Paris for four days during Spring Break. My parents paid for my hostel and my flight (both were extremely afforable-being a student in Europe has immense perks) for my birthday-and I'm eternally grateful!! I was torn between Paris and Florence when I was choosing where to study abroad. I now know that they are incomparable because they are two cities with completely different vibes. Personally I prefer large cities complete with pavement and a metro system, and Paris is just that: vast, overwhelming, bustling and fast-paced. I felt very "in-my-element" while I was there.

Florence, however, is beautiful and it is my home. I missed the familiarity of it while I was trotting around France; I like the slower pace that Italians take. It's much easier to take everything in; but perhaps I am biased because I live here. I have time to take it all in.

Warning: Paris cannot be seen in four days! My travel companion and I sure as hell tried, though. We jumped on the metro at 9am each morning and were constantly on and off all day until at least 10pm. In one day, we saw The Eiffel Tower, The Catacombs of Paris Museum, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge and the Arc of Triumph. After that long, neverending day we grabbed dinner crepes and met up with some friends studying there. Talk about exhausting!! 

The Catacombs of Paris We had good reason to shove all of that into one day, I promise. Why? The next day we spent six hours in the Louvre. I can not even begin to explain to you all of the beauty and history I witnessed in such a short amount of time. If there is one single thing you should see before you call it quits, view the Louvre. As much of it as you have time for. I of course saw the Mona Lisa, but what got me was Vermeer's The Lacemaker.

The Lacemaker I really appreciate the way Vermeer painted light. Fun fact: this painting is eensy weensy teeny tiny. Even smaller than the Mona Lisa (which isn't THAT small-not as small as everyone says). 

The Louvre! Everytime I turned the corner in Paris there was couture beauty everywhere. Extravagent, old, classic but over-the-top and all wrought iron. My experience with Paris was fabulous, but my experience with the French police? Less than satisfactory. 

Oh you know, just hanging out in line at the Police Station...in Paris.

      You read that right. The French police. In the hostel where we were staying, we shared a room with about six other students studying abroad and on break/vacation from around Europe. I came back one day to find that everyone had gotten something stolen from them: valuable things. My room was towards the back of the apartment and after I heard the news I hurried to check to see if my passport had been stolen. Luckily, it hadn't, and the culprit swiped SIX ROLLS OF MY KODAK PORTA PROFESSIONAL 160. Who does that?! It was new, not exposed. Those of you who are photo major know how expensive that can get. Regardless, the next morning we went to make a report to the police to get reimbursement via traveler's insurance. The French police laughed at me. They heckled my report because it was just film. They refused to speak English to me and I had to put together some strange mix of Italian, French and Spanish in order to get my report and after I left, they laughed at me some more to my other roommates. 

You try paying mass euros for each roll of color film and see if you're not going to try to get your money back. Just saying. 

Let's not dwell on the bad! Paris is beautiful, I had a wonderful time, and I wish I could return to explore more! 

Ciao for now!!

-m.

The view from my hostel.

The fountain that Andy throws her phone into in The Devil Wears Prada (and I!)