hallo from this side of the ocean!

woohoo, i'm finally on the internet!  gosh, how i miss thee so much and my lonely LJ.  ^_~ 

here's the update with what's happening as i literally country hop with one of my coolest friends here in europe:

first stop: PARIS

- first off, who knew getting to the airport could prove a hassle and a half with us nearly missing our flight.  sadly, we did change our first destination from london to paris due to the london bombings and attacks but i'm sure i'll visit london someday down the road.

- went to Le Petit Grec, which is suppose to have the best crepes in the city.  but honestly and unfortunately i've tasted better crepes in the US.  it might be the fact that they're not very adventurous with the ingredients - savory crepes don't go much beyond ham, onions, cheese, and eggs....no fancy stuff like pesto, broccoli, peppers, dijon, etc.  however, their sweet crepes are to die for.  yummo!

- went to tons of  parisian museums and we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.  pretty awesome.  Montmartre is prolly the cutest, most perfectly provincial "French" district of Paris.  and oh!  the moulin rouge is there!  the only part that made me want to collapse on the ground and die was the fact that the area is built on a hill, and after carrying a gazillion pounds of clothes and crap on my back and finally emerging from the train and metro station, i looked up and there are about 130 stone steps i have to climb to reach the outside of the hotel.....seroiusly, not easy when your bag is bigger than you.

- walked down the Champs-Elysees!  saw the Seine River!  musee d'orsay with an AMAZING collection of impressionist art...the louvre, saw mona lisa front and center cuz we avoided the lines by going in late afternoon, did the picasso museum, toured the tuileries gardens, the modern art museum Centres Pompidou, got to see Notre Dame while mass was going on, the gorgeous white Sacre Coeur cathedral during mass as well and climbed to the top of the dome where i almost got killed by a pigeon.  then we went to Ile St. Louis where we tried the world-famous Berthillon ice cream (AGAIN, i've tasted better - not as good as ben and jerrys!) ...the Picasso museum, the Latin Quarter and ate tons and tons of croissants and pastries at all the boulangeries on every street corner.  and the cliche about accordion players in paris is true.  especially on bridges.  so romantic!

- chillin with a croque monsieur (sort of a grilled ham and cheese sandwich toast type thing) at Le Deux Magots, one of the best cafes in Paris for people watching made me feel so cool and french, besides the fact that i had to keep glaring at the french people who were blowing smoke in my face the entire time.

- we went to the top of the eiffel tower.  one bad thing was my friend and i were the ONLY noncouples.  altho, my friend joked that we could've been a "couple"...uh no.  even the 60 year olds were cuddling.  but the views and the stunning lights made up for it. 

- also toured the war rooms at the Invalides.  incredible besides the fact i was getting stalked by this sketchy french black dude.  eekgads!  but good thing we avoided him most of the time and escaped via the metro.

ahhhhh, lots to say but this is paris in a nutshell.  ok, right now in Dresden, Germany folks.  more updates later!