Browsing Tag:

travel

In travel on
November 6, 2013

before sunset

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even though i’ve lived by the beach my whole life, i’ve never really appreciated it. at least not like i do here. the beach in nice is wonderful and the perfect place to watch the sunset over the peninsula. sure, it has its problems like topless sun worshipers (thank goodness that season is coming to an end) and sharp rocks (i like the pebbles but they are a bummer to walk on in the water). i think after my time here, i’ll appreciate the beach more in california and maybe even visit more than once a year. but till then, i’ll enjoy my ‘nice’ beach here.

In travel on
November 3, 2013

monaco

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so do you remember that scene in shrek where they go to dulac, the palace of lord fraquat? heres a video if you don’t remember or haven’t seen the movie. that’s monaco in a nutshell. pretty, perfect but almost too much so. i may have been humming this song the whole time i was in monaco. it might have been the overcast weather or how empty many of the streets were but it was a little bit eerie there which was definitely not expected. i went once before when i was young but this time i got to explore many of the places i’ve always wanted to go. first stop was the casino which on the outside is far less impressive than i imagined it would be. we walked around the gardens and managed to sneak in the casino. or at least it seemed like sneaking in because we managed to make it in without getting our bags or passports checked and without getting turned away like some of the other tourists. inside, it is so stunning but all the modern slot machines really diminish its beauty and are dwarfed by the grandeur of the architecture. here’s a picture i found to show just how out of place the modern gambling machines look. it should be a ballroom or something amazing and not a casino but thats just my opinion. after we went to the casino, we meandered our way to the palace compound. it was beautiful there and like the rest of the city, very, very pristine. it reminded me of rodeo drive in la. there are hidden lush and exotic gardens around every bend and everything is so picturesque. this area was probably my favorite in the whole city even though it seemed a lot like an amusement park. we continued to walk around for the next few hours and we looked at some of the luxury stores but they were also much smaller than expected. i think i’m just spoiled with south coast plaza and los angeles stores. overall, monaco was very nice and beautiful but its not somewhere i would be rushing to go back to anytime soon. looking forward to visiting more of the other, less ‘hyped-up’ towns in the area.

//all pictures from my iphone//
In travel on
October 30, 2013

a nice day

I’ve had a few people ask me lately about what a day is like for me in France so I decided to do a post about it. Obviously everyday is different but this is a pretty typical day for me. When I did a post of what a day in New Zealand looked like for me, I used black and white hipstamatics so I decided to stick with that theme for this post. also I’m doing the times in military time because that’s what I use here. for example: 14h is 2pm (the h stands for heures). here’s a little sliver of my ‘nice’ life

6h – the time I wake up usually varies but i’m definitely an early riser. today I woke up at 6h to do yoga. in new zealand, i got in the habit of waking up and working out and that has stuck here too. but what’s even nicer here is that i have my own space and i don’t have to awkwardly workout in the common room *cringe*

8h –   the lady I live with leaves at 8h so usually make breakfast and read my devos in the tiny kitchen once she’s gone. breakfast has become my favorite meal of the day and I usually have quinoa with fruit, oatmeal, soy yogurt with granola or sweet potato with banana and honey (trust me, so good!). this morning I took the yogurt with granola and fruit route. I also had coffee from the nifty nespresso maker in my kitchen. I love espresso and it’s been nice to have it so handy.

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9h – I leave for class around 8h40 to 8h50 depending on if I am walking or taking the tram. the tram stop is right near my house which is nice for when it’s raining or I’m running late. my walk to class is probably one of my favorite parts of my day. I normally listen to music (lately, lots of Joni Mitchell, Bon Iver, Joshua Radin, Cœur de Pirate and Nirvana) and admire the pretty scenery. I love this old hotel I walk by on the street my class is on and there are lots of darling fruit stands and bakeries along the way too.

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10h – class time! I love my teacher! she is adorable and hilarious and really likes the way I write so I end up doing most of the work on the board which keeps me on my toes. we do lots of speaking as a class and have discussions on all kinds of topics. everyday has a theme and today’s was french television. some other interesting themes have been falling in love, blogging, applying for a job and social media.

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11h – usually around 11h, we get a break. occasionally, I’ll go to the market and get dried fruit or to the local patisserie to grab a macaron but usually I just stay in and chat with friends. my closest friends in the class are erika (my class partner from spain), stefan (from iceland), hugh (from scotland) and marsella (from brazil). today was stefans last day, which was très triste, but he may come back to class next year. or I could always visit him in iceland, which is now on the top of my list of places to go. my friend nina left the class last week to go to school in monaco and the week before that, my class partner vincent left to go back to amsterdam. it’s always so sad to see people go.

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12h – for my first month, I stayed in class for 4 hours but starting this monday, my classes went down to 2.5 hours. it’s sad because I love being in class but it also gives me more time to explore the town. here are a few pics from my walk home.

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13h – I usually end up having lunch around 13h because I often run errands or just slowly meander home after class. today, I had homemade mexican sweet potato stew. I do all my cooking at the beginning of the week so I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat during the week, much to the dismay of the woman I live with (its very uncommon in france to make your meals in bulk all at once). I’ve noticed having things preprepared also keeps me from going out to eat when I’m too tired to cook. I usually go on pinterest and read while I’m eating lunch.

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14h – today, I had a few meals to make for the rest of the week. I made pumpkin soup and pumpkin hummus because it’s pumpkin week on the meal plans I use. I swear these meal plans have been such lifesavers and have also kept my grocery bill down, which is quite a feat considering food is so expensive here. I often catch up on tv shows, listen to my church’s podcast or blast irish music while I cook. I’ve discovered that cooking is so relaxing for me and my meal prep days are some of my favorites.

16h – after I have some downtime, I do my homework, which I usually have quite a bit of. normally it’s not too taxing but I have had quite a few papers and presentations. I love doing my hw on my bed because I have a pretty view of the courtyard. I also often do my homework in coffee shops but today, I’m staying in because I want to save money and I already had a coffee this morning.

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17h – after I’m done with my homework, I usually explore the town, meet up with friends or just chill in my room. today, I went to the beach because it was overcast and I knew not many people would be there. it was so calm and pretty and peaceful. I’m not usually the biggest fan of the beach but I love the beach here because it feels so separate from the hustle and bustle of the town and it’s a great place to get away. And there’s no sand! just small little pebbles (see pic above).

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18h – I walked around the town and explored the park that just opened on Saturday. Nice seems to get prettier and prettier everyday.

19h – dinner time! the french eat dinner pretty late which is something I have been accustomed to even in america because of my years of getting home late from dance. I have also taken up the French way of eating big meals for breakfast and lunch and a small meal for dinner so I usually just have a salad or simple soup. tonight i had a simple salad with soy sauce, quinoa and chickpeas.

20h – after dinner, when i have nothing else to do, i usually read. i’ve been reading les mis lately which i am in love with! my goal is to read it in french someday. i also usually catch up on emails and fb and look at my blogroll during this time. most nights, i have things to do at the church or go out with friends but i’ve been learning to really appreciate my downtime too.

22h – for some weird reason, i go to bed really early here. last night i went to bed at 9. its probably because i wake up so early but i’m liking this schedule. so that’s a day in my life. cheers to doing it all again tomorrow and if you got to the end of this very long post, kudos to you!

In travel on
October 11, 2013

nice living

highlights of living in france so far:

1. day trips to surrounding cities. so far i’ve only been to monaco but there are so many quaint cities just a bus ride away. i’m going to the alps this weekend for a church retreat and i’m planning on going to cannes with a friend in a few weeks.

2. walking everywhere! since nice is pretty compact, i can walk almost anywhere within 20 minutes. though i do have blisters to show for it, i love walking here and admiring the beautiful people and architecture.

3. homework at fnac and emilie’s cookies.

4. eating in the old town with friends. even though old nice is the more touresty part of town, there are a lot of great places with traditional nicoise food. and i also found socca, which is my new favorite thing to eat and its usually only a few euros!

5. classes alliance français. the highlight of my day everyday is going to class. my teacher is hilarious and quirky, the class is challenging but not so much so that i’m lost and the students are all so much fun to get to know. we are all from different parts of the world which makes it extra interesting. my class partner is from sweden but he has lived in ireland most his life, one of my friends in the class is from iceland and loves sigur ros too and i think the girl who sits next to me was a russian mail order bride! other students in my class are from australia, saudi arabia, brazil, china, thailand, africa and a few other countries around the world. we joke that we have every continent represented.

6. getting settled in. nice is finally starting to feel like home. my room feels really homey and i’ve been making quite a few really nice friends from school and church.

so excited to see what the rest of this year brings because if its anything like these past couple weeks, it will be by far the best year of my life

In travel on
September 25, 2013

bonjour from nice!

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guess what? i’m finally posting! surprise! this will be my last post before closing my blog so if you want to continue to read, comment here or shoot me an email at thestardustsunrise@gmail.com (thanks to you who already have!). but i’m here! i’ve arrived! goodness this past week has been a whirlwind! getting here was quite the challenge. delayed flights, almost missed connections, lost baggage. sounds like a “worst case scenario while flying” list but i made it and i’m loving it here! it is beyond beautiful in nice. that’s probably why its called ‘nice’. ha. i’ve been exploring the city lately which is a huge deal because i usually hate going anywhere alone but it’s been good to see the places i want to go and to get some very important things done. like buying yoga mats and reading for hours in coffee shops and discovering how to order soy lattes in french. see? obviously really important things. but i have been picking up the language more and more and living with a woman who speaks hardly any english is definitely helping. i’m SO excited to start language classes and get on an actual schedule. while meandering the city is nice, everything is better when you do it with purpose. i’ve been scoping out coffee shops to do homework at and stationary stores to get school supplies at (though i’ve yet to find one like kikki k.) and i have quite a few things planned for the weekend. above are some of the things i’ve been seeing and experiencing lately. is it pretty here or what? i know i already said that but its worth saying again. if you want to follow my adventures, follow me on instagram at indiansummer6. i changed my instagram because i was hardly using the other (its a wonder why i ever had two to begin with) and wanted a more private space to post. so au revior for now and i’ll be sure to update here on a more regular basis. pinky promise.

In food, travel on
August 11, 2013

farmers market find

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i always love a good farmers market and its especially fun to find them while traveling. its fascinating to see how much the selection can vary from place to place and from time to time and i enjoy trying new things. this farmers market was particularly unusual because it was on the beach, had a beautiful wildflower selection (we bought a bundle for our hotel room) and had an adorable little family folk band. though it was small, the produce was good and the ambiance was one of a kind. this is definitely a farmers market i would like to visit again.