europe//french countryside

ORLEANS

as much as i loved doing all the tourist-y stuff in paris, it was also nice to escape to the french countryside. we stayed the night with krace's cousin and her family. she lives about two hours outside of paris and has the cutest little girls! she made us dinner and we ate outside underneath an umbrella while the rain clouds floated above us without sharing a single drop. her little girls entertained us by singing songs in french and english. it was one of my most favorite memories of the entire trip. the next morning krace's uncle took us to a chateau and showed us around his hometown, orleans.

and this concludes our trip to europe. i hope we can make it back sometime. as fun and adventurous as it was, there is nothing quite like coming home. especially after two and a half weeks. and a ten hour plane ride.

europe//paris

NOTRE DAME

VERSAILLES

LOUVRE


we spent the next day doing the major sightseeing. most of the day was spent at the palace of versailles. but we also went to notre dame and the louvre. luckily we had krace's uncle to chauffeur us around this time. krace's uncle has lived in france for years.
i really wish we would've had more time in paris. i would love to go back. but next time, no rental car or driving. we'll take public transportation.

europe//eiffel tower

we arrived at the charles de gaulle airport in paris in the evening. after picking up our rental car and getting a bite to eat we made the big mistake of deciding we were going to try to find our way to the eiffel tower. our attempt to avoid the arc de triomphe was unsuccessful. i just closed my eyes and prayed. there were no lines. no boundaries. and, from what it seemed like, no rules. just entry and exit points. i think there were twelve streets leading into this enormous roundabout. andy somehow made it through and we arrived at the eiffel tower, safe and sound, right around midnight.



ps french drivers are crazy!

europe//budapest

budapest surprised me. it really did. i fell in love with that city. andy and i both did. we didn't get there until nighttime so us girls went to the apartment to go to sleep while the boys went and explored the city. the next morning we stopped at the great market hall first thing. andy got a nutella crepe and i got a cheese pizza. both were delish. then we headed to the thermal baths on foot. the baths were further away than we realized but we did get to see a lot of the city this way. i didn't get into the hot baths due to the pregnancy factor, but i enjoyed laying out and getting a pedicure.
taylor and melody left to the airport super early the next morning while krace, kelsey, andy and i made a trip to the great market hall again as soon as it opened for breakfast. scones, crepes and pizza...yum! we crossed the danube and spent the rest of the day exploring castle hill on the buda side of the city. did you know that budapest is actually two different cities (buda and pest) that were united together years ago to become one city? and the danube river splits the two sides? maybe i was the only one that didn't know that. anyway, i loved castle hill. we stayed there until we had to catch a cab to the airport to get ready to board our flight for the last leg of the journey...paris!