Photo Lovin' Friday: Paris!

Meet Becky! I've known her for almost 16 years now and for the last few years or so, I've been living vicariously through her. The girl freaking loves to travel. I'm convinced that she's going to live abroad forever and never come back to the States for any extended amount of time. But anyway, back to living vicariously through her. She's currently living in Paris & today's Photo Lovin' Friday is brought to you by Becky:

Bonjour à tous from the City of Lights!

The fun thing about having grown up with Chesson {to the point where I often refer to her to those not-in-the-know as my non-biological older sister} is that many of you reading this post right now may have actually met me at some point in the past, or at the very least I might have heard of you from Chesson’s stories of school, work, and whatever other crazy nonsense she gets up to.

For those of you who don’t fall in that category however, allow me to briefly introduce myself! My name is Becky, and like I said… I virtually grew up with Chesson. She was my next-door neighbor for a long number of years {6 maybe?} and was at my house nearly every day, and even after she moved away our families stayed in touch and visits were arranged every year or so {slightly more sparse as she, my sister and I grew up and did that whole college-to-real-world transition, however}. It’s been a particularly long time since I’ve seen her, however, because I have been on the move, my friends. I knocked out a couple of study abroad opportunities while I was in college, and have now settled into Paris, France for the remainder of the French school year, where I will be an assistant English teacher.

This works out particularly well for Chesson, because I happen to love bringing my camera along wherever I go. I occasionally post mountains of photos to my facebook, and select favorites go to my own blog, beckygoesabroad.wordpress.com. So today I’m going to take you on a quick jaunt through some of the sights I’ve seen in Paris since my arrival!

First up, the Sacre Coeur church, which I had intended to visit, but actually just stumbled upon during a walk one day in the area near the hostel where I stayed while finding housing. This church is one of my favorites simply because one gets tired of seeing your typical, pointy Catholic churches after a while…this is a refreshing and somewhat exotic look for France that I’m fond up!

The only tourist place I have made a destination of so far has actually been the Notre Dame Cathedral-partly because I stumbled upon it on a walk and knew where it was to go visit.  The cathedral has beautiful architecture with sky-high arches, incredible stained glass, and faith-inspiring artwork decorating every alcove. But personally my favorite aspect of the church was the effect of many chandeliers and candles lighting the darker spaces with a warm, golden glow.

{Chesson Interruption: this is exactly what the inside of Hogwarts always looked like in my head. Now I want to got to Paris & see this!}

That being said, however, even I can’t fail to appreciate the marvel that is these stained glass windows. Amazing colors!

Although I didn’t go up the stairs or elevator this time, I did plan a walk to take me by the Eiffel Tower one evening right at sunset. The area is so peaceful, and that evening the long lawn was covered in friends, families, and couples having picnics and enjoying the weather. The tower itself is impressive and intricate, but to be honest I felt a little neutral seeing it in person after seeing it in million times in photos all my life.

As soon as the sun went down I immediately revoked that last sentiment. Across the river lies a little carousel, and when it was aglow with the Eiffel Tower in the background, I finally understood the world’s obsession with that structure. Then the lights on the tower itself turned on, including some sparkling lights that danced all up and down the tower and reflected on the river. Rather enchanting. 

And thus are my adventures in Paris so far!

{Don't forget to check out any other Photo Lovin' Friday's you may have missed here & GO TIGERS! BEAT SYRACUSE!}