Author: Turquoise Jackson

I got lost today. Somehow I ended up on the wrong bus, headed the wrong direction, and sitting at a bus stop on the side of the road. I had a real adventure today.

My plan for the day was to go into the center of Bordeaux to find a few trinkets and gifts for my family. I have finally gotten the hang of taking the bus in Bordeaux. It’s not that hard once you know the routes. I did a lot of walking, as usual when seeing Bordeaux. After taking a stroll through the streets and enduring the rainy weather, I found myself at Rue Sainte- Catherine. Rue St. Catherine is a long street that is lined with shops! It is one of the longest streets in Europe, if not the longest. I have walked the entire length and it is long! The shops range from expensive designer wear to affordable chic. After walking this street for the fourth time, I finally found a few gifts for my friends and family back home. One store in particular was amazing!

The Maisons Du Monde is a lovely home decor shop! I never noticed the shop until today. One of the things I have come to love about Rue St. Catherine is that there is something new every time you visit! In this shop I found the best gift for my grandmother! My lips are sealed on exactly what I found just in case she sees this. I also found some lovely gifts for my friends!

My gift shopping is complete. Well, almost complete. The final items on my list are edible so they will be the last thing I buy. For example, macarons, tarts, chocolates, and various pastries. I can see that packing will be another ordeal to get through. Somehow I will find room in my two suitcases!

In case anyone was wondering I made it safely back to my host family.

Finally, part 3 of my adventure at The Louvre!

After visiting the grand portrait room, me and my guide Pascal headed towards the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings. People from all over the world come to get a glimpse of the mysterious woman Leonardo Da Vinci painted. I was able to take a few pictures, but I refused to throw myself front center to get a perfect picture. People were crowded together with security everywhere. Every time I turned my head I saw a beware pickpocket sign.

The room was crowed! On the left and right are “beware pickpocket” signs. Below is as close and as clear of a shot I could get.

The Mona Lisa wasn’t the only amazing picture in the room. Although the room was crowded with people, I was able to see some of the other paintings.

I took more pictures of paintings I loved. We walked a long corridor with paintings and then entered a room with beautiful sculptures.

There were too many amazing pictures to take pictures of them all! Below are a few pictures of sculptures and beautiful architecture.

And that was The Louvre. By the time me and Pascal left it was raining again, but I had an amazing time! When entering and exiting The Louvre there were guys selling miniature Eiffel Towers. They were also at the Eiffel Tower and other tourist places. Thinking back maybe I should have got one. They were only 1 euro.

In my next post look forward to reading about my time at the vineyard or my adventures in the streets of Bordeaux!

My post about The Louvre is finally here. It seems like it has taken forever, but I am back in Bordeaux after four days in Paris and ready to tell you everything!

Before setting foot into the Louvre I wrote down what I had to see. My top 3 places I had to see was the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman room, the Egyptian Antiquities, and the sculptures. I was lucky that I was able to see my top 3 and more! We took the metro into the heart of Paris then walked. Before going in I took a few pictures outside.

Yes, it was raining but that did not stop me.

I’ve said it before but I love the architecture! It’s beautiful!

As I expected there were tons of people. I didn’t buy my ticket in advance so my french family guide showed me a quicker way to get a ticket. (Those looking to skip really long lines and bad weather this is for you) There are shops under the Louvre grounds and you can purchase tickets there. The line is usually way shorter and you don’t have to wait outside. The tickets are fairly priced at 12 Euros if you are between 18-26 years old. For 12 Euros everything is open except for special exhibitions I believe. The ticket covered everything I wanted to see, so yeah!

The inside of the Louvre is big. It’s also filled with a lot of people.

Many, many people. This post is getting long so I will start another including every piece of art I saw! I took a lot of pictures.

I still have yet to post anything about my time at The Louvre Saturday, and I will post about it! This post is about macarons! I finally tasted one and they are delicious! So good! I walked the Champs Élysées and tasted the best of macarons! The best macarons come from Laduree Paris. A beautiful place where you can sit down or if you’re in a hurry, get your macarons to go. Don’t worry, I took a picture of Laduree.

Above is the to go entrance and to the right is another entrance if you want to sit down. There were a lot of people. It was a little after three o’clock when we got there and four o’clock by the time I paid for my macarons. It was worth it! If you don’t believe me take a look for yourself!

Aren’t they beautiful? I almost don’t want to eat them…almost. You guys know I love food way too much. They even came wrapped in a beautiful box and a great bag!

I got to choose which box I wanted the macarons to go in. I chose this purple one. The bag is really nice.

In every box comes a piece of paper that lists the different flavors and a eat by date. I wanted to bring some back, but the paper says to eat within 3 days. Sorry guys.

It’s true. I was not lying when I said they have a consumed by date. I have to eat all of them asap! I also got these really yummy biscuit/jam/chocolate cookies. It’s a soft cake with strawberry jam on top and covered with chocolate! Yummy!

I wanted to buy everything today! All the food!

Before walking the Champs Elysées, we went to grand magasin. Basically a really big mall. There were 7 floors of designer brands and all of it was womens!  The entire building was just for women! It was heaven! One floor was dedicated to shoes. Just shoes! Today I touched a Jimmy choo! It was amazing! I wanted to buy a pair of nude studded Jimmy Choo’s,but had to walk away because school is more important.

Another floor consisted entirely of makeup and two floors were clothes. I did take a picture of the beautiful ceiling.

Everything is beautiful in Paris. The architecture of Paris is like no other. After the shopping and macarons I walked the streets by myself as my guide was tired. I saw the Arc de Triomphe and took a few pictures.

We’re waiting for the light. Below is a picture withe the Arc de Triomphe at my back.

I browsed through a few stores and enjoyed the Paris atmosphere. It wasn’t long before hunger drove me away.

Salut!

After spending a week at my host family’s beach house, today we arrived at their home in Le Bouscat. Le Bouscat is one of the towns right outside the main city of Bordeaux. The house is beautiful! And my room is pretty amazing too.

It’s nice right?

I have official been in France for a week and time is going by fast. Before I know it I will be back in the States and missing the french cuisine. The food is really good. I mean really good! I’ll post about the food later because it deserves a post dedicated to itself.

A week has gone by and I realized how much my french skills are lacking. I am thankful for the knowledge that I do possess, but I have so much more to learn. When I first arrived in France I could barely understand anything being said to me. After a day or so when the jet lag wore off and the shock of being in a different country faded, my ancient high school and college french came rushing back. I could understand simple phrases and questions when asked slowly. I find it easier to read a question and answer than to listen and answer. I guess it just takes time to become familiar with the sound of the french language. By being part of a french family I am surrounded by the language. I still have to whip out my dictionary though.

On another note, I will be going to Paris in about two weeks! That means  all the macrons I can buy! I have yet to buy any yet,but I did have an amazing pizza!