Nature Calling

Because sometimes I just like to go into random wooded areas and take photos of leaves.

Welcome to Georgia

I've spent the last few days down in Georgia, and I have to admit it's a nice change of scenery considering the fact that I've been living in major cities for the past few weeks. I love being surrounded by nature. In fact, on my second day here, I spotted a herd of deer in my friend's backyard!! How does that even happen!?

The Vampire Diaries (one of my favorite tv shows) actually films in a town nearby, so we took a tour of some of the show's locations last week. It was so interesting to hear all about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into producing the show i.e. having to change the script when a location becomes unavailable, keeping fans from seeing major show spoilers during filming, dressing up the town's main square and store displays with props, etc etc. For any other Vampire Diaries fans, check out Mystic Falls Tours if you're ever in the area :)

Random anecdote: I also got to experience some Southern hospitality yesterday when a worker at Jaemor Farms gave me a free extra blueberry pie. She said that it had partially crumbled so she couldn't sell it anymore. I love little acts of kindness like that! It totally made my day and on top of that, the pie was delicious!!

New York Snapshots

To be honest, I didn't take a ton of photos while I was in New York. I've kind of hit that point in my travels where I'd just rather just leave my camera at home (shocker, I know!). I spent a lot of time wandering around Central Park on this trip, either jogging around the reservoir or reading books on random park benches. It was time well spent :)

Brooklyn Flea

Desserts of Paris

So full disclosure, I'm actually writing this post from an apartment in New York. I left Paris yesterday and I already miss it so much! I still have more photos to post so there'll be more on that later. Anyways, you didn't think that I'd fly all the way out to Paris and not create some sort of extended dessert post, did you? Oh ye of little faith! Here are some of the amazing desserts that I tried during my stay:

Mi-Cuit 

Chocolate cake on the outside, half-baked batter on the inside. Heaven all the way around.

Paris-Brest

A choux pastry filled with praline cream. I wasn't sure if I'd like this one, but the praline filling kind of reminded me of peanut butter. Very yummy!

Macarons

You already know what these are. Plus, who goes to Paris and doesn't try a macaron or two...or ten?

Chocolate Tart

I swear, every dessert in Paris contains some sort of chocolate filling. I may have purchased more than one of these during my stay haha.

Millefeuille

Layers of puff pastry and custard goodness. This dessert is very messy to eat, but it's totally worth it!

London: Daunt Books

Another great find thanks to Kinfolk! I really needed a new book for my upcoming flight back to the US and there aren't exactly a ton of English bookstores in Paris. Thank goodness I found out about Daunt Books before heading to London this past Saturday! It was so nice to peruse through a physical bookstore. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the inside of Daunt Books is highly photogenic. Check out those skylights and wooden balconies!!

Postcards from London

I took a train ride over to London this past Saturday! I only had nine hours in the city, but I saw a ridiculous amount of tourist sites in that time frame! Plus, I learned that the London tube system is so much better than the Paris metro! The trains are cleaner, more spacious, easier to use (the direction of the train and upcoming stops are all announced ahead of time), and they have a ventilation system! I could go on and on.

Anyways, out of everything I saw, I think that my two favorite activities were walking through St. James Park (which was covered in fall-colored leaves) and strolling along the River Thames up to the Tower of London. The bonus was that I had time to stop by Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross (yay Harry Potter!).

I didn't include photographs of everything, but this was my complete itinerary: Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Westminster Abbey (didn't go inside), St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Horse Guards, Trafalgar Square, National Portrait Gallery, Convent Garden, London Bridge, Tower of London (didn't go inside), Tower Bridge, Daunt Books, and King's Cross

And for the very first time, I edited a video without the help of any additional programs! Enjoy!

Of Fairs and Food

I had no idea that there was going to be some sort of artisinal food fair up at the Sacré-Coeur today, but I'm really glad that I didn't miss it! There were rows of stands selling everything from cheese and champagne to foie gras. Today was also my first time venturing inside of the Sacré-Coeur, which is crazy considering the fact that I live right by it! Anyways, I'm taking a couple of exciting day trips out of the city this week. I'll be posting more photos soon!