Paris, France

We had a very successful trip to Paris! Everything we wanted to do we did. It was so fun! 

The first day in Paris we went the the Louvre. The Louvre is ginormous! There are so many different painting, sculptures and other pieces of art that you can see. You could easily spend a whole day, or longer in there. I am not the biggest art fanatic, so I actually was very overwhelmed by how many people were there. Luckily, I was with a group that their main focus was to see the Mona Lisa and that was about it. After the Louvre we went to the Love Lock Bridge. All of us were able to put our lock on the bridge and lock away our love...even though I still have no clue to whom that will be, it was still fun to do! After the Love Lock Bridge we traveled to the Arc de Triomphe. Even though there was some construction going on on one side of the arc, it was still beautiful! Then we quickly went and bought some macaroons and went to the Eiffel Tower! Obviously I could see it while we were exploring the rest of the city during that day, but this was the first time I got to see it up close! Funny side note: While we were going to the Eiffel Tower we wanted a cool video of us standing underground as the Metro drove by and have all of our hair fly around. This sounds lame, but Mikyla was going to make a video of the trip, so we thought this would be a perfect addition to the video. We were probably standing there for a good five or six minutes and right when we heard the train come we were ready, but it definitely failed. An old man decided to stand right in front of Mikyla's camera and block all of us, then he preceded to cut us off so he could get on the train. He was completely oblivious to this all, but we got a good laugh out of it. This story might have been a "you had to be there" kind of thing. But I promise you it was hilarious. Anyway back to the Eiffel Tower... I loved the Eiffel Tower, so obviously we had a photo shoot in front of it. This was not the one and only time we went to the Eiffel Tower, we went back pretty much every night so that we could see it "sparkle". After the Eiffel Tower we had a fireside with the Paris YSA Ward. Professor Hill was the one that put this whole thing on, it was really good! Once we were done at the fireside we headed to Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur cathedral. Then at night we went and hung out by the Eiffel Tower to enjoy the sparkling lights.

The next day, we had a business meeting with Disneyland Paris to learn about the history of Euro Disney. After our business visit we were able to spend the day at Disneyland Paris. It was a different experience at Euro Disney then at the Disneyland in Anaheim that I am used to, but it was still fun! But it did rain while I was on the Autopia ride, and I was not prepared for it.. I did not have my rain jacket on me, it was with one of my friends in the car in front of me. So for about five minutes I had to enjoy the rain beating down on me during this ride. It was awesome. And I looked really good after it..

Our last day in Paris was so amazing! We were able to walk around and go shopping through the city. We were able to get crepes. Crepes are unreal. I was in love. After our pretty relaxed morning a group of us decided to jump on the train to go to Versailles. The only person from our group that did not come with us was Rachel Swendsen, I'll get to that story after Versailles. When we got to Versailles, Carly Davis and I wanted to reenact a statue, but we had to find the perfect statue. We of course needed someone to take our picture so Zoe came along with us. The only problem with us doing this was that we lost our group we were with, and we honestly had no clue where they were. This was a problem on our study abroad because once you lost someone for the day, you couldn't contact them by just texting them because none of us had a plan, so we could only communicate through wifi. But Carly, Zoe, and I decided to make the best of it and just have fun. I don't know why this came about but we decided to do jump on each other's backs and make a three person tower (don't worry we were able to capture this wonderful moment in pictures). Right as we started doing this we ran into the rest of our group, which we were totally pumped about. Once we were done at Versailles it was time to go back and meet up with Rachel. We had a specific place to meet up with her. Once we got to where we said we were going to meet, we were looking for her everywhere and could not find her! Finally after about five minutes, Rachel comes running up in a completely different outfit then when we left her. She basically went on a shopping trip by herself and got everything brand new. And by everything I mean all the way from her shoes, socks, pants, top, scarf, and even a new lipstick. She looked like she totally fit in. Her story behind it all was hilarious. One thing that we all learned from this study abroad is that Rachel is one of THE BEST story tellers ever. After meeting up with her we went back to the Eiffel Tower for one last time. Paris was amazing! One of my favorite places for sure.

Bern & Geneva Switzerland

After hiking down from Gimmewald, we hopped on the bus and went to Bern. We stayed on the temple grounds for the night, those sleeping conditions were not the best, but as always our group made the best out of our situation. That night we arrived in Bern, we were able to do temple work as a group. I love that we are able to go through different temples all around the world and the principles are all the same. It was a great experience to be able to do temple work with everyone in my group. Crazy side note, but as we were getting to the temple I saw a group of people leaving and one of the guys looked really familiar, the closer I got to him I realized it was one of my friends from college! It was so crazy how I ran into someone I knew in Switzerland..

After staying at Bern, we went to Geneva. Geneva was awesome. We were able to visit the Olympic Museum. Which I was super stoked about ever since we got the itinerary for our trip! I have an obsession with the Olympics, so I could not wait to see the history behind it all. I loved it all. There were videos that we were able to watch, and every single video gave me the chills. There were also replicas of every Olympic torch that has been carried, and it gave a description of why the torch was designed the way it was. You could say that I kind of like sports, so it was a blast going through and looking at how the Olympic games have evolved throughout the years. Oh and I touch a basketball signed by the USA Dream Team, even thought it said DO NOT TOUCH, I know I am a rebel. We spent hours in the museum and it was so amazing! I could have easily stayed longer.

After going to the museum, we went back to our hostel and there was a huge festival going on in Geneva, so we were able to explore the city. We also went to the United Nations headquarters with a group of girls. So, Switzerland was basically great. I loved it.

Interlaken & Gimmewald Switzerland

Switzerland was unreal. The ride to Switzerland was nine hours, but it didn't seem too bad when you are driving through the Swiss Alps. Interlaken was our first stop. Even though we were only in Interlaken for a total of 24 hours, we made every minute worth it. When we first got to our hostel, we had to book it over to a grocery store because it was going to close in ten minutes and we needed to buy food for dinner. Restaurants or any type of food places do not really stay open past 5:00 in Interlaken, which was a big culture shock for us. After we got all of the essentials at the grocery store, a few of us decided to go for a run around the city. It was gorgeous. I love to run. We were able to explore the city in a different way than you normally do. It was an adventure and I loved it.

The next morning, I did something I never imagined in a million years I would do. I went paragliding over the Swiss Alps! It was a spur of the moment decision. I had no time at all to think it through because if I did not sign up right then, all of the spots would have been filled. That is probably a good thing though, because then I didn't have time to psych myself out or worse call my mom and have her talk me out of it..  I even contemplated not telling her until after cause I knew she would be nervous, she worries about everything...it is kind of a Monahan thing. It was probably one of THE BEST experiences of my life. At first it was a little odd, basically we got up to the top of the mountains and my instructor set his parachute up and then threw a backpack on me and said start running. At this moment I was like...uhh...wait you have no instruction for me but to just run. So I went with it. But honestly once I was in the air my experience was amazing. It is so calming and peaceful. You honestly feel like the whole world is on pause and you can just enjoy and take in all the beauty. 

Once we got back from paragliding we had to hustle and gather up all of our stuff to go to Gimmewald. Gimmewald is this little town high up in the Swiss Alps. So we had to pack a little day pack and hike up to it. It was a steep climb and everyone was able to go at their own pace. Even though it was a little more tretcherous than expected the view once we got there was the perfect reward. Once we got to our hostel we all decided to hike further to this gorgeous waterfall. I do not think I have every walked so much in one day in my life. We hiked for probably a good ten hours, but boy was it worth it! The beauty that is all around us is breathtaking. Ever since going on this study abroad I have felt a greater appreciation for all of the wonders around us. Nature is pretty neat. 

After conquering the Alps.