Scotland!

This past weekend was Easter, and I decided it would be nice to be with someone from home since I can't be there. So I went to visit my friend Josh from high school, who is currently studying abroad in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was a great trip! We saw the Scottish Parliament (that's where he's working this semester), we walked up Arthur's Seat (a group of hills), visited The Edinburgh Castle, walked the Royal Mile, and then took the train into North Queensferry, a town about 20 minutes away to walk the Coastal Path. Then we went to some bars (we only stayed at 2 but we visited a couple). On Easter, we went to a very small (30 people or so) service in a gorgeous church called St. Gile's. We also ate a very traditional Scottish breakfast (haggis!!). We visited the Princess Street Gardens, the Waverly Bridge, the cemetery where the philosopher is buried, and Calton Hill. It was a packed trip but it was great! Edinburgh is gorgeous and it was a nice change of pace from Paris- very, very different!




We started by hiking up Arthur's Seat, which was lovely and gave a fantastic view of the city.























The Edinburgh Castle was interesting- very dark looking but with really beautiful parts to it.



























North Queensferry was lovely- it was the quaintest little town in which I have ever been!




































St. Giles was where we went to an early morning Easter service.






















We followed church with HAGGIS!

















Princess Street Gardens were nice and right by the Waverley Bridge (which divides the new/ old sides of the city)











The cemetery was very pretty and peaceful

















Calton Hill has a very different monuments on it, and the view from the top is great of both Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat.

Musée de L'Orangerie

The Musée de L'Orangerie is a small museum of impressionists and post-impressionists right off of the Tuilleries Garden. My favorite part was the upstairs, which was 3 rooms of these long, mural-length Monet paintings.



The downstairs was neat, too. There was a lot of Matisse stuff I liked a lot, and also some Cézanne (but I'm not a huuuge fan of his), Derain, and I think some Picasso too.

Place des Vosges

Place des Vosges is this nice little square off of the Marais. Victor Hugo lived in one of the apartments surrounding it, and it's not a museum.

Musée Rodin

I absolutely LOVED this museum! The sculptures were gorgeous, the building was gorgeous, the garden was gorgeous! Another one of my Parisian favvvvvorites!