Total Frenchification.

Paris and CERN. Within 10 days of each other. I think I might've died and went to French-y heaven. They even speak French in Geneva! Who knew?

Having wanted to study astronomy/astrophysics before I came to Emory, seeing the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was definitely something I could check off my bucketlist. I was invited by my friend from high school who is in the DAAD program to join her and a group of other RISE scholars on a tour of CERN. In fact, they only give tours to groups, but it's 100% free! (all that much better b/c Switzerland is THE most expensive place. ever. To give you a sense of exactly how crazy pricey things are over there, a tall Starbucks frappucino over there costs more than 7 Swiss Francs, which is about $7.50. Home sweet America.)

Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) - small but importnat part of the LHC at CERN.

The water in Geneva is so clear that you can see the swans' feet when they swim!

 Fun fact: The Evian spring is located in the mountains not far from Geneva. My PI's told me on our hike through the Alps that visitors are allowed to bring their own bottles and fill up with Evian water at the springs!

Kelly, me, Ximin, and Peyton in front of the huge fountain in the center of Geneva.

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I knew I wouldn't be able leave France without seeing beautiful Paris, so two weekends ago, I hopped on a TGV (high speed train) and found myself in the heart of this beautiful city. I even got to stay in a hostel next to the Louvre. (Louvre Youth Hostel, highly recommend it!)

Talented Parisian street musician.

Who knew being in the front row of rock concerts would prepare me for this?

Panoramic view of the Louvre on our last day in Paris.

Not to be cliché, but my favorite place in Paris has got to be the Eiffel Tower. Perhaps it's the sense of wonder at what scientists can really accomplish so ahead of their time (did you know that the Tour Eiffel was built by engineers who actually worked up there? or that cosmic radiation was discovered there?). Or maybe it's the wonderful sense of accomplishment of scaling 700 mighty steps to the 2ème étage (it's too bad they don't let you climb all the way up though). In the least, the Champ de Mars makes the perfect Frenchy photo op, no instagram-ing needed.

Paris je t'aime!

But alas, how could I go to Paris without trying macaroons at LaDurée? Of course, they make dozens of other kinds of pâtisseries, but it was impossible to take another bite after trying 8 different flavors of macaroons!

Pistachio (far right) was my favorite.

This one's for Dr. Roesch! I need someone to try them with next time I go =)

I could spend days telling you about our adventures in Paris, but the best way would just be to ask me when I come back to the states in 3 weeks! From cheese-tasting to the gardens of Versailles, Paris is easily my favorite place in Europe so far. And I'm not just saying that b/c I'm in France right now.

It was so hard to bid adieu, but I will actually be transferring trains in Paris on my way to the ferry port to England tomorrow so stay tuned!