Travelin' Tuesday - Saint Malo, France

So after Amsterdam, we took the train to Paris to begin our month long stay in the dorm for our comparative law classes. I already wrote some about that adventure, so I thought I would write about our weekend adventures from Paris!

During our big four day weekend, we went to the region of Bretagne (Brittany) to a town called St. Malo because Sebastien’s uncle lives there! It’s so beautiful & right on the water. His uncle lived a little out of the main city center, but we just took a long walk to that area to explore. The main part is a walled port city with lots of shops & restaurants to explore. The tide here changes a lot as you can see from the pictures below – the boats are just hanging out on the shore J  

 Here is a view from a pier outside of a restaurant we went to

The beach was really neat here too. We didn't go swimming because I thought it was kind of cold, but look how cool this swimming area is! The walled in part is like a swimming pool if you don't want to actually go into the ocean.

Le Mont Saint-Michel

My favorite part though was when we drove to visit Le Mont Saint-Michel - look how neat it is!

The tides here are very unpredictable too, & it is advised that people only use the causeway to get to & from the mainland. You can see the causeway here LOADED with buses & cars!

However, some crazies venture out to the sands that surround the area at low tide. I found it interesting that the flooding creates salt marsh meadows around the area where some sheep graze, & the meat of these sheep is a local specialty. It’s very different from regular meat because it's so salty. Can you see the people walking out around the island?? They are in the middle of the picture towards the right hand side. I can't believe they would walk out there! So adventurous J

The inside of Le Mont Saint-Michel is really pretty, & of course the different shops are all fun to visit. Here's what it looks like on the inside!

His family that we visited had such adorable, stereotypical French homes that I have to share! Look how perfect!

I would definitely recommend going to St Malo & also visiting Le Mont Saint-Michel because it’s just a train ride from Paris & so different from everything else!

**Travel Tidbit: The seafood in Bretagne is wonderful so be sure to try it!!

Red Mango

I was doing a little afternoon shopping in Rice Village, & since it was such a beautiful spring day, I wanted a treat for lunch! And then across the street I saw it like a beacon – Red Mango! It’s a healthy frozen yogurt place (like Berripop, Pinkberry, etc), & it’s oh so yummy!! I got the Mixed Berry Fruit Parfait (16 oz) for less than $5. It’s their all-natural nonfat frozen yogurt, organic flax seed granola, blueberries, bananas, & strawberries with only 300 calories – yes please!! 

It was a perfect blend of sweet, cold, & crunchy without making me feel guilty as I was trying on clothes J They also have a Tropical Parfait, different topping for a frozen yogurt, smoothies, & iced teas. With locations in over 19 states, find one & try a healthy treat today!

Travelin' Tuesday - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

After London, we took a train to the east side of the country where we caught a ferry over to Amsterdam. The architecture here is beautiful! This is a picture taken right when we arrived, by the train station. (Please excuse the construction)

Amsterdam is a really neat place & the layout is very different from a lot of the other countries that we visited. On the picture of the map below you can see that everything is divided by canals! 

It's really pretty, but you can tell by the picture of Sebastien with this HUGE map that we got lost a LOT. But really, what else it new??

Here’s me by a statute on one of the many canals – you can see how pretty all the buildings are lining the canals. They all have so much personality!

Below is a picture of the main strip & the main square. While we were there, they had put out a bunch of sand and were holding a soccer tournament! We watched for a little bit while listening to the different street performers – so fun!

Amsterdam has a very different culture than what we were used to, but we enjoyed it a lot! The big park is called Vondel Park. It was a lot of fun to people watch in, & I loved watching the business people riding to work on their old school bikes!

Fun things to do: While we were walking around & exploring the city, I had to stop at the cute Dutch shoes – of course J Amsterdam also has great museums that are not to be missed: the Van Gogh Museum & the Anne Frankhais (Anne Frank House).

The first hostel we stayed in was kind of far away from the city, but Sebastien had stayed there before & wanted to go again. It is called Lucky Lake. It’s a series of RVs set up together with a kitchen & bathroom area in the middle. There was a grocery pretty close by & the hostel had bikes for us to use for free! We just rode to the grocery, packed some food on the back, & made ourselves some din din. The kitchen was great because it had everything we needed & was the main social place for everyone. We met some really nice people there, but honestly I wouldn’t recommend staying at this hostel again because of the location to the city.

For the second half of our stay in Amsterdam (2 days) we stayed at 2Rooms. It’s a house where the owners have opened up – duh – 2 Rooms for travelers to rent out! It was very clean, & I liked that we only had to share the bathroom with 2 other people. It was pretty expensive for our student budget though.

**Amsterdam Travel Tip: Try and learn the language! I had so much fun trying to pronounce some of the words – check out how long this word for ticket machine is!!

Happy Travels!

In It to End It

On April 11 I got to volunteer at the Houston Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. The Walk is a 2-day event where the participants walk a marathon & a half – that’s 39.3 MILES! WOW!!  When that’s all over, they have a closing ceremony that is not to be missed. For more information on the remaining walks for 2010, and the walk next year here in Houston, visit their website.

At first I was at the finish line with pom poms cheering on the walkers as they crossed!! It was so great to see all the family & friends waiting there for the walkers with flowers & cameras & words of praise. J

Cheerleader at the Finish Line

After a while, Karyn had me move over to the t-shirt table & hand out the official t-shirts to the walkers when they finished. I loved it because I got to congratulate each person & learn a little bit about them & why they were walking. Everyone had a great story, & there were lots of hilarious team names! One of my favorites was a team t-shirt that said “Great Knockers” with two door knockers on it – so clever J Everyone was in high spirits, & I can’t wait to volunteer again next year!

Volunteering at the T-Shirt Station

 Getting Pictures with the Participants

This woman is a TWO TIME breast cancer survivor – 10 years and 3 years. So amazing J

Don't forget to visit www.thebreastcancersite.com & click everyday!! Together we can find a CURE!

Stuck Up Girls

This weekend was so busy!! On Friday I danced in my last Rockets game (sad!) & then drove to San Antonio to film a music video!!! We shot all day on Saturday, then drove back to Houston that night. On Sunday I volunteered at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer J (more on that later!)

The video was for country singer Scott Hammock’s song Stuck Up Girls – download it here or on iTunes! Scott sang at our pageant & that’s how I got in touch with him about this video. It’s a funny song & very catchy, so be careful or you’ll be singing it allll day long! It was my first experience filming, & I absolutely loved it. I was the stuck up girlfriend & the role came easily to me – HAHA. But really, it was a lot of fun. There were about 10 of us gals & some guys too. We did a “reality” portion where we were just hanging out at a bar & a “fantasy” portion as well, hence the dress change in the photos. The video will be premiering after the George Strait/Reba concert in San Antonio on May 1^st.

Here are some of the girls just waiting around while everything was getting set up

Here's a shot during the "fantasy portion"

I brought my crown & banner of course! Here I am with Scott, just goofing around J

I can’t wait to see how the video turns out!! I’ll be sure to post it as soon as I can. Now go vote for Stuck Up Girls (here) & let’s make it #1!!