about

     Bienvenue! My name is Rachel and I originally started this blog in the fall of 2011 to reflect my student experience abroad in Paris, France. My love for France goes way back to the summer I was 15, when my family took a trip across Europe, and despite loving everywhere I visited, Paris was the one place I could never get out of my mind. It changed my life and set me on a direction that started with learning French that fall. 

     An avid traveler and Francophile ever since that summer, I returned to the city six years later for a semester as a junior with Central College Abroad in January 2012. Once I returned from my almost five-month venture, I was one of the few people who could never quite move on and knew I had to return as soon as possible. Weighing my options, I decided that graduate school was the route for me (something I'd never given much thought to), so after graduating from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN with a B.A. in French and cross-cultural studies, I applied to the M.A. in Cultural Translation program at the American University of Paris and got in. I spent another amazing, beautiful, frustrating, and rewarding year in Paris that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
   
     Nowadays, I work in immigration law in Chicago, far away from France. I hope to keep on building an international career in translation, travel and study abroad programming, and return to expatriate life someday. I believe everyone should take any opportunity to live abroad, because it changes you more than any other kind of experience can. For me, travel is about widening our worldview, seeking knowledge and bridging cultures and Paris is the perfect place to do so. Follow me for a glimpse into my adventures at home in the Midwest, while traveling, but mainly, in Paris.

Clockwise from upper left: Pruneto vineyard, Radda in Chianti, Italy (05/12); Nea Kameni volcano, Santorini, Greece (04/12); Assisi, Italy (05/11); Apennine Mountains, Italy (05/11); Chicago, IL (11/11); Cocoa Beach, FL (12/11); Florence, Italy (05/12); Rome, Italy (05/11); New York City, NY (07/08); Amsterdam, the Netherlands (03/12); Paris, France (05/12)

All photos and maps are my own work unless otherwise credited.