the world is your oyster

being in college, all of my friends are studying abroad. if only my major let me do that, too!! so i will live vicariously through them and Samantha Brown and Anthony Bourdain on the travel channel until I am rich and famous and can travel the world at my leisure. It is through Passport to Europe where I found this delightful little town in the south of France to add to my list of places to visit.

Ens, Hautes-Pyrénées

now this is the perfect little French story-book town and i MUST see it someday. I feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast lived in a similar place. It is equipped to deal with the tourists of today, but the roads are too small for cars! for anyone who knows me, that is absolutely PERFECT. they also have their own perfume shops, how more French can you get??




Sainte Chapelle

and of course, like every other girl, i love Paris (which explains the picture behind my title). Not just because of the romantic nature of the city, but also because of the beautiful architecture and wonderful food! I was lucky enough to visit when I was very young but i need to go back! While most people are quite familiar with Notre Dame Cathedral, they seem to overlook the smaller church of Sainte Chapelle. This church was built in the 1200s to hold holy relics, like the crown of thorns. If the gothic architecture of the outside of the church is not enough to truly thrill you then the inside will be.


This beautiful church is almost entirely stained glass. It's safe to say that I am in love.

pictures hardly do this place justice! even though I was very young when I visited Paris, I remember being completely overtaken by the beauty of this church. When I was younger, my grandparents owned a glass shop in Mobile, AL, so I got to watch them work on their various projects. Perhaps that's why I am such a fan of stained glass windows. this next picture is the rose window.

gorgeous!!