Palm Springs, California

Back in early November, I went to Palm Springs for a bachelorette party. I flew out a little early, and stayed later than everyone else so I could get some more sightseeing in done!

Thursday, November 2

  • Tahquitz Canyon
  • Village Fest

Friday, November 3

  • Joshua Tree National Park
    • Hidden Valley
    • Keys View
    • Skull Rock
    • Cholla Cactus Garden

Saturday, November 4

  • Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Sunday, November 5

  • The Salton Sea
  • Bombay Beach
  • Salvation Mountain
  • Slab City

Monday, November 6

  • Mirage house in the desert palisades
  • Moorten Botanical Garden
  • Flew home (YES I have three out of the plane window photos. I like them all for different reasons: 1 - you can see the shadow of the plane. 2 - you can see the windmills. 3 - THE SKY.

I Followed My Stars

March 14-22 I visited Paris and London by myself. This was truly my first time traveling alone, except for when I studied abroad. I was so proud of myself for navigating the cities alone, and never once getting lost. I even helped someone get to their hotel in Paris! While I could write literally pages and pages about what I did and what happened, I won't (though I'll provide a link to it if you're interested in reading more). Here I will just outline what I did each day.

This blog is named "I Followed My Stars" because my first day in London when I met up with my friend Emily. I told her about my method of getting around the cities. I had logged into Google Maps and starred a whole bunch of things that I was interested in seeing in Paris and London. Each day, I would pick a star and figure out how to get there. From that point, I would wander to the other surrounding stars. My friend Emily called it following my stars, and I absolutely loved that phrase, so it stuck!!

 

March 16 -

  • Monmarte tour with Localers
  • Climbed and walked through Sacre Coeur
  • I followed a route that took me in a circle to see major landmarks including: The Eiffel Tower, the Trocadero, Arch De Triomphe, Champs Elysess (with detours to Pierre Hereme and Laudree for a taste test!), Place de la Concorde/Luxor Obelisk, Ponte Alexander and back to the Eiffel Tower

March 17 -

  • Climbed to the top of Notre Dame
  • Walked around the grounds of the Lovure
  • Palais Royal
  • Galerie Vivienne, Passage Joffery, and Passage de Panoramas
  • Printemps roof top cafe for the view
  • Catacombs tour with Localers

March 18 -

  • The Marias
  • Isle St. Louis and the banks of the Seine
  • Arab Institute - Beautiful building
  • San Chapelle
  • Luxembourg Gardens

March 19 -

  • Coppa Club near Tower Bridge
  • St. Dunstan's in the East
  • Leadenhall Market
  • Petticoat Lane
  • Spitalfields Market
  • Covet Garden

March 20 -

  • Walked through Kensington and Notting Hill
  • Portobello Road
  • Camden Market
  • Primark

March 21 -

  • Skygarden
  • Borough Market
  • Tate Modern
  • Millennium Bridge
  • One of my favorite walks: from Leicester Square ending at South Bank. Walk by: Trafalger Square, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Westminster, Big Ben, London Eye, South Bank, South Bank Book Market
  • Back to Leicester Square