L’amour est la poésie des sens.

You guessed it… EuroTrip Night 2/Day 3… Paris, France. (And Night 3/Day 4 Belgium Brussels)

La vie est une fleur dont l’amour est le miel.

Life is a flower of which love is the honey. – Victor Hugo

  
  

It was far more beautiful than I had imagined. Driving in (between naps) I had the pleasure to view the rolling green landscape of France. 

Vivre sans aimer n’est pas proprement vivre.

To live without loving is to not really live. – Molière

Every mile I fell in love. 

  
Once we got into Paris, I couldn’t believe the grandeur of all the buildings. It is very much something you must experience; photographs and history books just don’t bring it to life with due justice. 

 Le seul vrai langage au monde est un baiser.

The only true language in the world is a kiss. – Musset

  

We went to the Eiffel Tower, had Nutella Crepes, took an amazing bicycle tour, walked around Paris, had escargot, drank champagne, enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice, stumbled upon a historical reenactment, photobombed a random family photo, and just had the best time. 

 J’ai aimé jusqu’à atteindre la folie. Ce que certains appellent la folie, mais ce qui pour moi, est la seule façon d’aimer. 

I have loved to the point of madness; That which is called madness, That which to me, Is the only sensible way to love. – Françoise Sagan

  
  

 

This is absolutely one place I want to return. 

L’amour est l’emblème de l’éternité, il confond toute la notion de temps, efface toute la mémoire d’un commencement, toute la crainte d’une extrémité.

Love is the emblem of eternity; it confounds all notion of time, effaces all memory of a beginning, all fear of an end. – Madame de Staël

 
After Paris, we drove to Belgium, Brussels. There we enjoyed Belgium Beer, Belgium Chocolate, and Belgium Waffles. Nom Nom nom. 

   
  

 

Bucket List: Dine at the Eiffel Tower

Bucket List: Eat crepes in Framce

Bucket List: Drink Champagne in France

Bucket List: Eat chocolate in Belgium

Bucket List: Photobomb a strangers photo 

Keep your love on.

If you never truly invest, it is because you subconsciously fear abandonment. Fear and love have opposite agendas, and cannot coexist. 

This fear of abandonment is an insecurity that you are not enough. It is in you to cast out your insecurities, no one except you is going to make you fearless. 
  
Love takes courage; courage to be vulnerable, courage to open up, courage that even though it may hurt you gave it your all. Again and again. 

“Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.”

Sometimes love leaves, and it is not anyone’s fault. Real love is freeing, and that level of freedom can be scary.  

Do not let pain change you into something you’re not; do not let it close you up. 

“Each display of love no matter how seemingly small, is a powerful act of spiritual warfare that removes anxiety from the environment and replaces it with freedom and safety.”

Anxiety shows up in relationships, and that fear tempts you to run away. It takes courage to choose connection in the midst of fear. 

  
In the end, in this world you have control of only one thing; yourself. That’s it. Accepting that makes you incredibly powerful. 

You will come across those who do not share the same goal as connection as you, in that moment of angst, “think highly of them rather than protecting yourself from what may feel like rejection.”

More importantly, if no one told you today, you are enough. You are more than enough. You are loved. You are worthy of love. 

XoXo,

  

Photog Feature: Tim Skipper

Had the pleasure to work with Tim Skipper in Alabama. Amazing artist! Hope to get to work with him again on future projects. 

“Sometimes people don’t understand the promises they make when they make them.”

 “That’s what love is, keeping the promise anyways.”

 “My thoughts are stars I couldn’t fathom into constellations.”

 “I don’t know what I believe, Hazel. I thought being an adult meant knowing what you believe, but that has not been my experience.”

Three Countries in a Day

Euro Road Trip Day 2

Trier, Germany

Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Paris, France

We woke up early at Casa Verde Hotel, and packed our bags. We stopped by a cute bakery next to the hotel. I had a delicious ham and cheese pastry. From there we made our way down to Dom Trier and then The Black Gate. We wandered around a cute little festival, and ate German sausage. It was very cute.

After Trier, we drove to Luxembourg. It is a very tiny country between Germany and France. It appeared to be a very French-influenced country. It was gorgeous. Each place seemed to top the next place.

Our final destination for the day was Paris, France.

Three German Cities in a Day

Euro Road Trip Day 1

Frankfurt, Germany

Cologne, Germany

Trier, Germany

I got out of the airport to find that Frankfurt was on fire during a huge protest. Similar concept to our Occupy Wall Street, except they were burning police cars. The city was crawling with police cars and protestors. The city was beautiful. We stopped to have Apple Wine at The Cider House. The employee/owner there was incredibly rude, but not just to us, but any tourist. After the wine and an apple strudel, we went to see The Frankfurt Cathedral. It was very difficult to get around due to the protest, so we opted to leave early.

180 km on the Autobahn to our next destination!

After Frankfurt we made our way to Cologne. It was beautiful. Germany is everything you think Germany is supposed to look like. We walked around the Cologne Cathedral. It was gorgeous inside.

From Cologne we made our way to Trier (the oldest city in Germany). We got there late, and walked down to the shopping area by The Black Gate. We had dinner there, and had a great time. Stephanie and I ran and jumped into a fountain (don’t worry, it was empty) because it was on my bucket list. Ha.

The one thing I’ve realized is that I would really like to know the history behind all of these places I am visiting, as well as learn the language so I will appreciate the areas more.

Bucket List: Jump in a fountain