Veronica Lavil

Traveling historian with a writer's heart

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Tag: Spaniard

Travel

Road Trip: Tips for the Long Car Ride

September 6, 2017December 12, 2018by Veronica Lavil4 Comments on Road Trip: Tips for the Long Car Ride
Road Trip: Tips for the Long Car Ride

One of my favorite things to do is get in a car and drive. I used to live in a small town in the states, so there wasn't much to do back in high school. When my friends and I were bored, we would get in the car, blast music from our childhood (Lizzie McGuire [...]

Picture Perfect, Travel

Photo Gallery: Turkey Run State Park – Indiana

August 22, 2017August 25, 2017by Veronica Lavil4 Comments on Photo Gallery: Turkey Run State Park – Indiana
Photo Gallery: Turkey Run State Park – Indiana

On my visit back to the United States, my family and I decided to go camping. It had been a few years since I had done such a thing. We used to do it actively back when I was younger. We had a trailer, went four-wheeling on the Oregon coast and even took a road [...]

A Foreigner in Paris

French Stereotypes : True vs. False

June 2, 2017by Veronica Lavil15 Comments on French Stereotypes : True vs. False
French Stereotypes : True vs. False

It is that time of year again: Tourist Season. I have undoubtedly been guilty of acting as the overly, loud American enthusiast of Paris. After almost three years of living in the city of lights though, I have learned how to navigate and blend in as one of the "parisiennes" (but I still have a [...]

Personal

17 Things You Might Not Know About Kikalavil

April 11, 2017March 22, 2021by Veronica LavilLeave a Comment on 17 Things You Might Not Know About Kikalavil
17 Things You Might Not Know About Kikalavil

It has been a while since I have been able to actually sit down and write a blog post. This past month has just been crazy in itself, with three consecutive trips and my university gala. I am certainly not complaining. Val de Loire was a beautiful, countryside escape, Milan was my doorway into Italy, [...]

A Foreigner in Paris

Letter to the 19 Year Old That Arrived in France

March 2, 2017April 21, 2017by Veronica Lavil2 Comments on Letter to the 19 Year Old That Arrived in France
Letter to the 19 Year Old That Arrived in France

Dear 19 year old Veronica, Hi. It's 21 year old you. You are now officially the age to be able to step foot in a bar in America (you did this past Christmas when you visited family and friends). I am writing this to tell you that you are strong. Paris has changed you. France [...]

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Veronica Lavil

Veronica Lavil

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On the eve of my departure, I had a date between the city and I. I drank red wine from a paper cup from the windowsill of my hotel as I’d done on so many evenings from my first apartment to the last. I listened to the people going on about their lives - the neighbor singing, the people on the streets with their aperitifs, the clinking of pots and pans from an open window of someone preparing their dinner… I remembered nights dancing along the sidewalks, “took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer”, of mornings watching the sunrise from Montmartre, remembering the weeks I didn’t know where I would sleep next… and it was then that I realized that I had wanted a date between myself and the 19 year-old wide-eyed child that arrived, excitedly, to the city of her childhood dreams almost 8 years ago. Paris is the place in where I became so many things I never knew I would and could become. It’s a place where I’ve danced, sang, cried and had to rebuild myself. It’s a city that haunts my past but yet shines with her magical lumière. Every time I come here, I become more at peace with her, both the city and the lost woman I was. I’ll always thank them for making me strong 🤍 It’s a complicated love affair, Paris and I, but how can you not love a place that made you into the woman that you are today? That gave you the best people who continuously show up? I’m appreciative and grateful, though this city can drive me crazy, of what I built here. Paris will always, somehow, feel like home 🤍 https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfmqUyFrV1M/ Parisian week As I sat in the courtyard of the halls I used to roam, drinking the same coffee from the cafe where I would spend hours studying (being served by strangers because those that used to work there no longer don’t - I wonder what happened to them), I couldn’t help but wonder how one place can mean so much and be so special yet at the same time be so scary. This place will always feel like home, but to another life and another woman. Though there are so many things I would turn back time on and change, I can’t help but appreciate how far I’ve come. I’ve made a beautiful life for myself and grieved the life I thought I would have. This new one is 100x better. I get to call two of the most beautiful cities in the world home. Ti amo Parigi. Je t’aime Paris. There is something about how the light hits at sunset, no? “I grew up bilingual… the bi does not stand for two but for adiós to speaking any language correctly”… and so starts my videos that I shall call #byelingual, in which I share with you the things I’m learning about the 4 languages I speak *decently*. Might as well start making fun of the stupidities I’m learning and embarrass myself on the internet. Her story changed and better days came ( 📸 @nnsiyafirsova ) May - moved into my new apartment, turned 27, danced in Torino, dipped my toes in the sea to get burned for the first time this season, and saw friends accomplish important things in their lives 🤍

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