October in Paris

The Eiffel Tower! Carousels! Notre Dame! Carousels! The Musee D'Orsay! Carousels! These are some of the highlights of a trip to Paris with Pascale and Josephine. They definitely had a good time and they both agreed that we should go back there.

Pascale enjoyed the trip to Paris. She really wanted to go there because she learns about Paris in her French classes at school. She got to practice her French a bit while we were there. She speaks better than I would have thought. Josephine enjoyed it too, I guess, but at 2, she's completely unaware of travel. When we got home and were wiped out from the trip, she was watching Little Einsteins. When they showed the Eiffel Tower on the screen, she said to Bernie, "Will you take me there?" I wonder what she thinks we're doing when we queue for immigration and security and get on the train and sit there for a couple of hours. Does she think we're just tormenting her?

We stayed at a hotel just across from the Tuileries, where they have the crucial carousel and pony rides. It was wonderful to go there and hang out where the kids could have some fun.

I did manage to get to some shops that I really wanted to see. One was La Droguerie, which is mostly a knitting shop, but they sell lots of findings for jewelry making, beads, buttons, etc. I've sometimes thought about taking up spinning, and they had a nice selection of roving there. It's the first time I've seen roving in person. Everything in the shop was beautifully arranged (they are French, after all), but the queue to get someone to help you get at the stuff you need was like half an hour long. The employees simply would not be rushed (they are French, after all). Anyway, it's a wonderful shop and if you're into that kind of thing, I would highly recommend it. And, sort of randomly, I ran into my friend Nina from the US there. The other shop I went to is Tissues Reine. I'm sure you remember it from the Project Runway episode. They had some great stuff, and, again, very nicely arranged. Most of the fabric shops where I shop are to-the-trade sorts of places, and they're a mess. It was a pleasure to shop somewhere well-lit and nicely arranged. Also at Tissues Reine they had these half-size mannequins wearing clothes made from the fabrics in the shop. They were a little creepy and very chic.

But here's what you've been waiting for. The photos!


This is a really flattering picture of me. Jackie O had the right idea, wearing big sunglasses all the time.



The Tuileries Gardens. That's the Louvre in the far background. We did not quite make it there, so we'll have to go there next time.



I love this pic of Pascale



At the top (or maybe the 2ieme etage) of the Eiffel Tower



Near Notre Dame



Taking a rest



Bernie pretending he's a statue.



They "Horray I'm in Paris!" dance



The bit that they're sitting in spins around when you turn that blue disc in the middle. Some older kids could really make it fly.



A playground right outside Notre Dame. It's nice to let the kids blow off some steam while you're touring around



Penguin Pastries



The pony rides were almost as big a hit as the carousels.



Montmartre has a double-decker carousel!




A Playground near Sacre Coeur



The gelateria at Galleries Lafayette shapes your ice cream into a flower shape!!!



Of all the art installations in the Tuileries (and there are many), this was the biggest hit. It's a house made of dark wood, with chalk provided to write on it with.



Musee D'Orsay



There's a diorama of Paris under a glass floor at the Musee D'Orsay. The kids went wild for it.



Josephine just loves sculpture, and her favorite sculptural theme is mommies and babies.



On the Eurostar on the way home

Trip to A and E

We had our first-ever family trip to the Emergency Room this week. Josephine was climbing on a little table that we keep in the hallway. The table fell while she was midway up, and it hit her in the forehead, causing profuse bleeding. The doctor glued the cut closed and it's looking much better now. Hopefully, Josephine has learned her lesson. Pascale had a great story to tell her friends at school the next day.


Bernie took the girls to Gambado. Pascale is very skilled at driving her bumper car.


At Kew Gardens. Pascale made that necklace she's wearing. She did an excellent job arranging the beads symmetrically.


No blog entry is complete without a pic of Josephine climbing.


Josephine arranges her friends on the sofa.


Josephine after the emergency room trip. The cut is glued shut.


Last Friday, Pascale's school had Fancy Dress Day. This is the school principal.

The motorcycle ride

Pre-Haloween Festivities

The weather has been gorgeous this week in London. We're really lucky. I took the girls to Tower Bridge today to try to get a Christmas card photo, and I think I nailed it. I wanted a have a London landmark in the photo. It does not look all that Christmasy, though, because it's all warm and sunny out. After they were good sports about the photo, I bought them ice cream.

Pascale has taken some of the things they do in school and brought them home. She especially likes to do the register, where she holds a book and calls everyone's name and we have to say, "Yes Miss Pascale." Then we get a sticker. Now, Josephine has started doing it, too. It's so cute when she says, "Claudine!" "Bernie!"

I went to the Twisted Thread sewing expo at Alexandra Palace in North London yesterday. It was a huge event and I had a great time. They had vendors selling every kind of sewing and knitting supply imaginable. I bought several kinds of silk embroidery thread, including Japanese flat silk, which I have only read about. I can't wait to try them. Alexandra Palace is on a hill with a nice view of central London. I don't usually think of London as having a skyline, but it really does. I didn't take photos, though, because I would have been shooting into the sun.



Bernie took the girls to a Halloween party yesterday, where they had face painters (imagine that)!


A multimedia (watercolor and crayon) creation by Pascale


We got a new dishwasher


Rebecca came over for a birthday dinner


Trashing the House




This is quite impressive




The playground

Dessert Heaven

The dessert that says London to me is the macaroon. Perhaps it's really French, but I discovered it in London. They have them at the 2 bakeries near me, Maison Blanc and Patisserie Paul, and they are wonderful. Like eating clouds. But this week, I was walking by Laduree, which is famous for its macaroons. They had an amazing selection of flavors, including LICORICE. It was like eating a licorice cloud. Really, a life-changing experience.

Josephine has developed a knack for saying exactly the right thing. She certainly does not get that from me. Bernie came home a couple of weeks ago with this Cinderella Polly Pocket thing, and Josephine opened it and said, "It's just what I wanted!" Then the other day, I was yelling at her for something and she said, "I'm so sorry, Mommy," in a really sincere tone of voice. I totally melted and basically said she can do whatever she wants whenever she wants and I will never yell at her again.

Quote of the week from Pascale: "I'm going to stay in Hotel Big Massive Huge."

The weather has been getting chillier, but we still try to get to the playground after school every day that it's not raining. Now that Pascale has started at her new school, she seems to know every second kid there. They are all either kids from her old preschool or her new school. It's so much fun to watch her run around talking to everyone.



Josephine climbs up here herself.


Monkey Girl


Pascale's amazing work of art


Bernie took the kids to the Diana Playground yesterday. He met a friend from work and his son.


Doesn't it look like they're on a date?


Both girls love these popup books that stand up when you open them out.


At the Victoria and Albert Museum. Notice Pascale's shoes.