My favourite thing in the whole wide world.....

....Receiving post.
I have been a little under the weather for a few days now, and as a result, a bit of a grouch.
However, this morning, the wonderful man from 'La Poste' arrived with THREE letters from home! I was so excited I could have hugged him. But he's old. And French.
I have been ever so lucky with post. My wonderful friends and family are pretty slick on the snail mail front and I have received letters, cards, postcards, drawings, photos, jewellery, a 'LOL' door sign (thanks Roz), cupcake patterned tissues and even one of my favourite books....

Delightful.

However, one of my least favourite things in the world......?
Today, Tiphaine decided we needed a new pet and so 'Peeko le petit escargot' moved into our home. Why yes, we now have a pet snail that lives on the windowsill in the girlies room.

Not so delightful.

The little monster....

You would think coming home and finding someone in your bed would be a good thing.... Apparently not.

Ashleigh's Birthday..

Monday was Ashleigh's actual birthday, and although we were all working until lateish we didn't want her to miss out on celebrations, and of course we didn't want to pass up a chance to get out on a school night!
So at 9, we all dragged ourselves out and met at a favourite restaurant of ours near the Eiffel tower for some dinner.

Now, no birthday is complete without some of Monoprix's finest 5 euro Champagne, so as a little surprise we took her over to the tower at bang on 11 to catch the tower sparkle and as it glittered we popped off the Champagne cork. Superb.

A wonderful night was had by all!

Le Printemps.

Being my penultimate weekend in Paris, and of course Ashleigh's birthday weekend, we wanted to make it a good'n. Poor Maggie was sick, but she came along anyways. A real trooper.
After the longest of weeks, Saturday finally arrived. Bright and early, I headed out to meet the girls to check out the Eglise de la Madeleine and Place Vendome - the chic area where the Ritz is located along with the Prada's, Gucci's and Dior's - Yes I felt like scum. However, historically speaking it is also the place where Napoleon married Joesphine all the way back in 1796, so we figured it was worth a look. Nest stop the Musee de Parfum for a little guided tour and to the highlight of the day.... a little boatride down the Seine. Cracking.
Being the Grandma that I am, I decided this was enough excitement for one day and dragged my tired ass home in preparation for Sunday's hot air balloon ride. Yes that's right, we took a hot air balloon.

Ashleigh had decided she wanted to do a little picnic on the Champs de Mars for her Birthday, so Ashleigh, Maggie, Charlotte and I headed over to the Eiffel Tower, stopping off a little boulangerie for a cake... or two. Yum.

Now dear Maggie, as well as being a wonderful person is also a top notch chef and so Ashleigh and I took full advantage and talked her into cooking us dinner at her apartment. And that she did. A full on 3 course meal, salad, wine, the lot.

A fantastic end to a fantastic weekend.

Now for tonight, Ashleigh's real Birthday. More food and more wine.

Happy Birthday Ashleigh!

The beginning....

It's a very good place to start.

After a long night on thefloor of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the wheels of my plane finally hit French soil at Charles de Gaulle on the 2nd January 2011. Tired, cold and hungry I made my way to the Ramin’s house in Paris - my new home. A sales rep and an English teacher, Alex and Muriel have been nothing but welcoming and I feel as though I have slotted in nicely as an additional family member.

But what about the kids…?

Solene, the oldest of the three is the creative and artist one and often spends her time drawing. But don’t let that fool you. She attends theatre class and as a result, she is one big drama queen and no story can be told without a dramatic reenactment.

Tiphaine, my curly haired hippy, can often be found in the garden holding a funeral for a dead beetle or be found with a mutlicoloured headband strapped to her head playing air-guitar and singing her own little songs. A real character.

And Yann, my little charmer and child genious. At the tender age of 15 months can say a range of words in English and French including ‘banana’, ‘du beurre’, ’shoes’, ‘pas bon’ and ‘Kerry’. And a real lover of Old MacDonald and his farm…..

“In Paris, one is always reminded of being a foreigner. If you park your car wrong, it is not the fact that it’s on the sidewalk that matters, but the fact that you speak with an accent.” Roman Polanski.

Finally....

OK, so yes I have been living in Paris now for nearly three months and I have only just started a blog, but I figure that as my three close friends from home have abandoned Facebook this could be the way to inform EVERYONE, at the same time, exactly what I have been doing.
So a recap…
Why am I in Paris?
With a desire to see as much of Europe as possible and pick up a language or two on the way, I figured I need to work my way around. Literally work. And so I have started life as an au pair in Paris.
I am currently on month 3 in Paris and to give a full update would be exhausting and so a list of the highlights;

• Of course, the Eiffel Tower. At night. In full sparkle. At the top. On an ice rink.
• The Louvre. But more so the Musee de la mode. A fashion museum that forms part of the Louvre.
• Chinese New Year in the Chinese District.
• Montmatre at sunset with a sorbet in my hand.
• Le Marais - The shops, the streets and the food.
• Breakfast in America. Our regular brunch haunt. No, it’s not traditionally French but oh yes it is good.
• Musee d’Orsay
• Musee du Quai Branley
• A day trip to Chartes.
• My Birthday.
• A visit from Fran.
• A weekend in Versailles.
• The oceanosaures 3D show at the Geode. More so the 3D Haribo advert with the floating marshmellows.
• The Catacombes.
• The Henri Huet Photography Exhibition at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie.
• My romantic weekend in Brussels with Maggie.

It’s safe to say I have done a fair amount of sightseeing in Paris with my two like minded, museum loving friends.

                                                                         Versailles.