Little Brothers

Sometimes I pretend Dimitri, Victor and Hugo are my brothers, because being a big sister seems a lot sweeter than being an au pair. We have a lot of fun! After one month, they seem to have taken to me rather well. By no means is every day perfect, but I'm thankful.

This past week I walked through Le Palais Royal, attended Vogue Paris' Fashion Night out, and took Dimitri and Victor to Polo de Paris (the polo club) for karate and horseback riding. I visited Elvire where she works at le Musée du Quai Branly, met with new friends at the AntiCafe, and explored le Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle. In Paris, there are always adventures awaiting curious travelers.

Things:
-Elvire referred to me as "our little chef." I was so encouraged!
-Little boys love burping and hitting each other in places that shan't be named.
-Not all the French forget deodorant, but when they do, it's bad. I nearly passed out in an elevator today. And on a bench. And on the metro.
-This is 2013. It's time to invent low-fat croissants and install non-reflective glass in museums.
-Please pray that I will have more patience with the boys.
-Please pray against my fear of making mistakes, and pray the parents continue to show grace for my repeated ones.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

2 Timothy 1:7

The president of France lives down the block from us! Too bad he's a crazy socialist.

Vogue Paris Fashion Night Out

At the Musée du Quai Branly

Beauty.

At the AntiCafe, you pay per hour and benefit from unlimited coffee, espresso, tea, cappuccinos and all sorts of snacks!

Le Jardin des Plantes

A hotel on Avenue Montaigne

An antique camera store

Courtyard of Le Palais Royal

Courtyard of Le Palais Royal

Le Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle

Get Lost

Recently I've been intentionally getting lost in the city with the hopes of stumbling upon places a local might frequent.

A vintage market in a church courtyard on a cold and overcast Sunday afternoon.

A brunch date at an authentic French restaurant that has been family-owned for over a century.

A two-story boutique with a narrow spiral staircase, stocked with chic leather jackets, winter hats, scarves and ballet flats.

This past week, Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg stayed in the room adjacent to mine, so we spent Sunday morning chatting over our bowls of fresh fruit with ginger and mint. She was delightful. Her posture, graceful; her English accent, crisp. Does it not sound wonderful? It was... after I sent the boys up to their room.

Elvire gave me an invitation to Les Vendanges, an annual celebration of the grape harvest. Couture designer stores near Avenue des Champs-Élysées (Chanel, Nina Ricci, Ferragamo, Christian Dior, Gucci, etc.) open their doors to guests and offer free-flowing wine and champagne from French wineries. I felt like a celebrity that evening! Tomorrow night I will attend Vogue Paris' Fashion Night Out; I'm looking forward to it!

Things: 

-I am far from mastering the art of bathing three young boys at once.

-Hugo takes his pacifier out to give me a kiss!

-Dimitri told Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg that before she arrived, I was looking up pictures of her online.

-The Metro smells like pee.

-Parisian women do not have butts.
-Thank you for your prayers. I have evidence every hour of every day that they are being answered and I'm so grateful!

Sunday brunch at La Salle à Manger with my new friend, Chloé.

Panthéon

Jardin du Luxembourg.

A chocolate store too tempting to pass by.

Marché aux fleurs. (Flower market)

Vintage market at Saint-Sulpice.

I love French architecture.

Les Vendanges

The weather has been cold and rainy.

Waka, Waka

Yesterday, Marina (my new friend from Germany!) ate lunch with me after we toured La Basilique du Sacré Coeur. We were casually chatting about American and German stereotypes; she imagines hamburgers and fat people, but I froze when she asked me because the first thing that came to mind were Hitler and the Nazis, so I just left it at "blonde hair and blue eyes, like you!" Crisis averted.

In other news, I climbed to the top of l'Arc de Triomphe, watched Le Tour Eiffel twinkle for two hours, was conned by an Indian man into buying an atrocious bottle of red wine, and treated myself to lunch at Le Grand Palais. I toured Musée d'Orsay, sipped on a cup Angelina's chocolat chaud (hot chocolate), and ate at Le Café Marly, supposedly home to the best Croque Madame in Paris.

This coming weekend, Elvire and Christophe are going to Normandy, so Elvire's cousin is coming to watch the boys with me.

Elvire's cousin is Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg.

Details:
-I put huile lavande (lavender oil) in Dimitri & Victor's hair before school so they won't get lice. THEY SMELL SO GOOD.
-I dreamed that I stole 50 euros from the offering plate at the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
-Victor was singing Shakira's "Waka, Waka" all morning. (Ahem, Kathryn Broussard)
-My glasses have become a lot more important; this city deserves to be seen in 20/20.
-All three boys cuddled up against me while I read The Jungle Book and Peter Pan to them! That was the best moment.
-I refer to this website often (http://parisbymouth.com/) because I lunched once at tourist trap near Notre-Dame. My five year old brother could have made the lunch I was served, if I had a five year old brother.
-I check Instagram on my computer now because I think it's using up data on my phone. Life is so hard.
-ALL of my euros were in my trash can... still trying to figure out why I threw them away.

"Table for one? Sad."   -my waiter

La Basilique du Sacré Coeur

View from the top of l'Arc de Triomphe

Le Tour Eiffel at night

Lunch at Le Grand Palais: almond crusted whiting and half-cooked New Zealand spinach served with a caper vinaigrette.

Musée d'Orsay

Angelina's famous chocolat chaud.

Croque Madame at Le Café Marly

All things French

Dimitri and Victor have started school, so needless to say I've been filling my free time with all things French.

This city is a dream. Everything about Paris is in her details: from the colorful flowers hanging off of every other window sill, to the fragrant scent of an old lady's parfum (perfume) mixed with her cigarette's smoke... I love it all.

In the past couple days, I explored Le Louvre, walked through Le Jardin des Tuileries and stumbled into Eglise Saint Augustin, Madeleine & Eglise Saint Phillipe du Roule. I might have stopped in a boulangerie or two; they are irresistible! I stood at Point Zero (center of Paris), walked across the Love Lock bridge on La Seine, ate some gelato at the renowned Berthillon, browsed Shakespeare & Co., and toured the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Details:
-The walk from my house to Berthillon was just over an hour. It was worth it.
-There were flames coming out of my hair dryer last night.
-Ever thought of how many strangers have you in the background of their pictures?
-Dimitri and Victor will not stop singing Gangnam Style.

"Your GPS has made you stupid. Learn to use a map."   -Mom

Le Louvre

Le Jardin des Tuileries

Eglise Saint Augustin

Madeleine

Eglise Saint Phillipe du Roule

Le déjeuner. (Lunch)

Le petit-déjeuner. (Breakfast)

Point Zero, the center of Paris.

Love Lock bridge on La Seine.

The best of the best gelato in Paris.

The famous Shakespeare & Co.

Notre-Dame Cathedral. Happy 850th birthday!

Foie Gross

Today we celebrated Christophe's 50th birthday with a meal prepared at the house by a close family friend, who is a chef at the culinary school across the street and at one of the best restaurants in Paris. We started with champagne, white and red wine. We ate foie gras (goose liver, ew) with fig preserves and bread, agneau (lamb) served with thyme & chive mashed potatoes and roasted cherry tomatoes. We ended the meal with several types of French fromage (cheese), salade verte (green salad), and a figue tartine (fig tart) served with a small scoop of the richest vanilla bean ice cream I've tasted. C'était magnifique! Bon appetit et bon anniversaire, Papa!

Sunday is my day off, so I walked down Les Champs-Élysées to L'Arc de Triomphe, and then back towards Le Tour Eiffel, stopping at Ladurée on the way to purchase a few macarons. Caramel à la fleur de sel, Chocolat, Café, Pétale de Rose, Noix de Coco, and Framboise (salted caramel, chocolate, coffee, rose petal, coconut, and raspberry) were my macarons of choice. I enjoyed them (yes, all six) on Le Champ de Mars, which is the lawn in front of Le Tour Eiffel.

I have blisters all over my feet, but I'd gladly deal with ten more tomorrow if it meant I was walking towards Le Tour Eiffel in pretty sandals.

A few things I'm learning the hard way:
-My teeth are going to turn brown from all of the black coffee and red wine.
-The "terrible twos" are real.
-Bath time for the boys ---> wine time for me.
-I hate tourists. I am a tourist. I hate myself.
-My stern voice isn't working. The boys will be ruled with an iron fist beginning tomorrow.

"You like Chinese person. You take picture of everysing."   -Louis

Christophe's 50th birthday lunch

L'Arc de Triomphe

Macarons from Ladurée

Le Tour Eiffel