Buddy Bears in Paris

we fly to italy on sunday morning.

steve had to work today

but the kids have already started

their autumn break.

so today the two little boys

and i took a walk down to the 

eiffel tower. 

i love turning the corner

to view it.

the sight of it never gets old.

but what i love now..

is watching the faces of people

who have never seen it.

i should photograph them.

it's the coolest thing.

for the next few weeks the

United Buddy Bears 

are here in paris.

after the boys had their

traditional ride on the carousel

and a hot dog

we walked up the champs de mars

and looked at the beautiful artwork

done by artists from 140 different nations..

all in the name of peace.

here are a few..

u.s.a.!

aren't they amazing?

bon weekend mes amis!

we'll be back next weekend..

off to see venice, tuscany and rome!

p.s...a few people have emailed me saying they can't 

comment on my blog.

i noticed i had the word verification turned on..

i shut it off.

hopefully that'll work!

merci!

Ciao!

this is my new pottery barn.

 it's a bit more modern than pb

but i did have fun shopping here today.

a new friend told me about habitat.

there are a few of them around the city

and lucky for me..

there's one within walking distance.

they have a great kitchen section

and all kinds of fun accent pieces

for your home.

i bought a few pillows, throws and 

some glassware.

i think i'll be spending some time

(and money) here.

and lucky for me it's not too pricey.

i told my french friend beatrice

that i'm in the market for an 

antique desk and 

dining room table and chairs.

obviously i'll be scouring the flea markets

but beatrice told me to check out 

french ebay.

spent way too much time on french ebay today.

:)

new pillows and throws.

makes me happy.

:)

my bedside table.

it's constantly changing. 

right now i'm reading 

david McCulloughs 

the greater journey.

i love history.

and i'm loving reading about

the americans that made their way 

to paris in the early 1800's to learn

about art and medicine and literature.

the kids started their autumn break.

we've never had an autumn break before!

so we're headed to italy!

ciao!!

Hello From Paris

Shopping the Champs

on saturday

hannah and i went shopping

on the champs elysees.

i will say

that i don't walk that

street often..

even though it's only

a few minutes walk from

our flat.

it is SO crowded.

but hannah was going

to a party that evening

and the h&m on 

the champs is great.

even though it was raining

we had a fun day.

empty cafe tables..

and i take back everything i ever

said..in an earlier post..

about louis vuitton not

doing it for me.

i would gladly accept

any one of these.

especially, the leopard.

i'm obsessed with oxfords.

i should just buy a pair right?

i'm afraid i'll get blisters.

we passed this boutique on 

our walk home.

i was drawn to the wallpaper.

and so we peeked in and

i totally lost it..

oh the leopard rug on the stairs!

i think i could live here.

steve and i went to another

parent party saturday night..

this time for the 5th grade parents.

we had such a great time

and met so many wonderful people.

the woman that hosted the party

lives here.

and this is her view.

the eiffel tower sparkles 

at night at the top of each hour.

it sparkles for about 5 minutes.

can you imagine looking out

at this every night?

she had the sweetest flat.

i wanted to curl up on her couch

and read all of her coffee table books.

she told me that when they moved

to paris a year ago

she decided everywhere she went,

museums, traveling..etc...

she would buy a book.

she would also write a little 

inscription on the inside of the cover..

i told her i was stealing her idea.

and i did.

i bought a book at the eiffel tower 

gift shop on sunday

and wrote all about our day.

hopefully, we'll go back to the states

in 3 years with a whole library

of wonderful books..

and memories of our travels.

really bad pic but..

..these are our purchases from our

shopping trip on the champs.

hannah's biker chick look.

:)

i picked up this spotted dress

at h&m for 25 euro!

(about 30bucks)

i was trying to decide if i should

wear safe black tights and boots

or mustard yellow tights with my

mustard scarf.

which do you like?

From The Top of The Eiffel Tower

yesterday we went to the top 

of the eiffel tower.

we've been waiting for a clear

weekend day and yesterday

seemed like a good time as any.

i'm glad we waited a bit though..

being at the top i was able to 

recognize much more now that

we've been here a little while.

i'm really not comfortable with heights

but i knew i had to just breathe 

through it and enjoy the 

magnificent view.

i love the  buildings of paris..

but from up here they just seem

even more beautiful to me.

looking out onto the 

champs de mars towards

l'ecole militaire and montparnasse.

looking down.

oh my.

griffin has been talking about

going to the top of the 

eiffey towey for weeks..

we get up there and he wants

to go home.

not what he expected i guess.

:)

the arc de triomphe..

i think we could see our house!

trocadero

and the autumn trees.

not as vibrant as new england..

but i'm not complaining

:)

it was a beautiful day

looking down on paris..

i kept thinking..

this is our home!

and how very lucky we 

are to call paris our home.

Today Around the 16th

after being housebound for most of the week,

griffy was well enough

( and me too!)

to walk.

we walked for hours today.

i think it's one of my favorite

things about living here.

walking and soaking up this 

beautiful city.

i love all of the 

sights and sounds 

here.

(ok, maybe the constant beeping of horns

drive me a bit batty..what is it with the french

and beeping their horns? at all hours of the 

day and night.)

here are some pics from todays walk.

above is a lantern outside of my building.

statues and a playground

at the  Jardin du Ranelagh.

automne in paris.

more beautiful statues in the jardin.

headed home..

towards the eiffel tower in the 

background.

man buying grilled corn on the cob

paul & joe

pretty lavender flowers.

paris is amazing.

Today Around the Flat

griffy was up all night last night 

with a fever.

he refuses to take medicine

so we kept cool cloths on

him all night.

he's still not 100% ...

we spent the day on the couch

watching movies.

we watch the same ones

over and over again.

we don't have american tv here

which is just fine with me.

we do get CNN so we were

able to see Felix make that 

giant leap from the edge of space

on sunday.

wow.

will studying for a french test tomorrow.

the weather here this week.

i know..

lame with the photos right?

well, when you have a sick child

and a bruised tailbone..

you're not out walking the streets

of paris.

so this is what i take pictures of.

..before we moved here

we wanted to buy something to play

music to bring with us.

we've had a few of those bose type

speakers  that you plug your ipod/phone into.

but then we heard about sonos.

(no, i'm not getting paid to plug their product)

we love this thing.

we plan on buying another speaker

whenever steve travels back to the states.

i can control everything from my phone.

sound, selection, what i want next in the que.

you can move it around from room to room

and you don't have to tie up your phone 

having it plugged into it.

we can channel radio stations from

back home.

it's totally changed the way we listen 

to music.

(i should be getting paid for this!)

and last week

we had a playdate!

my new friend Nicky came over

with her sweet daughter florence.

i'm not sure if they'll be back

as griffin was a complete

nightmare while they were here.

nicky is so creative and i'm dying to 

get to her house to see her craft room!

florence brought griff some homemade

playdough and nicky made me an 

eiffel tower ornament.

how sweet is that?