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Easter in Paris

09 Apr 2012
France, Holidays, Personal, Tidepooler in Paris
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Happy Easter! Did you have a nice one? Ours was sensational! It started with chocolate bunnies and ended with champagne. Here’s a little peek at our day.

Notre Dame Cathedral. What were we thinking? Easter mass at the most famous church in the world on one of the most important Catholic holidays means lots and lots of people. We made it through the door with Elodie asleep in her stroller, didn’t even attempt to take a seat in the congregation, instead slowly crept our way along with the throngs of visitors past the little side chapels to the back of the church where it was actually quite pleasant. There’s a really pretty chapel in the way back of the cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows and art nouveau wall motifs. It was peaceful back there and there was lots of space and we were able to sit and listen to the choir. After mass we escaped through a side exit and headed across the river for a yummy lunch of hamburgers and cokes.

Jardin des Plantes. This beautiful garden in the 5th arrondissement was abloom in poppies, lilacs, and cherry blossoms. So pretty. An hour early for the Easter egg hunt, we strolled around the gardens and watched the bees pollinating the poppies. There’s also a museum of natural history, a museum of paleontology, a zoo, and a restaurant there. I got a tea at the garden kiosk while we waited for the festivities to begin.

The Easter Egg Hunt. It was chaotic but fun. Look at all those kids! The adults were just throwing the chocolate eggs on the ground every so often in front of the little ones. I was a bit overwhelmed, but Elodie had a blast. We saw a bunch of our anglophone friends there too.

Easter Girls. This is one of my favorite shots from the day. Two girls and two daddies. Look at their Easter baskets. Aren’t they so cute? They’re miniature French market baskets. I was so excited to find them at a beautiful children’s store on rue JP Timbaud in the 11th, not far from our house, so I picked one up for Elodie and her best friend Dayze.

On our walk home, Elodie was so worn out from all the Easter fun she conked out in the stroller, leaving mom and dad free to sit at an outdoor cafe and drink champagne! I forgot to take a picture, but we had a really nice table overlooking the canal at a place called La Marine right down the street from our house. It was delightful! I can’t wait for next Easter so we can do it all over again!

 

Springtime in Paris

15 Mar 2012
Tidepooler in Paris
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It’s the most beautiful day in Paris yet! So I’ve got my window open. Elodie’s out with her babysitter and I’m sitting here by the open window with my laptop in my lap. Later today we’re going to meet friends at the cafe. Oh I just love springtime in Paris!

Outside My Window

06 Mar 2012
Tidepooler in Paris
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Before spring arrives and winter is just a distant memory, I thought I’d share these photos of the Canal Saint Martin. I took these a few weeks ago when it was so icy cold outside.

The best thing about our apartment is the single living room window. It looks out over the canal, and the street below, and the beautiful Paris apartment buildings across the way. We spend lots of time here watching the seagulls and the ducks and the teenagers and the doggies out on their walks. And every once in a while we catch a glimpse of a great big canal boat slowly drifting by. The one pictured above was actually breaking through the ice as it plied its course. You can see how excited the crowd was chasing after it and snapping photos. Lucky us, we got to watch it from inside our warm apartment.

Oh view, how I love you.

Little Paris Discoveries: Dana Cojbuc, Photographer

05 Mar 2012
Art, France, Photography, Tidepooler in Paris
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I was walking around my neighborhood the other day when a grouping of black and white photographs caught my eye. I was on Rue Sainte Marthe in the 10th arrondissement, pushing the stroller up the incline past all these little colorful, closed storefronts, restaurants, and artist studios. The photographs were displayed in a wide window on street level for pedestrians to admire as they passed. Taken by the Romanian photographer Dana Cojbuc, the images are remakes of old photos from the 1950s – 1980s.

I love this sort of thing. The way it reflects on the passage of time, and change, and growing old, or staying the same. I imagine the families in the photos all living life together in their little Romanian village. I wonder how their lifestyles changed in the 20 to 50 years since the originals were taken.

You don’t have to be in Paris to see the rest of Dana Cojbuc’s photos. Just go to her website and click on the “Remake” series. Which one do you like the best?

Paris Style: Rocking the Fox

11 Feb 2012
Tidepooler in Paris, Uncategorized
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It has been fa-reezing here in Paris, hovering just below zero degrees celsius for the past couple weeks or so. So I did what any person in their right mind would do and bought a fur coat. I don’t know what kind of fur it is, since I didn’t understand the word the man at the thrift store said, but all I know is that it’s “better than rabbit.” Don’t worry little bunnies, you make very nice fur coats too. It could be fox, but I’m pretty sure the word for “fox” is “renard,” and he didn’t say that. As a former vegetarian with a history siding with anti-fur activists, I’m having a slightly hard time reconciling my new daily article of clothing. Well, not really. Maybe a little bit. But not enough to put it on every single day before I head outside into the frigid air! Plus, lots of Parisians wear fur coats. And conformity is the thing here. I’m just trying to fit in. Isn’t everyone? I think I look pretty cool to be honest with you.

Treasure Hunting in Paris

29 Jan 2012
Tidepooler in Paris
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Here’s a little peek at a few of the treasures I’ve picked up over the last few weeks in Paris.

Teapot 1: 6 euros

Teapot 2: 5 euros

Tea cup: 3 euros

2 blue bowls: 4 euros

Five forks, four spoons: 18 euros

Mirror: 10 euros

In Paris, flea markets are called “brocantes” and they’re held in various places around the city on any given weekend. If you’re coming to Paris and want to know where and when the good brocantes are, check brocabrac.fr.

The first one I went to was right in the heart of the city, near all the big “Grand Maison” department stores and close to the Tuleries. Its prices matched its fancy setting. Out of curiosity I asked a carpet dealer about the price of one Persian beauty. He commended me on my eye, pulled it down, spread it across the table and unleashed a flurry of French that included the word “mille,” which for you non francophones means “thousand.”

The next guy was selling a trove of the most gorgeous antique mirrors ever. I pushed the baby carriage gingerly around their gilded frames and tried not to make eye contact.

Disheartened by this ultra posh marché, and rather dismayed about my prospects for picking up a few French treasures during my year in Paris (I had visions of flying to Berlin with an empty suitcase on flea market day, or else training it across the Belgian border to see what kinds of deals I could find there), I headed home with a sole conquest: one of those quaint candle holders that Mrs. Claus might use if she had to leave her bed in the middle of the night. It adds a bit of French charm to our plastic IKEA dining table.

Well, you must be wondering, if I’ve had such bad luck at the brocantes, where did I pick up all those fabulous items in the photos above? I learned quickly, that if I was going to satisfy my innate desire for antiquing, I was going to have to stay away from the single-digit arrondissements.

The day after my visit to that fancy flea market, I headed to the 11th. Just past the Place de la Bastille, site of the former prison and the spot where it all went down that night that sparked the French Revolution, I stumbled upon a long line of cigarette-smoking antiques dealers. How much for the teapot? Six euros you say? Now that’s my kind of flea market. I didn’t even try to talk him down.

Slowly but surely our generically adorned, modernly swayed, IKEA-clad maid’s quarters are getting a little bit of French flair. And I owe heaps to that farm chair I picked up off the street tonight.

Chasing Les Pigeons

19 Jan 2012
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Chasing pigeons is one of Elodie’s favorite activities. Luckily, Paris has no shortage of these pesky feathered friends, and she can partake in this endless game pretty much anywhere. We found the gardens at the Palais Royal to be the best spot so far. Not only is it full of pigeons, but one of the courtyards has black and white striped columns of varying heights strewn throughout it, making it the perfect place for toddlers (but not so good for blind people). Here’s Elodie pretending to be the Queen of France. “Give me some cake to eat! Put it on my tongue!” she exclaims. If she wants to eat or drink something, she sticks out her tongue and points to it.

After Elodie got tired out running around the former palace grounds, we headed to the Jardins des Tuleries where we sat at a delightful open-air cafe and tried to stay warm with hot chocolate. I practiced my French with the waiter and complimented him on the speed of service, to which he responded with something I didn’t understand but had to do with how young he was. Actually, I’m pretty sure he was a grandpa.

Our first week here was all about the joie de vivre, but now we’re starting to settle into the routine of normal life. Daddy goes to the office every morning, while Elodie gets settled for a nap, and I bang out some work. Once the afternoon rolls around, mommy and baby set out for a super fun adventure in Paris! Of course I’ll be sharing those stories with you soon, but now it’s time to go get a crepe for lunch (since we’re out of baguettes).

 

Paris Je t’Aime

12 Jan 2012
Tidepooler in Paris
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I think I am going to like living in Paris. It’s only been four days and I’ve already learned how to make a delicious fish dinner. I could be the next Julia Child. We had no idea what “aiglefin” was when we saw it at the Biocoop, our local organic supermarket, but it looked pretty good. We looked it up when we got home and it turns out to be haddock!

We’ve been exploring the city and settling into our cute little apartment these last few days. Last night we put the baby in the Ergo and went out for a moonlit stroll. Up over one bridge, across the canal, and back over another bridge. We peeked into the windows of the adorable bars and restaurants full of pretty people having fun, and started wishing for a babysitter. How lucky we were to have found this spot. Now if we can just get lucky enough to find a nice French nanny we’ll be all set.

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Elodie visited Sacre Coeur, Palais Royal, and the Tuleries for the first time and she adored them all. Chasing the pigeons proved to be endless fun. It’s definitely a different experience being in Paris with a toddler. I’m hoping to find some kid-friendly cafés in the coming days. Let me know if you have any suggestions and if you know any babysitters in Paris.

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