Springtime!

I did a "British meal" for the girls in the foyer with Kathryn a while back. It genuinely took all weekend to prepare! We made "Beef and onion cobbler" with a chocolate moussey thing for pudding and then tea and coffee and shortbread and garibaldi and after eights - it was a great success! I must confess though, once I got into the eating part I forgot to take pictures! It genuinely looked and tasted far better than these photos make out.

Then one Monday night I was wandering about with Min and we decided to eat Korean food:

Korean barbecue (no, I do NOT believe it was dog)

This was actually the third day running of chopsticks! I'd had an outrageously good japanese meal with Xin-Yi from work on Saturday, Min had made me some chinese food on Sunday and then this on Monday! I am quite the chopsticks expert these days you know.

Ooh! Now this is a particularly delicious green tea ice cream:

Then one night coming home from the library I found this garden! It was full of flowers and lovely smells and a BAT!!

When I came back the next night with my camera it was a little too dark for photos though:

This was it when I went back on Saturday:

Oh and I found a WONDERFUL boulangerie that sold delicious sandwiches and I was very hungry so I got two baguettes (my eyes were bigger than my tummy but I did *eventually* finish them both) this one is brie and onion chutney with rocket and the other was tuna and paprika with something else good that I can't remember. I sat and read in the sunshine!

Then I went to continue the sunshine reading in bois de boulogne and everything was just beginning to become green again! It rained towards the end of the afternoon and I naturally reached into my bag for my umbrella and carried on strolling the park but everyone else just huddled under trees waiting for it to stop! It made me laugh because it clearly marked me out as English because I a) always carry an umbrella on me b) don't let rain stop my afternoon and c) had no expectation that the rain would pass before tomorrow!

Then Sunday I went out to a exhibition of a jewish man who had illustrated the Bible - it was really really good but I couldn't take photos. I went with a group from church and so had my very own guides on hand to explain all the stories (I SWEAR I'd never heard some of them!) which meant I've pretty much heard the whole Bible in French. It was exhausting. So I had ice-cream with Min and Anne-Laure on the way home.

Remember autumn? I have pictures from then!

So here are a couple of photos Gaby sent me the other day left over from autumn!

This was a yummy macaroon we found having wandered the markets round the corner one Saturday:

Fear not - that macaroon was very evenly shared but in the short time between giving me half and then getting her camera out, I had already devoured most of it! (It was really very good indeed.)

This is the florist on my street corner:

It looks and smells beautiful.

These were taken just as we were about to go into an exhibition at the Petit Palais when the sun came out so we went for a quick stroll to bask!

And stuck leaves in trees!

February

This is from a while back - I just never posted it!

Dr Who. Is coming. To France.

I went to the cinema a bunch of times.

Ben & Jerry's Fairly nuts. If you do not have a nut allergy, this has to be tried! It is sublime! When we went to the cinema on Monday I mentioned they were selling mini tubs of Ben & Jerry's and Kathryn looked at me and said the singular most distressing sentence I've ever heard in my LIFE: "I've never had Ben & Jerry's".

So this Thursday I thought I'd buy some to take to the prayer group. I went to Monoprix, being fairly convinced I'd seen it there before and finally found two flavours hidden at the top at the back of the freezers, they were absolutely covered in frost but I could make out that one was "Cookie Dough" and one was "Fairly Nuts". Those of you who have ice-cream binged with me before will know that I am truly a "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" girl at heart and truth be told a large part of my enthusiasm died away when I saw that they did not stock it. Now I do like Cookie Dough but it is rather sickly to start off with (yes, I am aware of the irony of using that as an excuse when I was looking for Chocolate Fudge Brownie) and Fairly Nuts was not only something new to try (and we know that this was a safe new: Ben & Jerry would never manufacture a yucky ice-cream. Oh though they do do something with banana in. That's bad. But I'd forgotten that at the time. I was more thinking of that minty one they did one year - they really ought to bring that back) but it was also fairtrade (I'm doing the world a favour in buying it - it would practically be a crime not to buy it), whereas Cookie Dough was not.

Thus I made my decision and came to the prayer group armed with a fresh tub of as yet untasted ice-cream.

What followed was beautiful and I can only say that unless you suffer from a life-threatening aversion to nuts, you absolutely have to go out and buy a tub right now. It is sweet, crunchy goodness straight from heaven.

Actually, come to think of it this week has been a bit of a nuts-fest. (Ok, well I ate something else containing nuts. I guess that doesn't qualify as a nuts-fest unless you have REALLY low festival standards, which evidently I do so that's ok! Anyway, the point was) I tried Boursin "Figues et noix" which when accompanied by fresh butter of fresh bread really is quite superb. I also ate tabouleh, some outrageously good tasting possibly sundried/roasted with delicious herbs cherry tomatoes and olives and garlic and goat's cheese. Every night for tea.

It's been a good week.

Also, my pain au chocolats and croissants have been oven fresh every morning this week - this is quite possibly the greatest February of my life!

And every time I walk past the florist on my way to anywhere I'm hit by the heady scent of hyacinths which they've covered the front of their shop with!

Disneyland, McFly and Stardom!

This is my Nanna. I love her!

So remember the family with the explosions at school and "this is the gas tap location"? Well I was late for babysitting the other week because of a suspected BOMB at their metro station - the whole line was closed and as I passed an hour later it was crawling with police with helicopters in the sky - what is wrong with their neighbourhood?! It's meant to be a nice family place! Fear not though, I was fine and by the time I got there they were already fed and pyjama-ed so I just had to read a story and put them in bed! Easy! AND I think I've finally cracked how to get the little boy to sleep - rubbing his back! (Good old Mexico taught me that one!) I am QUEEN of babysitting! (But still not of actually getting them in bed on time) This meant I was suddenly left with an entire evening of silence as I'd forgotten to bring anything to do in my haste on my way to work that morning so I simply curled up in their comfy chair and appreciated an exceedingly rare silence for about three hours! It was so delicious!

A few Mondays ago I went to a Hammam Sauna (I think it's like a Turkish bath?) with Amel and Gaby from the foyer. It was a large, brightly coloured, ornate, steamy palace - heaven at a time of year when it's so cold outside you head experiences very real physical pain every time you venture outside the front door! We stripped down to our knickers, showered and then went deeper into the place, each chamber was darker and steamier than the last, the final one physically burning our skin. There we sat and rubbed "black soap" into our skin (it was like shower gel) and then a scary lady jabbered at me in arabic/incomprehensible French whilst giving me an all-over body scrub (even hoiking my knickers up my bum to ensure she didn't miss my buttocks!) before handing me over to another lady who gave me a delicious all-over massage. She was much less scary but she did almost smother me with her buxom bosom! It was wonderfully relaxing and refreshing and warming and when we came out there was a counter where they sold little turkish pastries and sweets which we had with a very syrupy traditional mint tea.

Then, at the weekend I went to DISNEYLAND with Becky and Rozy! This was great fun - we went on lots of rides and ate lots of food and stayed in a hotel the Saturday night!

This was one of my favourite bits: upstairs inside the castle they tell the story of Sleeping Beauty with stained-glass windows and tapestries!

There is a whole new Toy Story area!!

Disney ducks:

The Monday, alas, I was hit by a tummy bug which had been doing the rounds at work but this fortunately only lasted 24 hours, leaving me fighting fit and full of beans for my MCFLY concert on Tuesday! They honestly just get better every time I see them and this was a teeny tiny little venue and packed out but we were ridiculously near the front and my beloved Tom! I succeeded in dragging a blissfully ignorant Li along with me, who to my surprise genuinely enjoyed the night and left a converted admirer! I was a fool and completely forgot both camera AND phone, but on the plus side, this left me completely free to break out my dance moves uninhibited!

Then last weekend I met up with Laura, a friend from my days at the Weald, and her best friend to go to a live television recording! This is actually a whole lot less cool than it sounds: Revu et corrigé was an hour and a half long programme which took the six main news headlines from the week and invited appropriate authorities on the subjects to come in and comment upon and analyse them. I don't keep too up to date with the news and certainly not with politics! However this was all livened up my a number of things:

Firstly, I was with Laura, and to my great delight, I still enjoy her company ENORMOUSLY.

Secondly, there was free coca-cola and chocolate cake. An excellent start to an evening, I'm sure you'll agree.

Thirdly, a deliciously handsome young man appeared and addressed the crowd (I think he was the producer) his wit and fair face certainly rendering the experience not entirely unbearable. When we went into the studio, he sat us right at the front along with a few other young girls. (I reckon the average age of the audience was pushing late fifties at least!) We then spent the next half hour watching him surreptitiously (we thought) and giggling, trying to discern whether he was gay or not (he was immaculately well-groomed) in the end we decided he wasn't but that he was secretly going out with the floor manager (I mean, he touched her shoulder and smiled!)

Fourthly there was a fantastic old man with long white hair and the most FABULOUS moustache going on! He wore a bright pink jumper and a purple cravatte which matched his wife's striking purple outfit. We became absolutely fixated on him and it turned out that he was something of a celebrity there becase a lot of people working there knew him and greeted them as old friends! On a side note, I AM so fascinated by all the moustaches here, they are so ridiculously big and curly and now at work all the other stagiaires make fun of me and jump with excitement and point out the men with the biggest moustaches. I caught my favourite one smoking a cigarette outside the canteen the other day which upset me enormously. I am of the opinion that facial hair like that requires either a cigar or a pipe. Stupid man.

Fifthly, as we were discussing Pink Jumper the heavily bearded gentleman behind us leaned in and joined our conversation in an Irish accent!! (Because he was Irish.) I love accents.

Oh and SIXTHLY the security was TOTALLY off - we originally went in the wrong door - waved in by a security man, walking down, following signs for the show until we found ourselves in a corridor with rooms live on air and one filled with screens of what was playing at that moment! We were so surprised that we had walked in without question and that we could have totally hijacked the airwaves and "Mooney all of France!" I cried. Laura looked at me incredulously, saying "given power over a whole channel, that's what you would do? That's the best thing you can think of?" Hyeah! "Well what would you do?" She soon realised mooneying France was in fact a superb idea. Eventually we asked our way and had to exit the building and come in another entrance where we were stripped of coats and bags, phones and money, metal detected and had our ID taken, only to end up on the other side of the cordon thing in the main hall - where we had been stood earlier without any question at all! And that was the more powerful side! French.

Anyway, afterwards, we all went back for a little housewarming party with some other exchange students. I was proud of my superior French skills as I managed to speak in French but bitterly humiliated by my overwhelming lack of Spanish skills, as I failed to formulate a single word to a spaniard there - my stupid brain kept presenting me with French!

Last Monday I made Valentine's cupcakes for everyone at work and home which went down a treat, I even by a total MIRACLE got hold of some cupcake cases with hearts on!

Finally, this weekend I went home and was heart-brimmingly happy to be reunited with my family and friends, eat the greatest food, play the best games, sleep in my wonderful bed, visit the sea, and go to Maybridge! On my way over, I stopped to buy saucisson fand the old man stood in the shop chatting with him assured me that the saucisson I was buying would make me hot and guaranteed that I would make love three, four times that night - with him if I wanted! How generous. Needless to say, I declined and chose instead drink and cake with Ali at St Pancras!

Oh aaand my favourite boulanger by work has said I can come and make bread with him any time I want! Get in!!!

Sacre Cœur, Saucisson & Sunshine

I went to the Sacre Cœur the other Sunday, as it was a beautiful clear sunny day:

There are NO problems that I can see with the sparrow population here in Paris and I love that:

This was the queue for Monet when I came out the other night:

I read the day after that Jodie Foster went that night!

Saturday Mathilde and I went to St Michel and found a Basque country shop that sold AWARD winning produce! We walked in and the man started slicing up saucisson for us to try and then handed us some kind of grenadine before going off to find another saucisson for us to try... I was in love. We ended up getting a cornet of the stuff! I love their style.

Sunday was once again sunny and glorious and so I took myself back off to the Bois de Boulogne (where I went in the summer when it was bakingly hot - what a difference!) As I came out I looked one way up the road and could see La Defense...

And the other, L'Arc de Triomphe!
I loved the low wintry sun:

I found the jardin d'acclimatation and within it, a farm!

Sheep and baby goats!

Grandad/other horticulturally knowledgable person, what are these?

They are pinky-purple and I like them very much! Growing in a veg/herb patch

At first I looked in this cage and only saw sparrows until this chap popped out from behind his hiding post - how did I miss him?!!

And this lovely couple: (the rooster posed for ages for me!)

A white peacock was just casually strolling about!

This bird was also incredible:

I liked how soft these ducks looked:

These ones are clearly highly fashionable young Parisian ducks, hot off the catwalk from fashion week, complete with stylish sideways fluffy hats:

Iced over boating lake: (truly it is FREEZING here!!)

Lovely fresh green colour in amidst all the dull wintry browns:

I liked the pictures on the side of the boating house:

Right next to the deer enclosure!! Poor deer :(

Llama and DONKEY DONKEY DONKEY!!! :D :D :D

I love Donkey.

RABBITS!! (But not for strokesies)

Oh Mummy look!!!

Fish blocked in an icy pond at the bottom, cows on a muddy hill and blue sky!

Further on into the woods and I found my lake again:

Then I went in search of the huuuuge lake on the map but only found muddy paths with bare trees and eerily bright blue stream (I think it was chalk at the bottom or something - again someone more knowledgeable can educate me!)

The most sky I've seen in SO long!!!

After a couple of hours of muddy woods I just turned to go home and suddenly came out on the lake!!

There was a tree with a long branch at elbow/shoulder height stretching across the path with lots of names carved into it:

Ah! I felt so much better after this!