Vaux Le Vicomte

This is us visiting my new favourite Chateau, Vaux Le Vicomte. While we did not go into the castle, next time we will, it is fully furnished and supposedly beautiful, we did wander the gardens and enjoy the serenity and majesty of this magnificent place. It is probably a little early in the year to really capture the spendour of the gardens (plus the scaffolding on half the chateau), but give it another month and I am sure spring will make its mark, and this place will be divine for the tourist or local seeking something special. The castle has a rather tragic story, with the downfall of Fouquet, imprisoned for a crime he did not commit at the hands of jealousy. The gardens were designed by André le Notre, and I read that Fouquet and le Notre found a perfect harmony between architecture and the environment. I guess that is what happened, as all I know is that I loved the place and felt so happy to be there, feeling now that it worked its harmonising magic on me.

There are candle light evenings all through summer, fountain displays, costumes (princes, knights and musketeers) available to hire for the kids, a beautiful display of carriages in the stables and soon an Easter egg hunt for children which I will not be missing.

The Palais up close

O on the little train around the grounds

H on the train

O feeding the swans

Ducks standing on frozen pond

Looking back towards Versailles

Bella in the parc

Today we visited Versailles. We go there relatively frequently as the grounds are lovely and we can take the dog. If visiting Paris and you can make the time to go there, it is really worthwhile. But make enough time to wander the park grounds, along the canal, and over to the Domaine de Marie Antoinette. Take a picnic and take your time. 

Doing what I do

H breastfeeding

O breastfeeding handsfree

H slinging his baby doll who is asleep which is why the sling goes over dolls head

O slinging the baby

Not long ago we were at a friends place and the boys found some dolls. They instantly began to care for them, giving me a sneak peak into what they see me do with E. They pulled up their shirts and did some breast feeding, and then sat the dolls upright on their knee and patted the dolls back gently to burb. I caught them on my phone camera, so the photos are not so clear. This prompted me to buy a doll for our house. Occaisionally now we have a doll session of feeding, burbing, changing nappy, putting to bed and more recently they had me sling the doll for them. I have mainly been using the sling when I go out with E, so they were keen to do the same for their doll. Actually, we were on our way out to an exercise class I do with the boys, and H kept the baby in the sling on for the whole class, to the other mothers amusement.

Message

Yesterday I was at a playdate, which is organised through a group called Message on a weekly basis. Message is a group for expats in Paris. Mostly made up of mothers it provides great resources for understanding all aspects (drs, schools, things to do with kids, socialising groups in your areas etc..) of family life in Paris. If you are thinking of moving to Paris it is a great resource and well worth becoming a member, particularly helpful for making friends and providing support when you are new and lonely in a big city.

Yesterday the kids ran wild at someone else's house, as it is crazy good fun discovering all these other toys that exist in the world and that we don't own, as well as enjoying a craft session making valentines day cards (heart stickers and glitter glue hysteria!), and not to forget the chocolate biscuits and muffins to devour (and which probably accounts for the running wild).

Kids - Emmanuelle

It seems like the right time to give Emmanuelle some space. She was the main project of 2008. Now 10 weeks old, smiling, and growing chubbier by the day. At this age there is not really a whole lot more to add, but stay tuned...

Kids - Oscar and Hugo

Oscar (left) and Hugo in their new 'soldes' jackets. It has been sales time in Paris, and there are many beautiful clothes out there to buy. Unfortunately this year I have not really made the most of the sales, too many kids and too tired, however, I hope to have a few more years here to rectify this travesty. I did stop by Louboutin... however, it appears the financial crisis has not had a major impact as they are certainly not on sale!