End of an Elementary Era

Well, that's it folks. My second child is officially off to high school in the fall. I'm sure there are many other mothers out there who feel the same sense of pride and mild horror that their 13 year old daughters will be sharing the same hallways with 18 year old boys in September. I have two months in which to come to terms.

Both my kids were born in the first week of January.  By the time we've made it through Christmas and New Year's, everyone is almost too pooped to party, so we usually keep birthdays low key and celebrate the end of the school year in June with a gift and some summer spending money.  Although this was originally intended for last year's gift, I happily presented it to D last week (and she was none the wiser that the pillow front had been sitting folded on my sewing table for over a year).  There wasn't much chance of her ever finding it....trust me, it was well buried under several other WIPs.

This is the second 20" Eiffel Tower pillow I've embroidered and quilted. In fact, the original was one of the very first projects I shared on Poppyprint almost 3 years ago!

I love that there were a set of matching buttons in my Great Aunt Pearl's button box for the back closure.

What's almost as sweet is that D took it to a sleepover on Friday night to show her girlfriends.  She hearts La Tour d'Eiffel.

Her pillow is a little softer.

Paris Stroll

So we went to Paris. We walked miles. We saw tons. I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from that incredible city with you.  I mentioned in this post that our guide book of choice was Rick Steve's Paris 2012. I can't recommend this book more highly. I loved Rick's guided neighbourhood walking tours, his hand-drawn maps and building plans and personal anecdotes sprinkled throughout the text.  Here are most of the activities/sites that we managed to hit in 6 days:

Eiffel Tower (twice, once in daytime, once in nighttime)

Centre Georges Pompidou (saw Matisse Pairs exhibit & Evolution of Dance)

Arc de Triomphe

Sewer Tour (stinky but cheap and informative!)

Musee D'Orsay (speed walk through Impressionist galleries only)

Seine boat tour

Notre Dame

Sainte Chappelle

Cluny Medieval Museum (just me)

Museum of Science & Technology - Arts et Metiers (just the boys)

Musee Carnavalet

Montmartre/Sacre Coeur

Robert Doisneau - Les Halles photo exhibit at Hotel de Ville (just me)

Rue Cler walk

Le Marais walk

Left Bank walk

One of the great (and unexpected) things about visiting Paris with kids under 18 is that they are free at every art gallery and museum! Adults can save a few Euros by buying multiple day museum passes which also allow you to skip lineups at many locations. March is pretty low season so out longest lines were at Musee D'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower at night: both about 40 minutes. I understand that's considered a short line for Paris.

Okay, time for a little slideshow. These are in no particular order. They're just some eye candy and a little taste of Paris.

art deco metro station railing

B & D planning our next move, Place des Vosges

Saturday morning music, Place des Vosges

Sunday market morning, Rue Cler

Tower twins

B & I on Pont de L'Archeveche, Notre Dame's flying buttresses in the background

Lover's locks. D says "this makes me want to fall in love in Paris even more". 

Notre Dame gargoyle. I think he just spotted a pickpocket!

Notre Dame chandeliers. I was initially impressed with the number of pious visitors, all sitting in the main cathedral, heads bowed in prayer. Then I realized 99% of them were on their cell phones.

Carousel horses, Montmartre

Courtyard at Musee Carnavalet (City of Paris museum)

A left bank bookseller

Jardin des Tuileries, carousel

Turn your old machine into modern art!

a curio shop, Passage de Grande Cerf. Thanks to Rick we discovered the very old and special covered passageways close to our Marais neighbourhood. 

Passage de Grande Cerf where I accidently discovered a yarn and fabric shop called Lil Weasel (I made a small purchase of some FQ's and buttons)

Cappucino. B and I figure between the two of us, we spent about $25/day on delicious coffee. Good thing the wine was cheap! One cafe creme = one decent bottle of wine!

Nighttime Eiffel Tower

I hope you enjoyed this little snippet of our week in Paris. There are lots more photos to come, but organizing and uploading is taking much longer than expected!  

La Tour Eiffel

Bonjour mes amis! Today for you, un petit projet adorable (oh, how I wish I was bilingual). My niece who lives waaaaaaay far away on Prince Edward Island (not Paris, France) will soon celebrate her 8th birthday. In her second year of French Immersion, said niece is loving the French language, and like many young girls, harbours romantic visions of life in Paris a la Madeleine (without the unfortunate orphan part). Me, I dream of warm baguettes and brie, a delicious cafe au lait and a Hermes scarf tied artfully around my neck.....ah, c'est la vie!


My ultra-creative sister has a plan to transform her home into the neighbourhoods of Paris for the birthday party. Luckily, I just so happened to have an Eiffel Tower stitchery on hand (pattern from Australian Country Threads mag) and was able to transform it into a quilted pillow cover that I will soon send on it's way....waaaaaaay across the country (almost 5000 km!).






Oh, how I wish we all lived closer together. Or that our national airline provided flights between sisters in the same country at a rate reasonable for annual visits.

Imagine, we could actually rendez-vous in Paris for much less. Quelle bonne idee!



Bonne fete Mademoiselle Fiona!