on Monday

it's Friday!


Océane and I went to Ecole Paul Baudry to check if there is any announcement before the school opening. Posted on infront of the school, there is a new school director and that first day of classes will be on Monday instead of Tuesday (French calendar indicate that classes will start on 4 September).

So on Monday, we're going to have an elementary student:-)

Happy weekend!

morning has broken

ah paris
thursday morning (around 7:30)


remember the song "morning has broken"? well, gotta practice getting up early coz next tuesday is going to be the first day of school. océane woke up early too!

on my left, there is a big window and i can see the eiffel tower standing tall & proud. such a nice thursday... blue sky!

on the other side where we have more windows.... the office building in our block is still empty. our building belongs to this square block. our side is the only residential area. the entire office building has been recently renovated. i don't think they are completely done.

their lift is still sleeping. you know, there was a time when i enjoyed watching those 2 lifts especially when there were some people stucked inside the lift.... a lot of things to see from our windows:-)

oh our neighbor who is on the other side of hallway is still sleeping or perhaps she's not there again.

well, according to my daughter that's "her window"! so ok,it's hers coz her bed is beside that window and many of her stuff are on the ledge.

well, it's around 8:30am now. our neighborhood grocery shop is now open. gotta go there to buy wome stuff. also to go to océane's new school to check if there is any new announcement before the school opening.

have a nice thursday!

beautiful day

jardin des tuileries


yesterday was a real beauty. sun, cool wind & still less people. it has been a long day outside home. we left at home around 10am and came back past 3pm. hehehehe

océane & i took the metro and went to the park -- jardin des tuileries (our current fave park). walking... running... chasing after the pigeons:-) watching ducks... just being under the summer sun... looking at the fountain...


around lunch time, we just crossed the street and went to mc do at rue de rivoli. luckily, their happy meal have the hello kitty toy. we've been looking for that hello kitty toy but the mc do around our area has no more hello kitty toys. anyway, after our lunch we checked an art shop at the louvre museum. then we walk back to jardin des tuileries.


we went to the japanese bookstore. i wanted to get her the pencil cap that i knew available at sanrio shops in manila. yes, it's something that i haven't found at the french shops but i knew i can find it at the japanese bookstore. voila!


we kept walking... checking some shops: bouchara & galeries lafayette. a short stop at starbucks to say hello to océane's friend, chai.

my legs were very tired but we are both happy for our beautiful monday. hope yours was a beautiful day too!

i heart sony vaio

midnight dream

oh yes, i "heart" sony vaio. this one in particular: vgn-tz11xn noir intense.

intel core 2 duo ulv à 1.06 ghz, 11.1", windows vista business, 2 go de ram, 100 go de dd, webcam intégré, sécurité personelle intégré, 1.19 kg. ahhhhhhhhhh

or i may go for this one....

vgn-cr11sp rose. intel core 2 duo, 1.8 ghz/ 800mhz, 14.1", 2 go de ram, 120 go de dd, webcam intégré, etc.

i let my fingers touched these two babies... oh yes, the first one is totally awesome (and the price too! lol). the second one, well.... according to our daughter "pink is our favorite colour!" way to go, my dear! hahahaha

meantime, i'm off to bed and will dream about them:-)

bonne nuit!

musée du louvre

sunny sunday


océane is familiar with louvre museum only becoz we frequent at carrousel du louvre. however, she's never been inside the museum until today.

now that she's six years old perhaps, she'll be able to understand/appreciate "arts" even for a little. i tried to select only few areas to bring her.

we entered through Porte des Lions.

then to the "arts of africa, asia, oceania and the americas" on the ground floor. she was not interested with them:-)

in the halls of spanish and italian paintings.. she got interested even with some of the sculptures (greek and roman antiquities).

"mama, it's cool here!"

"mama, look! it's like a trophy."

of course, i wanted her to see leonardo da vinci's mona lisa.

inside the viewing room of mona lisa, i was very surprised that taking picture of the painting is now allowed.

i've been in musée du louvre several times and picture taking of the mona lisa has never been allowed. this is the picture i was able to take:

leonardo da vinci painted this small portrait of a florentine noblewoman, known as la gioconda, in about 1504

océane likes this "very colourful" painting.

some sculptures and océane's innocent comments. seeing arts from a child's perspective is different. she even tried to copy some sculptures. océane chose the following sculptures:

the dying slave. michelangelo sculpted this work between 1513 and 1520 as part of a group of statues for the base of the tomb of pope julius II in rome.

"mama, they are not happy."

psyche and cupid (antonio canova)

"mama, they are naked."

"mama, she's sleeping."

océane was happy to found these flowers and butterfly.

aphrodite, known as vénus de milo. found in 1820 on the island of milo in greece. it was made in the hellenistic age at the end of the 2nd century b.c.

"mama, please look at me!"

the glass pyramid was designed by 1 m pei was opened in 1989. currently, it is the popular new main entrance.




it has been a good day and adventure. océane remembers mona lisa and she even chose to buy a ballpen and postcard with mona lisa. it's really good to expose a child with her own culture; to make her see the different arts.


a short visit in a museum was worth a try. océane wasn't tired. she didn't hate the experience and she was even talking about her trip at musée du louvre. there are other museums here in paris for us to visit. one at a time....

cannelés de bordeaux

a trip to the market is not complete without something sweet for me & océane... hehehehe we bought a pack of cannelés de bordeaux in one of the shops at rue poncelet.

this afternoon, after 10 minutes in the oven océane & i got six cannelés for our snacks. ahhhh really yummy!

here's the recipe:

Cannelés de Bordeaux

pour 8 personnes:

1 L de lait

3 pacquets de sucre vanillé

200 g de sucre en poudre

225 g de farine

4 oeufs

125 g de beurre

5 cl de rhum

1. Faire chauffer le lait, le sucre vanillé, le rhum, le sucre en poudre et 100 g de beurre;


2. mettre hors du feu, la farine en remuant énergiquement;


3. tiédir la pâte et ajouter les oeufs un par un;


4. battre en soulevant l'appareil jusqu'à obtenir une pâte lisse.


5. Beurrer des petits moules à cannelés;


6. les remplir de pâte aux 2/3, et les mettre dans le four préchauffé thermostat 6 durant 40 min.


7. Les cannelés doivent être dégustés très frais, de préférence le jour même.

vin conseillé: Sainte-Croix de Mont (ou thé, ou café)

Bon appétit and Happy Weekend!

rue poncelet

saturday morning at the open market

the three of us went to the open market today. it is located at rue poncelet and this is our favorite open market.

fruits & veggies

fresh morilles - my very fave mushroom

bernard & océane went to a german shop to buy some german sausages. right outside the german shop, there is a small stall where fresh brezel is available. hmmm really good apéritif:-)


océane likes to go inside the german shop with her papa. perhaps becoz she always get a small treat from the shop keeper. this morning she got this:

the last stop was going to the seafood shop where we bought fish. sole is bernard's favorite fish and usually the only fresh fish we eat at home. this is the shop where we frequent for our seafood.

a good morning adventure at the open market with all great foods we brought back home.

sunglasses

summer 2007 in the south of france

fashionable? practical? just being a girly girl? i guess, all these three:-) océane is just being herself:-)

the photo was taken this summer in the south of france. thanks faby for the photo!

chouquettes

one rainy summer day
paris

my daughter is crazy with chouquettes (shoo-kett). i think, she can eat 50 pieces of this tiny snacks in one whole day.

what in the world is chouquettes? they are pastry puffs, sprinkled with coarse sugar. we buy them by weight in french bakeries.

here's the recipe:

Chouquettes

pour: 40 à 50 pièces
durée: 45 minutes

Pâte à choux:
1/4 litre d'eau
125 g de farine
60 g de beurre
1 pincée de sel
50 g de sucre
4 oeufs

Finition:
100 g de sucre en grains
1 jaune d'oeuf (dorure)

1. Préparer tous les ingrédients.


2. Mettre l'eau, le beurre, le sucre et le sel dans une casserole sur le feu.


3. Porter à ébullition. Retirer du feu et verser la farine en une seule fois.


4. Mélanger à la spatule en bois en prenant soin de ne pas laisser de grumeau.


5. On obtient une pâte appelée "panade". Dessècher la panade sur le feu en remuant avec une spatule en bois, jusqu'à ce qu'elle se détache des parois de la casserole et qu'elle forme une boule.


6. Laisser refroidir 5 minutes. Incorporer les oeufs 1 à 1 à la spatule en bois. Incorporer les autres oeufs 1 à 1. La pâte à choux est prête à l'emploi.


7. Dresser les choux en quinconce, sur plaque à pâtisserie légèrement graissée.


8. Dorer la surface des choux au jaune d'oeuf délayé dans une cuillère à soupe d'eau froide.


9. Couvrir la surface des choux de sucre en grains.


10. Cuire à four chaud à 180°C


11. pendant une vingtaine de minutes


12. Lorsque les chouquettes sont gonflées et dorées, les retirer du four et les laisser refroidir.
    

Bon appétit!