no more samedi

it's on today and last night news that beginning next school year, there will be no more saturday classes! parents and students of french schools are happy for such news. wonderful!

La Sauterelle

third poem


La Sauterelle

Saute, saute, sauterelle
Car c'est aujourd'hui jeudi
Je sauterai, nous det-elle,
Du lundi au samedi.

Saute, saute, sauterelle
A travers tout le quartier.
Sautez donc, Mademoiselle,
Puisque c'est votre métier.

Robert Desnos

lunch

océane eats at the school cantine for her daily lunch. today's menu is:

entrée - salade verte aux chèvre et noix
plat - steack haché, pâtes aux légumes
fromage - yaourt sucré
dessert - fruit de saison

hmmm i think océane enjoyed her lunch and later when i'll pick her up, she'll talk about her lunch. océane is crazy about food. she is a kid who only think about her stomach. make her choose between toy and food and she will definitely choose the food:-)

upside-down

galeries lafayette

blvd. haussmann

at galeries lafayette there is a hanging eiffel tower right on the middle of the department store. actually, it's an upside-down :-)

here is their ad campaign:

inside the department store

--------------------------------------

doudou

océane saw this new doudou at petit bateau tent at galeries lafayette. i'll talk about this doudou one day....

autumn

autumn season

officially, autumn season started last 23 september. the days and the evenings here are definitely getting cold with matching rain.

it's only around 3:30pm right now and here's how it looks here....

french vs irish

rugby night

france vs. ireland

océane is cheering for les bleus

but she's ready for irish too:-)

got a letter!

thursday afternoon


océane likes to open our mailbox.

this afternoon, she's so happy to find a letter with her name on it.

"thank you, tonton eras!" --océane

second poem

last night bernard helped océane with her second poetry. today, océane can recite the entire poem:-)

here she is:

you're my maman favorite

out of the blue, océane said:

- "you're my maman favorite."
- "well, i am your only mama."
- "and you are still my favorite maman."

such a beautiful words from my 6 years old daughter.


-----------------------------------
a new poem to memorize for next tuesday.

L'éléphant se douche

L'éléphant se douche, douche, douche
La trompe est un arrosoir
L'éléphant se mouche, mouche, mouche
Il lui faut un grand mouchoir
L'éléphant dans sa bouche, bouche, bouche
A deux défenses en ivoire
L'éléphant se couche, couche, couche
A huit heures tous les soirs

empty mc do

sunday morning past 11:30am

at the paris suburb

an empty mc donald's in the paris suburb. amazing how empty it was considering that it's sunday. how i wish the mcdo at champs elysees is like this one --- empty!

the streets this weekend were packed with people becoz this is the time of the year (september) for Journées du Patrimoine. it is the one weekend in a year that all cultural and historical places (including the Elysees Palace) are open to the public for free.

arc de triomphe from avenue foch

it's friday!

yes, it's friday and a sunny one:-)

océane is happy to go to school wearing a dress. although, she's a little worried that her arms will be cold later (she usually takes off her gilet before going to her classroom), i just told her not to take off her gilet & just open the zipper. she wished to wear long sleeve dress but most of them are for winter. she'll sweat non-stop!

weekend will start tomorrow after océane's morning class. arggggg it's no longer the same now that océane have saturday morning classes. we can not take a holiday during her school days unlike when she was in maternelle that we took our holiday during her school days to avoid the holiday crowd.

after school & sunny evening

here is océane after her thursday class. must be stressful to go to school for a 6 year old girl, huh? well, it's definitely no joke:-)

my favorite picture of the day.....

thursday evening

it's almost 6:30 in the evening and the sun is still shinning. lessons are almost done (océane is just now on her script writing practice).

view of the eiffel tower from our window

view of le grand palais (one with french flag on top) and les invalides (one with golden dome) from our window

have a good evening!

sport days

monday and tuesday
sport days


yes, these two days are océane's sport days at the school. kids are required to wear their jogging suit & sport shoes. when monday came, she was excited to wear her jogging suit and sport shoes.

monday morning... ready to go to school - her first sport day:-)

new pair of sport shoes

tuesday came and she's happy to have another sport day.

second sport day

guess, she seems to be adjusted to her new school. we just follow strictly her after school routine at home to help her develop her study habit. so far.. so good...

today is a school-free day. she played for 10 minutes and now she's on her writing practice.

sunday

stayed a little longer on bed. that's real good! the sky is grey but at least it's not raining.

then we started watching the first season of 24 hrs tv series.

bernard started teaching océane half part (until Mercredi) of the poem for tuesday.


LA SEMAINE DE L'ECOLIER

Saurais-tu nommer les jours,
De l'école, de l'école,
Saurais-tu nommer les jours,
Jour d'école ou autre jour.

Du Lundi à Samedi,
A l'école ou pas d'école,
De Lundi à Samedi,
La semaine se déplie.

Après Lundi et Mardi,
A l'école, à l'école,
Après Lundi et Mardi,
Pas d'école Mercredi.

Mais Jeudi et Vendredi,
A l'école, à l'école,
Mais Jeudi et Vendredi,
A l'école sans répit.

Samedi compte à demi,
A l'école et pas d'école,
Samedi, compte à demi,
Et Dimanche on reste au lit.

ibook

mac to pc to mac


past 6am... so dark outside and i should still be on bed. strange that during weekends and holidays, i woke up very early. oh well, today océane have to go to school.

anyhow, since monday i've been trying to fix my ibook and last night it is all up and running. thanks to my hubby for some help. well, it's better than no computer to use or just using Qtec. if some letters will get mix-up... then becoz my ibook keyboard is non-french and i've gotten used to with the french keyboard.

oh last night, the french rugby team lost against argentina. it was 12 - 17. i missed two episodes of numbers to watch the first game of the rugby world cup and french lost! argggg


----
we brought océane to her school. went to weekend meals grocery shopping. then went back to océane's school for the 10am parents's meeting with her teacher.

the meeting was informative. it was inside their classroom. we saw océane's table. got some additional requirement. after the meeting, we just stayed on to wait until océane get out from the school. too bad the bowler (an english bar) was still close or we could have waited for her there while having a drink... lol

finally, the students came down... we walked and went to fnac at ternes. bernard bought projector. went home and had lunch.

a little siesta for me and then océane and i went to decathlon to buy your jogging suits and sports shoes for her sport days (monday & tuesday). gosh, the shop was completely packed with parents buying sports clothes for their children. anyway, we got what she needs and after paying, we just went home.

some writing and vowel exercise for océane...

ah friday

yes, it's friday and then it's weekend! however, we are going to have a busy saturday. océane have to go to school tomorrow (morning session only). yeah, they do have classes on saturday morning. that's the french way... whatever logical reasoning they have for this saturday classes beats me. then, there is the 10:00am meeting at the school with her teacher. weekend grocery shopping.. . bernard have some stuff to buy too for the office (a projector, i think).. the scrapbook store have one day sale tomorrow too. homework for océane to do.. practicing her vowels. oh boy, it'll be a short & busy weekend for us.

another school day is done. look at her... she's in a hurry to press the code and just go upstairs at home:-)

now, homework.... learning to read... learning the sound of "a"... practice writing in script (french style). geez, i may end up learning to write in script -- french style too!! lol

thursday

school 'grey' day


the sky is so grey... but océane is still happy and excited to go to school. her school bag is heavy and almost full today. i asked her if she wanted me to help her by carrying her bag and she replied that it is ok. she can carry it by herself and that she like it heavy. guess she's only feeling a big girl. lol

before taking the lift....

second day

second day of school

today on the second day of school, océane is still excited to go to school. here she is on our way to school...

and after i picked her up from the school... in-front of our main door.

she's grade one!

back to school


oh yes, our daughter is grade one (cp for french) now.

yesterday, she was so excited and when we brought her to the new school... she was so happy! also she was happy to see her very few classmates/schoolmates (less than 10 of them).

after our turn to introduced her to her new teacher for name registration, etc. her teacher (who looks "normal" -- not a bitch-looking one.. lol) told océane to go ahead and play, she literally obeyed and completely forgotten us. she walked away looking for kids she knew. i called her so that we can kiss her goodbye. then one good friend of her from maternelle looks sad already. his parents told him infront of océane to just hold hands with her:-) then a mother of her former classmates told to her daughter to stay with océane. so bernard & i left the school feeling happy and proud that we have no problem on leaving océane to her new school.

when i came back home, suddenly it was strangely so quiet and i'm alone. honestly, somehow it was a little bittersweet --- océane being grade one. it one means that she's a 'big girl' now. you know, growing up so fast......

after school, here is our smiling and still happy grade one student:-)

gotta go and continue my beauty sleep!

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....