catching up

On Friday, we decided Eva was feeling well enough to risk a family outing. We had to talk Lucas into going, of course -- even the pedometer that I thought was such a stroke of genius isn't enough to make him go walk around anymore...

We went to visit Saint-Sulpice.



Apparently they have seen a huge rise in the number of tourists that visit since the publication of the Da Vinci Code. They even had posters around the inside of the church trying to set the record straight. (We saw a group of older American tourists in the neighborhood going on a Da Vinci Code tour!)


The Village Voice Bookstore is nearby, and we tried to find Lucas a new book to read. (He brought many books that he is reading with Marc or with me, but only one to read by himself and he finished it shortly after arriving.) It is a small English bookstore that looked like a place I could lose some serious time in, if I weren't there with 3 kids, of course. They only have a small corner of children's books, and he didn't find anything he wanted.


We then headed to Pierre Herme, who Marc calls the rock star of pastry chefs. A friend told me yesterday that he went to a French restaurant in Portland, and mentioned Pierre Herme to the chef. The chef practically fell all over himself talking about how fabulous Pierre Herme is. I thought Laduree had the best macarons ever, but I have to say, Pierre Herme tops them. The flavors are just incredible -- we got apricot/pistachio, chocolate/passionfruit, salted caramel, and another one I can't remember right now. I haven't tried the olive oil/vanilla yet, but I plan to. Some of them are dusted with metallic powders, so the presentation is just as wonderful as the gustatory experience. Basically, I can't wait to go back there!


Yesterday, my parents arrived. They said it was the worst plane trip they had ever had, but they thought about how ours had another leg and included vomiting children and then they counted their blessings. They were so tired. My dad went out on a photo expedition after having a little nap. My mom went out to get a panini and to pick out some pastries for dessert in between catnaps.

This morning Mom and I went to the flea market. Marc stayed home with the kids because it was drizzling and we didn't want to take Eva out. Dad decided he was tired and stayed home to rest. It was a treat to go shopping with the shopping expert, with no stroller to boot. I am sure that my mom made the day for at least 2 vendors today. She got the motherlode of cool buttons, as well as some vintage linens, some ironstone platters, the tiniest of all empty perfume bottles, and a great assortment of old rubber stamps, fashion magazines, and sewing notions.
How I wish I could have bought this huge piece that would be my ideal way to store paper!

A whole board of old keys -- a happy sight.

I'm just kicking myself that I didn't take any photos of my mom shopping at the flea market. I guess I was so wrapped up in the shopping that it didn't enter my mind until we got home. That would have been so perfect! Argh.

Marc was going to take my parents to the Pere-Lachaise cemetery, but a huge rainstorm came up out of nowhere. It looked like a hurricane outside our window, and tree branches were blowing all over the place. It cleared up about 15 minutes later, but they didn't want to risk being stranded without cover in the cemetery in such unstable weather conditions, so they left to explore the Louvre. I stayed home to put Eva down for a nap, much to Lucas's delight. He is currently watching a Harry Potter movie and enjoying some of the microwave popcorn that Grandma & Grandpa brought.

Happy Mother's Day!