I'm back. For now

In a new found effort to be creative and use my imagination before I start school (again!), I have decided to wipe the dust off this ol' blog and post things every now and again. This post is about babies. One in particular named Dane. It's also about my camera because Dane is good at sitting still so I can adjust and learn the settings on this fancy contraption.

a budding matisse

this girl was so adorable! at the matisse exhibit at centre pompidou, this artist in the making had a pile of markers and a piece of paper. she sat there studying the painting so hard. in the end, her drawing was beautiful.

Pont Alexandre

i love this bridge so much. pont alexandre is always one of my favorite stops on the Paris tour and it never fails to remind me that I am in such a fabulous, beautiful city!

Moi, je voudrais de la salade

La Tour Eiffel and beyond

 Free Disneyland tickets on my birthday?? Thanks, Mick!

 Nothing says Paris like La Tour

Oh, just a raspberry tart pick-me-up

a picture a day

So my big great hopes and dreams of blogging all the time during my stay in Paris have been a flop. Don't get me wrong, I have had fabulous adventures. But, I have not made it a priority to update my blog as I should for memory's sake. And thus, I have decided to do a photo journal. Every day, I will post one (or more) pictures of my time in Paris until I leave to go home. Which should be about mid July :( Have I mentioned I don't want to go home? And I want to stay in Paris forever as a Disney Princess!

les vacances

It seems like we just had Christmas vacation, but, in French style, we get another two weeks of vacation. Not sure why the US has not subscribed to this as well. And while we are on it, I am a huge fan of the no-school-on-Wednesday thing. Also, the French work week is a mere 35 hours. This place just keeps getting better and better. Anyway, it's vacation time again. The girls are at their grandma's house in Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer and I already miss them terribly. This weekend, some of our friends from Switzerland will be visiting me and Rebecca and I get to give the "Paris est magnifique!" tour once more :) Then, Wednesday, Monique and I leave for Morocco for a week!! Not sure what to expect on this trip, but I do know I am very excited. I am trying to read as much as I can in the travel books but I am so eager to get there and see a new country (and continent) and learn about a completely different culture. When I get back, I will go to London and then to the countryside of England! I am picturing cute cottages and people riding on cute bikes with baskets and everyone waving to each other. So this vacation has a lot in store. Not like I really need a vacation, but I'm excited for the adventures these next two weeks will bring!

this is what happens when you realize you only have 6 more months in France and need to buckle down and learn the language

je t'aime Paris

Pourquoi aimez-vous Paris? Cliquer ici. 

nothing like a view from the top of the eiffel tower!

Well, dear blog, I am back.

I haven't posted here in so long. And so much has happened since I last wrote anything. I have been to Switzerland, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, London - all in the last month! I cannot express how thankful I am for the experiences that I have had so far in Europe.

I am having such a wonderful time with Adele and Heloise. Even if I am having a horrible day and all I want to do is curl into my bed, the girls have a way of making me forget everything that made me upset and cheer me right up. I feel so lucky that I get to be with them. Their English is slowly getting better. The other day Adele told me, "Je veux ham" (I want ham). So, they are starting to put English into their sentences but I am looking forward to the day when they actually form whole sentences in English. I was thinking today that people must think we are such a crazy threesome, though. They speak to me in French and I reply in English. We have some very funny bilingual conversations.

Something I knew before was that, with kids, it takes much longer to do a task than it would if you tried to do it by yourself And with twins, it takes even longer. They get twice as distracted. They get twice as resilient. They get twice as energetic. Who knew it takes an hour and a half to bathe two three-year-olds? (That is including the time it takes to create a new song that persuades them to actually get in the bath and once the bath is over, convince they can't run around the house naked for the rest of the night). But, even though tasks take twice as long, my purse gets twice as dirty, and the laundry basket gets full twice as fast, there is twice as much love to go around. I will never get tired of the girls saying "J'aime toi!" (I love you) or "Je voudrais faire un callin avec toi" (I want to cuddle with you). These girls mean so much to me and I am so glad that they are a part of my life.

pinterest

in case you are interested, I have a pinterest now. Feel free to follow me :)

http://pinterest.com/madisenclark/

i miss home

the line to get into abercrombie and fitch. really??

10 things i have learned about paris

1. the eiffel tower really is as cool as they say it is
2. razr scooter is a common mode of transportation. as is segway.
3. men are frequently seen sporting their babies in baby bjorns
4. no one judges you if you walk around eating a baguette...or two.
5. you are fashion forward if you don't brush your hair
6. no matter how many times you wash your hands, the smell of the metro doesn't go away.
7. you never know who is having a bad day because everyone looks mad all the time
8. everyone speaks english - so don't badmouth the service, the rude waiter will understand.
9. keep your friends close. keep your handbags closer.
10. paris really is more beautiful in the rain

i have trained them well

tour on a bateau mouche

There's never a bad angle of the Eiffel Tower

My fellow tourists

Notre Dame

 

Smallest building in Paris

yes, this is another picture of a + h but they are so cute!

bathtime

Normandy

This weekend I went to Normandy with the family and we had a fabulous time! We celebrated Valerie's step-father's birthday on Saturday evening with about 30 people and had a blast. It made me really miss Clark Family gatherings! There was so much love in the room and I felt so lucky to be a part of the family this weekend.