Early Spring in Paris

The other weekend we went to the Parc des Batignolles. Its a 15-20 min walk from our apartment but we didn't go there very often during the winter. Lucie was very happy to see the merry-go-round was still there.
She rode in the plane.
She rode on the pig.
She had ice cream with her friend Charles.
And the two of them went on the swing.

More March long weekend

Our little farm house vacation was near a town named Bourges, which was once the capital of France (while the British were occupying Paris in the 1400's), and as such has an enormous cathedral. Lucie and Gregoire checked out some of the animals on the portal before entering.
Inside, Michele and Lucie checked out some of statues. Lucie was really wondering what was up with all the praying statues, and wanted to know what could possibly be in those books that they were reading (maybe another episode of Clifford the big red dog's story?).

Bourges' cathedral is famous for its original stained glass, which is rare and extremely beautiful, dating back to the 1200s. Here you can see what will happen to all of you heathens if you don't behave. (and then one wonders why the catholic church is all messed up...)
More fun an games with the devil.
The ends of the lives of the saints, or "how many ways to roast a martyr". For what it's worth, this is a later style of stained glass window.
The inside of the cathedral is very grand.

One of the marvels of the cathedral is this rather unassuming clock, which despite dating back to 1424, calculates the time to within an accuracy of 1 second every 150 years. It also shows the phases of the moon, the zodiac sign, sunrise, sunset ... all with a single hand.
Lucie and monkey walking through the streets of Bourges.
Monkey gets a hug.
Lucie and Gregoire running up a cobblestone street.
Lucie is a highly energetic young person...
She likes to dance in the streets

Later on, we headed to a forest for a walk. It was all a blur...

We stopped to look for some spiders to tickle.
Back at the farm, it was time to feed the baby goats. Lucie was slightly scared and couldn't quite get herself to participate fully and handle the bottle.

March in the country

A few weeks ago, I took a Friday off and we all went to the country to stay at a farm. As soon as we arrived, Lucie spotted a swing and ran for it.

The farm specializes in welcoming children and teaching them about animals, having earned a "pedagogical farm" label from some national orgnization. The farmers were super nice, and had all kinds of animals, rabbits, cows, donkeys, a pig, chicken, pigeons (remember, this is France), sheep, goats, and even guinea pigs. To our knowledge, the French don't eat guinea pigs, and they were there only to amuse the kids on their visits (local classes come by 1-2 times per week).

Lucie enjoyed feeding hay to the rabbits.
She also wanted to chase the pigeons, but they were locked up...
Next, we set off to look for the donkey. Soundtrak "Papa, il est là le donkey!"
And indeed, there it was... Lucie was a bit scared at first.
But she soon warmed up after we explained that the donkey couldn't go through the barbed wire, and she even tried to feed him some yummy grass.
Then, she went looking for sheep.
These were not as scary as the donkey, and so she ran after them.
On the way, we met a spider living on a piece of dead grass. As is our thing, we decided to see if we could tickle her belly with a twig.
Lucie showing off one of her many discoveries
Eventually, we caught up with the sheep.
And Lucie decided she'd be safer on my shoulders.
It was a great day, which ended even better as we read the adventures of Mimi Cracra before going to bed.

Face paint

This is what happens when you let a toddler paint her own face.

Easter in Bretagne

This year we celebrated Easter in Bretagne once more. The American Easter bunny came once more, as the bells were busy with other French kids.

Lucie hunted for chocolate eggs and other things.

She gathered them in a nifty little basket.
It was quite the process.
The Easter bunny also left a little statue of himself under the hedge.
We're quite sure that Lucie's never seen this much chocolate at once before. And it's all hers!
What did that wacky rabbit bring? OMG! it's a ukulele... The blue thing is a kite, as Lucie's been obsessed with kites ever since last summer, and ever more since she's been watching Winnie the Pooh.
Soon enough, we were all singing kumbaya...
Lucie also got to play on the beach with her friend Charles, whose parents live nearby.

Salon de l'Agriculture

Every year, Paris hosts the 'Salon de l'Agriculture', where the French get to pretend that they still care about what happens to farmers. In fact, there are contests for the prettiest pig and the largest cow that wouldn't be out of place most US state's fairs. That and the food is better. But anyway, we thought that Lucie would enjoy seeing the animals. Here she is admiring a special kind of hen (just like in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, they're all special, though).
Lucie and Michele enjoying some bi-colored piglets.
Some ducks. Lucie liked the smaller animals, and was positively shaking when she saw the cows, horses, and other large animals.
When we got home, Lucie turned into a striped butterfly.
A dancing striped butterfly, that is.