Our trip to Provence was a very enjoyable experience … there is something quite different about the South of France … way more laid back than the rush and business of Paris.

We stayed in a little city called Aix-en-Provence … which featured many cool fountains, they seem to be hidden around every corner.

They had cool old buildings too … older than Paris I think and not so many tourists … although when we did see tourists they came in packs with a leader carrying a numbered paddle and speaking in American accents.

The streets were narrow and cobbled and a wonderful maze to get lost in with interesting little shops along the way … I’ve taken many photos of doors and street lamps.

This is the view from our hotel room on the morning of my birthday … it was exciting to see that golden sunlight spreading over the buildings because we’d had 2 drizzly wet kind of days previously.

The markets were great … Michael particularly liked this stand on the left which had piles and piles of mushroom like fungi … then we found the cheeses and barrels filled with olives … and beautifully fresh fruit and veges.

Of course I was more interested in the secondhand/antique wares. I found a few smallish things to purchase … more lace and old keys.

On the afternoon of my birthday we bought a bus ticket and hopped on the first bus that came along. It turned out it was going to a little place called Jouques. Birthday lunch (ordered in French) was a crepe with banana, nutella and cream … nutella is very big here … it seems to be the most popular filling for crepes and comes in the most giant containers ever.

The old part of the little town was very fun to explore … sort of built into the hillside and the houses were on even narrower streets than we’d seen yet. In fact it was almost as if the houses were just part of the old stone wall.

We climbed to the top of the hill to find the ruins of the old church building. The light seemed especially amazing … apparently famous artists appreciated the light in Provence too.

We took the fast train back to Paris on Friday … and when they say fast they mean really, really fast … although I didn’t feel quite as sick on the way back.

And then we dressed up and went out to the ballet at the opera place. Such an amazing building … and our seats were up in the little balcony type bits. Our little section had enough seats for about 8 people and it’s own little dressing room with a mirror and coat hooks.

And this is us with Raymond and Michelle … the best bed and breakfast/tour guides in Paris … although it would be helpful if Raymond carried a little paddle with a number on it so we could find him in the crowds!

We have 2 days left here in Paris now before making our way home … today’s plan is to go up the Eiffel tower.

Such an incredible place … seriously amazing and I’m very aware I’m living a dream.

There’s the tower of course …. it’s been a long while since I began dreaming of this moment when I’d see the tower for real.

I’m figuring many other people must have the same dream because it’s kinda hard to get photos of these things without other random strangers standing in the way.

And while it was amazingly cool by day … it was absolutely incredible by night.

Yes … Paris is everything I thought it would be and more.

One of the things I wasn’t expecting was the bits of glowing gold everywhere. I’m not sure if it was the drizzly weather when we arrived but it was definitely a surreal dreamy kinda feeling to catch sight of the glowing gold bits.

We have walked lots and seen lots … most of it famous places I don’t remember the names of. There was Napoleons place … that was pretty neat, and the big arc thingy at the end of the famous flash shopping street on the roundabout with the crazy french traffic.

And then there was Marie Antoinette house … AMAZING!

Again the gold … it’s all about the gold!

We’ve mastered the metro … by day and by night.

Wandered through Paris streets … and seen inside this famous big church place …

We’ve seen Monet’s waterlily paintings … absolutely very cool … and inspiring. But I wasn’t allowed to take photos.  And then the big huge famous place where we found Mona Lisa.

Oh and I’ve been French Flea Market shopping … another amazing living the dream kind of moment … I now have real vintage french lace … bought from a lovely french lady who spoke to me so nicely even though I had no idea what she was saying!

And I’ve even been to a french church service … just like at home but in french … another surreal dream like moment … singing songs of worship to God in french.

Today we are heading to Provence …

Not sure just how much blogging will happen while I’m there … but I thought I should just try out my phone to see if it’s possible.

So … what’s been going on?

• Last week we sent Michael off to Washington DC … to be part of the NZ team competing in a Solar Decathlon … I won’t even try to explain that here … just click on the link to see more. He’ll be away for another 3 weeks.

• I’ve just put together 60 birthday invitations for a 60th birthday celebration … they look impressive all lined up.

I had a bit of help with the sticking of the inside bits … which was great cos it went much faster with two of us working on them.

Tying 60  pink bows took a while though.

• I signed up for my first ever craft show to sell stuff I made … now I just need to figure out what exactly I’ll be selling! Hopefully it will help boost my funds for Paris.

• Speaking of Paris … I found this picture on someone’s (I can’t remember who) blog recently … it sums up the Paris situation nicely …

It’s certainly not easy … but I have faith that it’s possible! It’s amazing … and rather frustrating …  just how many things have come up requiring extra money that would otherwise have gone into Paris savings. (You know, major appliances breaking, new tyre for the car, dentist, … feeding the kids ….)  I continue to dream however, and currently have many tabs open while researching places to stay in Provence. My current dilemma is whether to spend my birthday in Paris or Provence … such a choice to make!

• Not a lot of scrapping has taken place lately … I’ve even missed a deadline for another Slackers Challenge with Heidi … so sorry Heidi! The thing is … I had trouble finding a suitable photo to match the title choices she gave … which of course meant I didn’t even get started on the layout … gone are the days when I’d be getting photos developed weekly. It’s been months since I last got some done … might just put that on the list for this week!

And … other than that … it’s life as normal around here … a bit of parenting, a bit of work, a bit of housework … throw in some extra practices for Jessi’s jazz and parent help for school trips … you know, just normal stuff.

This boy turned 10 today. A Double Agent, Secret Spy Party seemed like a good way to celebrate.

Like all good parties a bit of Google research was done first … Pinterest has fast become the best thing ever for a researcher/procrastinator like me. I guess it also means that those of you who follow my boards get a ‘heads up’ for the next big event I’m ‘planning’.

Anyway … the party was held at the National Party Intelligence Enterprise (P.I.E.) Training Headquarters located in Thorndon, Wellington.

Invites were sent out in code and marked top secret and the ‘new’ agents were invited to use the secret spy entrance (back door.) Fingerprints were taken, disguises provided … fake mustaches were interesting …  new photo i.d. cards were made and they also made spy notebooks … which had various code ideas, fingerprint analysis charts and lots of blank pages for note taking.

There was food and cake … just to help the secret agents have enough energy for the mission ahead. And while they were eating they were issued with special spy ‘gadgets’ which would help them with their mission to find the double agent. One of them got an invisible pen with a light that reveals the hidden message, one got fart bombs … these things seriously stink … wish they were around when I was 10! Then there was the yo yo that contained bubble gum and fingerprint dust (a mix of cornflour and black embossing powder) which was contained inside a glass vial hidden inside a silver bullet. (It’s amazing the things you can find at $2 shops!)

So they followed clues, used their decoding skills, let off bombs to clear the room …

… and chased the suspected double agents around the block.

(Wish at this point I had remembered to change the iso setting on my camera from when I took the cake photos in the dark!)

They then came across an agent handcuffed to the stairs and had to retrieve the key to set him free using chewing gum from the secret yo yo and a long stick.

They eventually caught the double agent by dusting for fingerprints in the kitchen. Mission accomplished … double agent caught and double digits celebrated!

Oh and they each got a stick of dynamite (lollies) to take home … along with all the spy gear.

Bird feet prints.

Boy feet prints.

Pretty, floaty, soft stuff that comes down so quietly … and not particularly cold either.

Looking out my front door (trying to take photos without having to dress up warmly and find shoes to put on!)

This little girl and her brother and sister have been in and out all day they seem to have figured out that they should spread their gloves and things out under the heat pump while they’re in … cos putting cold and wet gloves back on is not so much fun.

Then I decided I really did need to brave the cold and go out on a quick photo walk.

The snowman got snowed on.

And this is the winter wonderland view from my scrapping corner this afternoon. No harbor view today.

It’s been nice … but I’m glad this is not normal Wellington weather.

The view from our house right now … the snow is rapidly disappearing and there’s lots of dripping sounds going on as everything thaws out. (The blue hills behind the white ones are the South Island)

Currently the kids are inside warming up … and eating snow slushys.

But earlier they were outside enjoying an unexpected day off school. (Primary school was officially closed but Intermediate was open … but I let Rebekah stay home anyway.)

Meet our snowman …

The kids were outside last night building him when they noticed a flash (they thought it was me taking a photo) but then the biggest loudest rumble of thunder ever happened … they came inside pretty quickly … which was just as well … because then there was more of this …

Eventually the roads were white again and we watched the traffic out the window struggling to get around the corner … there was a very determined bus who needed the whole road to slide around on, but many cars ended up being parked on the side of the road, their drivers opting to walk home.

I had taken this photo of the icicles on the play house yesterday …

Today they looked like this …

And just a couple of flower shots …

Our driveway has pretty much thawed out now so I’m going to take the kids out for a drive … snowman spotting … I’ve just got to work out how to get the 2 inches of snow off the car roof and windscreen.

So I received my swap person’s completed questionnaire and began putting together a package of blue, white, brown goodies … some handmade but resisting the urge to go vintage because my swap person has more modern tastes.

I sent my package off on Monday last week and on Wednesday I was very excited to find this box on my doorstep … filled with good things …

… many, many good things … little packages of pink and a gorgeous handmade card …

… and a special little package …

… with french things inside!

… sometimes my ‘self care’ time is simply a quick drink, maybe something small but yummy to eat and a quick flick through a mag … this was the perfect self care package for me!

There were also candles and body wash and a pink poofy thing … this kind of self care needs a little more time to enjoy … and I did search … but this box of goodies did not include the gift of TIME … I had to work that one out for myself … I did manage to have a quick soak in the bath on Saturday evening, very enjoyable it was too.

There was also a couple of cute stamps and a pretty bracelet … oops at the blurry photo … must have been my excitement at unpacking such a cool box of goodies.

Thanks so much Heidi … I really appreciate the thought you put into this … and the French touches too!

Oh and the box of goodies I sent … can be seen here.

This is Antoinette and little Sophie … they’re French )

And a little bit vintage too … of course.

This is Fuzzy Bear by Jessi.

And Alex by Alexander.

And Mandie by Rebekah.

All created for the competition at Small Acorns, one of my favourite ‘inspiration’ type stores in Wellington.

I’m rather proud of Rebekah’s efforts  … for someone who at first didn’t even want to make a doll, she had a sick day on the day the competition closed and at the last minute came up with Mandie. Out of over 230 entries Rebekah’s doll has been selected along with 32 others for the ‘people’s choice voting’ section … that means you can go HERE and vote for Mandie by Rebekah … she would be very grateful thank you.

She’s always been a little bit more grown up than I was prepared for … in the photo above she’s only four.

And now … she’s 12.

She had a very special, fabulous Steeped in Beautea party which I will blog about in more detail soon … but for now, she’s 12 … and 4 doesn’t seem that long ago at all really.