What Ana Does

One of the absolute joys of being an expat living in Paris is that I can be a tourist without the jet lag and limited luggage space for new shoes. It's such a privilege! Having traveled to Paris several times, with and without kids, I have a few tips I can share to make your trip here enjoyable. Wear good walking shoes . Paris is one of the most walkable cities. You can start at the Notre Dame, walk to the Louvre along the river, and up the Champs-Elysees in one day. Or over to the Palais Garnier. And just strolling through neighborhoods, picking up snacks, desserts, etc., is the reason to come here. It's beautiful. But it can also be hell if your shoes are too tight. I love my grey Nike sneakers or a pair of trusty Birkenstock sandals for when the weather is nice. To blend in with the local gals, you'll want to pack a scarf . Or two. I love a scarf and always travel with one, because it's a blanket/pillow on a plane, and an extra layer while walking around -- ad...

Today marks six months living in Paris. Ah! It's still kind of unbelievable (pinch me and I must be dreaming) and fantastically sweet. And I feel so so so lucky to be here. Honestly, every day I say "we are so lucky." It's also the last day of school. Ahh! So, I walked Leah halfway to school, and dropped Alice off at her primary campus and just took a moment to digest it all. They've been growing up so fast lately. They really love their school and the friends they've made here. Again, we're so lucky for this community nestled in the west side of Paris. Once I was ready, I hit my favorite markets in Passy and got food prepped for the all-school picnic lunch. I was hoping to manage a zero-plastic picnic, and I got really close but decided to get chips and cookies as treats for the girls. Darn treats! Looking back at the last six months, there have been some ups and downs. It's taken me a while to get settled and comfortable. Though, I l...

I firmly believe the landscape guys in our local park place the sprinkler just right ... Shower Time ... so the statue looks like it's not a fan of getting sprayed by the water. I see it all the time, and each time it makes me chuckle. Thanks, guys! Related posts:  Read more about our Paris Apartment and neighborhood More posts that I labeled as "fun"

This quote is basically summing up the last two weeks of the reading-paloosa wave I'm currently riding. It all started with this Isabelle de'Medici's biography by Caroline F. Murphy. I ordered it after our trip to Florence and I wanted to dig into the family that built and controlled that little city like an empire for so many generations. It turned out Isabella's life was fascinating and wonderful, until her father died and it became a hell. But, that's what makes it a good story. I couldn't put it down. Following this kick, I quickly ordered a Josephine Bonaparte biography but haven't read it yet. Her story and legacy is beyond amazing. But before I go there .... We starting watching heist movies with the girls. The Ocean's 11 movies are pretty tame and can be enjoyed by the whole family. And that lead up to seeing the new Ocean's 8 movie at the theaters last weekend. This all made me long for Kat, Hale and the Heist Society  serie...

Because she's older, Leah got the room furthest from the master. It's also the only one with a (nonworking) fireplace and double ("french") doors. It's got a pretty view of the garden and connects to the main hallway, which makes it less private. In fact, it's probably used as an office or den. But it's the perfect 12-year-old space, we think. Leah's design direction was "fill it with rainbows." View from the Doorway  View From the Window Her Marble Fireplace With Faux Fire  I cleaned it up recently, so I snapped some photos. You can see the other rooms in our Paris Apartment by clicking here. It's been fun documenting the rooms for future reference.

Leah's school is opening a new Middle School campus next Fall and I got to tour it last week. It is two buildings that were once a business complex, I believe, that are now in the final stages of converting to a school.  Just imagine how a private school in the Paris would set up state-of-the-art classrooms and you can start to picture all the little touches of awesome inside these buildings. Standing desks, huge science labs, a sunny art room and a green screen room in the basement with the theater department. Just to start.  I'm pea green with envy.  The Historic Building, Science Labs are on the Lower Floors The Newer Building and the Brick Courtyard The Drama Classroom The one downfall is there is very little outdoors space within this campus location. So their after lunch "park" time will be in an enclosed space instead of the large Eiffel Tower-facing park they get to hang out in now. Leah's pretty excited about the whole thing, too...

In just a few weeks, the girls will be off of school. Then, we have about three weeks of open calendar until we head back to the States. That's three weeks! Because I'm a little bit of a homebody, the girls and I would gladly curl up on the sofa and binge Netflix or play dolls all day long. But we're in Paris! So, I decide to be proactive and schedule out those three weeks with outings and events ... and I'm calling it  Camp Paris 2018 ! YES, there will be time to chill and play with toys, but we're also checking out attractions around Paris that we haven't seen yet ... such as the zoo, aquarium, a bunch of museums and a chateau or two. I'll put the activities on a calendar, buy advance tickets, if I can, and off we go! Plus, most events take place inside, as in we don't have air conditioning in the apartment and I'm told July gets HOT. So that's a big bonus. Here's my current Version 1 of the Camp Paris 2018 itinerary. Who...

Wasting less plastic (and attempting to go close to zero-waste) in the kitchen also includes the cleaners that we use. Which, incidentally, will help rid us of a lot of the chemicals we don't actually want/need to clean with. But that's a whole other post. For now, I finally (happy dance) found a market nearby that has a laundry and dish detergent refill station! For the laundry detergent, the refillable bottle cost about 3€, and it looks like each refill will cost about 5€. If I'm reading the receipt correctly (which is debatable), that's LESS than what we usually spend. And I can continue to reuse that bottle! No more single-use plastic bottle. No waste! The same goes for the dish detergent, but I haven't run out of our current supply. These refill stations are a great solution for the problem of single-use plastic, don't you think? Imagine if we all just used the same jug again and again for detergent? And this market also had refill stations for liqu...

Let's get real about my ongoing goal of plastic reduction in the kitchen. Because, to be honest, it's NOT EASY. Markets basically plastic wrap ALL the food! So looking for items that we like to eat that isn't sold pre-packaged in plastic is a tall order. I'm doing my best. I'm pulling out recipes that don't rely on plastic-wrapped food -- which basically means grains and veggies. And baguettes. Oh, and eggs. You can always find eggs in paper cartons. But I do run into problems each week. So I try to limit where I can, but I need to be realistic. So, in the interest of full transparency, here's the plastic-wrapped items from my market run on Monday: Obviously, I'm Making Tacos for Dinner Tonight, And Couscous Salad Tomorrow Night (I'll caveat that in Paris, I hit the market a few times a week, depending on what's on the menu, so this might not be a good representation of "a week" of plastic purchased. But you get the idea.) N...

This weekend I made Alice's wish come true and got tickets to tour the Palais Garnier -- the huge, beautiful opera house in the middle of Paris. We've visited the outside a few times, but we've never entered. What a wonder! It's just as eye-popping as the exterior! We were awestruck. We had a French tour guide who told us stories about the society of 1870s Paris, the show of pomp and wealth, and the velvet-lined boxes in the auditorium. She also told us about Garnier, the architect who put his name and face all over the place. All so fun! We were swooning! Was Going to Take the Perfect Picture, And the Bus Pulled Up. Argh! The Auditorium. Stunning! I Love this Chagall Ceiling, Which Is Not Original This Is Hallway Where Men Would Spend Intermission The Lobby: A Place to See and Be See A Ballerina Dreaming  Alice is dreaming of the day when she performs ballet here in this building. And, yes, I will enjoy coming here to see her shine. Th...

First it was a scaffold, than hammering/drilling all day and bags of debris being pulled from the building. Than, yesterday, the noise got a lot closer. And today, it was just outside my door. If you've been following my InstaStories , you know what I'm talking about. Our apartment here in Paris is apparently going through some renovations. And, because my French is limited (and we've gotten no notification from our landlord), I actually don't know what the grand plan is.  But I've got a theory, based on what I've been able to piece together.  In the courtyard of our building (which was built in 1903) there is a fire escape/external staircase that goes all the way to the top floor. It's likely the "domestic stairs" used by the maids and cooks who lived in studio-like apartments in the attic of these buildings, and accessed the home they worked in by the kitchen door. Generally, servants were not allowed to use the doors and staircases r...