If Paris does not come to the mountain…

……the mountain will come to Paris.
This is exactly what has happened in front of the Hotel de Ville in the 4th.  An ice skating rink and sledge lane have been erected in front of the town hall, and taking into account the sub-zero temperatures here in Paris, you might as well be in Chamonix. The sledges (or sled lanes) are only for kids under 12 and everyone gets a 10 min turn. Kids under 6 need to be accompanied, (but watching the parents going down the lane, it really did not seem like a chore). There is also a merry-go-round which my daughter loved even more than the sledge.
And the best thing of all: It’s free.

This alpine entertainment will be around ’til the 9th of March, so there is plenty of time to go and enjoy yourself.

Happy sledding!

– Emilie in Paris

Only in France

The French “joie de vivre” is well documented, and French women are also known for taking good care of their bodies.  But I have to say that when I first heard about state subsidized “re-education” of a certain part of the female anatomy after giving birth, I could not believe it.

But believe me girls, it’s true……

Here is an article in the New York Times I read describing the phenomenon of making mothers “as good as new.”

– Emilie in Paris

Haptonomy

As I am pregnant in France, I am learning very quickly about a new system.
There seems to be a lot more birth options in France than in the UK covered by social security. We have gone down the route of a private midwife. This was mostly because we wanted to get to know the person who was going to deliver the baby but still have the baby in the safe environment of a hospital, in case anything goes wrong.
The midwife is affiliated to a clinic and works together with a team of doctors. So if everything goes smoothly we will see no one else during the birth, but if anything goes wrong we are still in a hospital with all the staff necessary.

The midwife, with whom we decided to go with, specialises in something called Haptonomy, which is completely new to me.

Fun for kids in Paris

So you are visiting Paris and decide that shopping is not enough and it is time to do something cultural. Or alternatively, you are living in Paris and have decided it is time to finally do something cultural. You drag the whole family to the Louvre or the Musee d’Orsay and after approx. 45 minutes your toddler decides she has seen enough art, thank you very much, and it is time to answer her needs.
I have just discovered a solution.

Babyccino

My daughter has known the meaning of a good babyccino since she was able to hold a spoon. I have known the meaning of a good babyccino since I discovered that it could keep a toddler entertained for at least 10 minutes at a lunch table. If one orders a second one (disregarding the occasional babyccino spilled all over the table) that’s 20 minutes of valuable, uninterrupted mummy time! What a great invention is that?!

While our children were happily messing about with their babyccinos, I think my girlfriends and I spent hours discussing topics like: the best baby/toddler products, fashion, recipes, films, websites, beauty products, shopping, expositions, restaurants, travel, practical matters, the occasional gossip (think Sienna Miller & Jude Law, Kate Moss & Pete Doherty), raising our kids, raising our husbands -and anything else that would interest us, (urban mothers).

A bit of an indulgence

I recently did a bit of extra freelance work… and what did I decide to do with that little bit of extra cash? Buy my husband a new jumper? Nope, he has got a least two and he likes them old and with holes. Buy my daughter a new toy? Nope, the child has more than enough toys.
In my quest to stay stylish during my pregnancy, I decided to spoil myself and splash out on a bright pink Agent Provocateur maternity bra!

Ex-pat moms

Here is an article an American friend of mine living in Paris wrote. It made me laugh, as it rings very true. I thought you guys might like it as we have all been, or are, expat moms!

click here for LA Times article

-Emilie in Paris

Playground Rage

I had an instance of playground rage yesterday. (I have the feeling that the longer I am in Paris the more I am feeling the French rage as opposed to British reserve).
It got me thinking: maybe the playground is the main learning ground for toddlers for how to defend themselves and maybe, by intervening, I am actually causing irreparable damage to my cute little defenceless 22-month-old.

Fall 2007 and fashionably pregnant

Now this post is not about a specific thing, it is a shout-out to the fashion of the fall and winter of 2007. Thank you Miuccia Prada, Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs  for inspiring this fall’s fashion as there is still not a single maternity item hanging in my closet! (And I am 5 months pregnant)!
Every shop is stocked to the brim with lovely little baby doll dresses and tunic tops, that are nicely fitted on top and then trapeze out. This means that the features I am wanting to accentuate, (i.e. my momentarily nicely shaped boobies), are being well presented, while my ever-expanding waist line is disappearing under a few strategically placed layers of cloth.
Now the only thing I need is a nice pair of really skinny maternity jeans and my fashion happiness is complete. So if anyone knows where to pick up a pair, please let me know!

-Emilie in Paris

Why I love socialist countries (and Anglo mother groups)

Living in France you soon realise the advantages of a fundamentally socialist system. Here every mother, working or non-working, has the right to subsidized childcare. A non-working mother has the right to 2 half days a week at a place called “une halte garderie”. My daughter loves it! She learns to sing new songs, dance little dances and play with all her friends, all for the maximum price of 3 euros an hour.
The downside for me, however, was that when we first moved to Paris I did not know a soul. As the state here takes on the responsibility for entertaining the kids, there isn’t really a platform to meet other mothers.
In London, the moment I had a newborn baby and realized I needed daytime friends (most of my socializing up to then had been nocturnal), I joined various groups. I had the choice between baby massage, baby yoga, general baby groups, even baby music for newborns. In France these kind of networks don’t exist, because most mothers go back to work within 4 months of giving birth as the state nurseries are plentiful, cheap and good.
So I fell upon Message:  www.messageparis.org  (A group of other mothers coming from anglo backgrounds, who must have had the same issues as I did, started it up). It has turned into a highly organized network of playgroups, workshops etc.
So now we have the best of both worlds;  my daughter gets to play with other little French kids and sing cute little French songs, and in the afternoon I get to gossip with my mom friends, and the kids play together and everything is bon, as they say in Paris.

-Emilie in Paris