Christmas tree and Christmas card attempt

Today we bought our Christmas tree.  Before I allowed my family to walk down the block and choose their tree at the flower shop, I force marched them up the street for a photo shoot.  It is 10 days before Christmas and I am still hoping to e-mail a card.  Despite finding a very kind tourist to snap our photo, the sun was not cooperating and our photo (see the last one of this post) was too dark.

 These happy girls have just chosen their tree.  They are, they tell me, making a tree symbol with their fingers.  This may be our Christmas card photo.

 This is a very fancy macaroon place, Pierre Hermé.  I thought we should get a photo of their tree with our tree. 

 My husband is strong.  He then carried this tree up eight flights of stairs to our apartment. 

Blinded by the flash of the camera, she perseveres to get the star on the tree. 

Failed photo attempt--complete with props.

Jewish Art and History Museum and Kids' Christmas Party

We had a busy Sunday.  Pierre signed the girls up for a workshop at the Jewish Art and History Museum.  The workshop was two hours long.  The girls had an opportunity to learn some history, check out a bit of the museum, learn about Hanukkah and menorahs, and to do some art.  Pierre and I explored the museum and went the the temporary exhibit on The Jews of Algeria.  The English translations at the museum and on their website are rather wordy and quite difficult to understand.  Early on in the exhibit, I decided it was just easier to read the French.

 

Here is a quick synopsis of  the History of the Jews in Algeria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    The History of the Jews in Algeria refers to the history of the Jewish community of Algeria, which dates to the 1st century CE. In the 14th century, many Spanish Jews moved to Algeria; among them were respected Jewish scholars, including Isaac ben Sheshet (Ribash) and Simeon ben Zemah Duran (Rashbatz).^[1]

Following Algerian independence in 1962, most of Algeria's 140,000 Jews, having been granted French citizenship in 1870, left with the pied-noirs for France.

 

The museum is in amazing building and tries to represent all of the different Jewish groups in the world.  It is a large museum and there is a lot of information and many amazing exhibits.  Photos are not allowed.   

 This photo was taken in the museum's courtyard. 

Extensive security measures have been added since the last time I visited several years ago

--so sad it is necessary. 

Sylvia's 

Lillian and Sylvia copied some of the images from menorahs onto their copper plates.

 Lillian's

After the museum, we ate some mediocre Chinese food and headed directly to the OECD kids' party.

 

In front of the main OECD building.

The OECD is one big organization and there were about a million people and their kids at the party.  The girls had a good time.  Sylvia especially loved all the excitement and all of the junk food.  Lillian and I had had enough early on and headed home.  Pierre and Sylvia, the party animals, stayed for a little longer.

 

Fishing for treasure

Christmas inside and outside

 

We have not brought home a tree yet, but it is beginning to look like Christmas around here.  Have you ever grown an amaryllis? 

If you never did

You should.

These things are fun.

and Fun is good.

--Dr. Seuss

They are very hearty plants and can grow up to a couple of inches a day.  When I was teaching I would often grow one because you could actually see the plant grow each day.  This one didn't start growing until Pierre knocked it off the table.  Maybe I had packed the soil to tightly, or maybe it was just his magic touch.

 Madame Alba, our gardienne and sometimes babysitter, put a tree in the lobby.  We have new hats and this bunny and owl thought this would be a good spot to pose.

 So far, I have not seen much of the religious side of Christmas in Paris.  I will go looking. 

Paris knows how to shop.  This is the Christmas village at Trocadero.  There are many Christmas villages around the city.  Temporary cottages go up and all sorts of food and crafts are sold.  There are many ice skating rinks around the city and Trocadero's must be opening soon because Lillian's class is slated to skate there this week.

 This weekend I had to run errands with my bunny and owl in tow.  I decided we would look for cool Christmas displays and take some photos.  We got Lil's glasses tightened, bought some fancy purple parsienne boots for Sylv, and went grocery shopping.  Here are a few of the things we saw on our way.

 Shops take their window displays very seriously all year round.  Of course, at Christmas the ante is upped.  If the windows are not quite finished, there will be a sign in the window saying, "Vitrine en cours,"  in case you were to think that such a half-finished display represented the store.  Horrors!

 Here are some penguins posing in front of two of my holiday looks. 

Last week we had our first snow.

Juliette Gordon Low Dance Party!

 Lillian's Brownie troop was in charge of the big party this year.  The Brownies and Daisies (all girls from kindergarten to grade 3) have a Birthday party for the founder of the American Girl Scouts every year.  Lillian's troop is working on Money Management and Philanthropy.  The girls sold cupcakes to raise money to make toiletry kits for the homeless. 

 I had close to 50 luxury cupcakes to frost, so I was up at the crack of dawn.  After what seemed like several hundred cupcakes, these little pajamaed beauties appeared. 

 

These ladies are working on their marketing strategy.  The table was set up to snag the parents as they arrived with their girls.  It was the job of these Brownies to explain why they were selling the cupcakes. 

 These stickers were on the top of every box.

Did I mention that I was the buyer of the boxes?  I had a nice afternoon wandering around the baking shops of Paris asking after a particular size of box.  Finally, I found them!

 

Invitees were told about the troop's plan and were encouraged to donate toiletries. 

Girl Scout power!

Look who came to the party!

The girls said The Pledge of Allegiance and Lillian carried the American flag in the flag ceremony.  Canadian/American power!  She was very impressed that I had already memorized the Pledge.  We Americans say it at the beginning of every school day, so I had many years to memorize it.  Thanks to my teaching jobs, I can also recite it in Spanish.

 

 Dance Party!

Party Passport!

 

Birthday cake!

 

Sylvia likes a good dance party!

Good work troop 35!



Christmas at Les Grands Magasins

Printemps has the perfect spot to showcase its SWAROVSKI Christmas tree.

Printemps is one of the grands magasins.  When I went to the exhibit currently at the Musée D'Orsay, Mode et l'Impressionisme, the exhibit included lots of advertisements from the grands magasins in the late 1800s.  Although it looks like some sort of opera house, this is a huge department store.

My friend Lori took me out to lunch for Christmas.  The restaurant is also under and enormous stainedglass dome. 



Thanks, Lori!

Before lunch, we checked out the Christmas windows.  The first ones are from Printemps.  

These marionettes are hooked up to eleborate mechanisms from above that keep balloons going up and down and dolls dancing, flyings, and waving.

Penguins with Pricey Purses

The Galeries Lafayettes' windows did not photograph well because of the mirrored backgrounds.  All of the animals were dancing to hip hop music.

Yes, this polar bear is rocking out.

Dancing marionettes with animal head hats, of course!

Pierre's parents are coming for Christmas.  We will be sure to take them to check out the fabulous window displays.

Field Trip to Musée Cernuschi

Lillian's class of 33 kids went to the Musée Cernuschi.  There were lots of parents, which is important when you are taking the metro.  The girls and I visited this museum in September, so Lillian was a pro.  The kids where split into two groups and we traipsed after the museum teachers up the stairs and into the museum. 

 

First, the woman in charge lectured the kids on three different objects in the museum.  The kids were expected to be quiet and to listen.  And they could not sit, they were expected to stand while she told them her exhaustive knowledge on each subject.  If the children wiggled or talked, they were shamed in front of the entire class.  "Pierre, you are not listening.  Do you think you are better than everyone else?  Did you hear what I said?  Listen!"  I remember my teaching training classes about classroom management that took the equally extreme and exactly opposite approach.  "I like how Bonnie is sitting.  Oh, look how Johnny has his hands folded."  In other words, you would never directly talk to the child who was wiggly.  It seems like there must be a happy medium.  I must say that the kids do not seem at all disturbed by these reprimands.  I, on the other hand, jump, my heart starts beating double time, and blush each time a teacher raises her voice and embarrasses a child.

Next, the students made a moving dragon.  The different parts o the dragon were attached by brads (une attache parisienne).  This was serious stuff ; the kids needed to copy the teacher exactly.  If someone was having a hard time, it would be pointed out that theirs did not look like hers.

Lillian made a very cool dragon.

We walked back through Parc Monceau and to the metro.  I guess I didn't stop walking, because this is one blurry photo.

In other news, Sylvia is losing all of her teeth!  The other top front one should be out by Christmas.