Sometimes you go too far

Shopping with my mother is always a delight. Maybe because we both shop so rarely that it is declared an event throughout the nation when we do.
It could also be declared throughout the nation because of this...

So much stuff! Ah well, we will look pretty for the summer!

Writing

I think I have mentioned before that I am writing a book and I finished it in the summer. I am at my third rewrite now. And almost completely done typing it out. This is the last rewrite (I think...) and I couldn't be more excited!
I think, that feeling of completion to just know that I finished it, is brilliant. I know selling is the actual hard part but my 'feeling of completion' is going to go a long way.

I think it helps too that every time I read my book I giggle uncontrollably at my awesome story. Isn't it important that something you do pleases you, first and foremost?

Monday's recommendation on Tuesday

Turtle Feet
by Nikolai Grozni

This is actually an autobiography. Personally that isn't really my cup of tea, usually I flee them like the plague, but my brother told me with his infinite wisdom that I had to read this book and his wisdom did not fail him.
This book is absolutely fabulous. The main character, and writer, Nikolai sets off on a quest to find himself as he decides to become a Buddhist monk. We find ourselves in the incredible world of Nepal where everything we know about Buddhism gets put into question. All the characters are described with great detail and you can't help but fall in love with all of them. There is something special about the way he tells the story, a kind of phrase or structure, that makes you really see the world as he sees it. A great insight and an even greater read. This story will make you want to head off to Nepal and also never even dream of setting foot there.

Heading back

We're heading back to France so just a heads up that my usual Monday recommendation will be tomorrow.




The creepy doll that has been at our Swiss house since we bought it and I am convinced is under a spell (probably why we can't seem to get rid of it...).

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Just a friendly EASTER word

So before my family wakes up to enjoy Easter together, here's a message of happiness to everyone on this day of hunting eggs and churching it up!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Isn't this bunny impressive!!! I'm proud to say that this breed of bunny is called Vlaams Reus. Vlaams as in the flemish side of Belgium where I am from, so I am also.... Vlaams!

I love family outings

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Walking in the mountains

We went on a lovely walk the other day. Strutting forth into the unknown of the mountain opposite to ours. We had a pretty good time, even considering they blocked the dangerous part of the walk off.
Sigh... That was why we went there!




Me and my bro at the little chapel.




Lost...




Mother was very glad about her detachable pant legs in the scorching heat.
















Parts of the walk was really fairytale like. This particular one was a Calvary and there some beautiful flowers at each of the crosses.

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PS

I love our new car!




Although having just bought it we had the window smashed in by some lovely people waiting at a red light in a not so safe place in Nimes... Some people...

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Swiss Easter fun!

After arriving, finally, at our little Chalet in Switzerland we made our way to one of our regular restaurants, la Cabane.




Silly little brother.










The next day we headed out to Sion, the city just down the mountain from us. After going around a but we found this adorable little flower shop, that just had the cutest displays ever!




















Here is my reason why the displays were the cutest ever. The most adorable white rabbits were hopping around in the window display!
I love Easter!


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On my way

I'm heading out for Switzerland! I'll be on the blogosphere when manage to make Internet work there. Until then!








Just finished loading the car. Woohoo!

Cupcakes and unsettling thoughts

I discovered a cupcake shop in Paris!
I'm sure there are a lot of cupcakes shops in Paris, and that's all good and well. Big fancy stores where they make tiny fancy cupcakes with all different exotic flavors... Is it just me who really can't stand that kind of stuff? I mean, I'm really sorry for the innovative and  super creative chefs that probably are catering to all these different untapped branches of society, but I really just like a good vanilla cupcake with icing and maybe a couple flower shaped sprinkles. I guess 'haute societé' isn't really my thing when it comes to pastries and I feel deprived when my tasty sweets get smaller and smaller.
But! Near my house as well! I found this tiny, adorable, good old fashioned cupcake shop!

Unfortunately the day I found this shop I was a bit insulted and run down by one of my friends... I felt a little terrible so I didn't post about it, instead indulging in three cupcakes at once. (and I admit a couple of spoons of Nutella).


On sad days though I take great comfort in things that I can't explain why they make me happy... like... My puppy, Feanor's, enormous feet!

Precious moments

We went to the pet store the other day, to buy our darling Ulysses (our guinea pig) his two new girlfriends, and as my mother searched for someone who worked in the store I witnessed a few stolen moments of bliss.

I just can't get over these adorable little hamsters. One of them us just being used as a bed, but he seems fine with it.

So many bunnies! I had never seen so many at Truffaut before! Adorable little darlings aren't they?

I'll add pictures of our new darlings, Helena and Penelope, soon.

Monday's recommendation

The Lost World
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but whoever said having a boring cover was OK wasn't very smart (and was probably french...). The first thing I saw when I was in the bookstore, when I was about 14 years old, was the bright green cover of this book. Then of course dinosaur, so I was thinking "Ooooh! Adventure". Then I read the title, "Huh! Kind of like Jurassic Park". Then I read the author and I thought "Oh my God!". As I am an extreme fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and of Jurassic Park the book was bought instantly and quickly brought home so I could read it after a day of hiking. This is the best book to read while on a hiking trip. Every day when I was out there, in England so the greenery is lush and bizarre at times, I imagined myself inside the book.
All I can say is that this book is about ten thousand times better than the movie that took its name. Don't get me wrong I could watch that film over and over, even considering all the mistakes that are in it, but the plot isn't the most spectacular thing in the world of film. Basically Jurassic Park is the all around theme of this movie, without the ending... or the beginning... And some things are completely different. Ok so there are dinosaurs in both.
A young journalist falls in love with the girl he believes to be 'the one' and will do anything to gain her heart. When rejected because he is too 'boring' of a character he starts what he doesn't know will be life altering. In search of danger and intrigue he falls upon an infamous professor, known for his hatred of the press, who was once laughed at years ago because of his proclamations about a place where creatures from the past still existed. Our young hero decides that he wants to go back there and convinces the scientist that proof is all he needs to make everyone believe. And so starts an adventure that will change all of their lives forever.

Internet Shopping

These two shops are my current lovers online. So if you ever want something adorable and a good look book to choose from, these are the ones I would say I prefer.

Modcloth.com

Plasticland.com

Since I've started the lists - Romantic BBC!

So I've felt bad since I made the romantic movie list because a lot of my preferred romantic things to watch are all of my favorite BBC series.
So here are the best BBC series in my opinion. 

N°1
Pride & Prejudice

I can't say enough good things about this series. The way it stays true to the book is just one of its many virtues, among which I have to say is Colin Firth. The relationships between the characters and the development of the story has more time to breath in a miniseries than it does in the movie and I think that the feel of the time period is really set up really well thanks to that.
I've seen this series at least once every year since my mother spotted it on TV in America, to give an idea we have it on VHS, DVD and BluRay.


N°2
Larkrise to Candleford

This series is absolutely irreplaceable! The characters all develop throughout the four seasons, and as you learn about them you start to become part of their closely knit community. Lark Rise is a small hamlet near the wealthier market town of Candleford. We follow the lives of the staff of the Candleford post office as they go about their lives. I can't say how much I love this series and how much I looked forward to every single new episode.
Something about this show that I find so amazing, and my mother agrees with me ardently whenever we are in the midst of watching an episode, is the thought behind each episode. There is always something you learn at the end of each episode and it is eloquently explained by a narrating voice (which can be any of the characters but usually is Laura, the assistant post mistress). That, in itself isn't that amazing, but the things the characters learn! I am constantly amazed by all the things they talk about on this show and how they really inspect all these aspects of life. I swear if I could meet anyone I would meet whoever it is that comes up with every episodes meaning because they are probably the most wise person I will ever meet.


N°3
North and South

Aaaaahhhh! That's usually the words I use to describe this series. Or perhaps just a bit of drool as I think of Richard Armitage. Sigh... This is the story of Miss Margaret Hale as she is moved to the North of England because of her father's work. She finds herself in a completely different kind of society, with a whole different set of rules. How can life be so difficult? And why is everyone so rough and violent? Maybe it's not so unappealing when it comes from the head of the cotton mill, John Thornton.


N°4
You Rang, M'Lord?

 This series is absolutely hilarious! Not exactly romance packed but something you shouldn't miss. A rich man recently appoints a new butler and his daughter as a maid, unaware that the butler is after anything we can get his hands on. Don't miss out on the laughs with a crazy grandmother wit a hidden stash of jewels, a rich lesbian daughter that dresses as a man, a rich son that loves his maid more than his riches and a footman that will do anything to keep the family safe from a thieving butler.


N°5
Persuasion

 If you don't know the story of Persuasion, I'll give you a brief summary. Anne Elliot is a wonderful young woman, but with her good heart and her lack of courage she is easily persuaded by those around her. Seven years before the beginning of the story she is persuaded to give up her love for Frederick Wentworth a young, intelligent naval officer with great ambition but little money. She never lets the memory of their love leave her heart though as she watches him leave for what she thinks is forever. But now he has come back.

Spiritual moments

It is a beautiful, and may I say way too warm, day in Paris. The sun and birds and my need for entertainment led me out of doors to Shakespeare & Co. the only English bookstore I know and love in Paris. The two trees in front of the store had large pink flowers blooming everywhere on them and I couldn't help but stop to take a picture.

After the flowers and the purchasing of a Jasper FForde Thursday Next Novel I found an myself pulled by an invisible force to cross the street to the Notre Dame de Paris. Sometimes I love walking around in churches and just appreciating the silence and the way the air seems to fill with peoples prayers (I guess I wasn't baptized for nothing). It's almost as if you can feel them as you walk around, too afraid to breath but not really needing to anyway. I really felt like having one of those moments today but unfortunately there were too many tourists at the Notre Dame and there wasn't as much silence as you would expect in a church. I think that's my only problem with it, that it's so famous. Because ultimately is is a fabulous cathedral.