bonjour

we have just returned from two beautiful, sunny days in paris. the weather meant that it was idyllic just wandering through the gorgeous parisian parks, riding on carousels and eating icecream.

the girls had a great time trying out their few well rehearsed french phrases. we managed to hang all our gear on the handles of iris's pushchair - maybe too much gear as it lost a wheel near the sacre couer and is still soldiering on, thanks only to the truly sticky french cellotape.

the food in general was underwhelming. we still had that ingrained understanding that the standard of french food would be pretty high wherever we chose to eat. it wasn't. esme's real hamburger was the only savoury food that caused any excitement.
pastries and cakes were a different matter. i wandered the streets with iris in the early morning of my birthday and felt it was the perfect excuse to gather freshly made pain au chocolat, friands and chocolates ( including easter eggs still shamelessly looking pretty on shelves!)

later in the day we ate a selection of equisite miniature birthday cakes in the jardin de luxembourg. layer after layer of chocolate and strawberry in as many ways as you could dream of...look out for more recipes. i have been inspired!