litany

i love lists.

here is a list why

1. i like writing numbers

2. i like to make goals

3. i like the organization factor

4. you can always add to lists

5. you can always make another list

6. you can write a list on anything

7. i love checking things off of lists

i make lists for everything. this very day i made a grocery list. mindy and i have a life list. i have lists of new years resolutions. i have a list of things i want to do before i leave paris. i have a list of potential blog topics. the other day when i was bored in class i made a list of every single boy i have ever liked since andy meek in the fourth grade (funny). so today when we read in our paris walks book that there was a little check list of things to search for in the parc we were supposed to walk through, i got excited. then i read the list, and i scoffed. i literally scoffed. to scoff [skawf, skof] –verb (used with object) 2. to mock at; deride.

this was the list:

1.beehives 2. old men playing petanque 3. park security men keeping people off the grass 4. a mini statue of liberty 5. children riding donkeys 6. people practicing martial arts 7. a couple kissing on a bench 8. people jogging 9. an intense game of chess.

i scoffed because that list is a list of literally every single thing that comes to mind when imagining the quintessential, perfect, typical parc in paris, and there was no way that we were going to find all those things in the same place at the same time. an intense chess game? no way.

i think that jardin probably scoffed right back.

dear jardin du luxembourg,

i am gravely sorry for scoffing. you totally, absolutely, and completely disproved my apprehensive thoughts, because you really did have every single thing on that list. and more. children playing in sand boxes, old women sunbathing, little sailboats in the parc fountain, and not one, but MANY intense game of chess. you are therefore the ultimate example of a perfect parisien parc. i am sorry for my doubts.

love,

madeline

i could not get over it. we just kept on seeing things on the list. we checked them all. there were even people practicing martial arts! really! and the walk was just perfect. we started by seeing one of the tallest skyscrapers in paris in the midst of the typical french neighborhood. we ventured past at least 7 movies theaters. we saw a strange statue of alfred dreyfus, and i even made everyone stop so i could get a gumball. madeline fact: i love gumballs. they were only 20 centimes. then we entered the jardin du luxembourg, and even though the air was brisk, the sun was shining and the parc was full of all kinds of people. we got to mozy through the gardens, stop and sit in the glorious springtime sun in some of the few open chairs that were left, people watch, and check things off of that silly little list. my favorite part was just sitting in the sunshine, what an atmosphere! as we just sat there soaking it all in i was so happy. and guess what? i got sunburned! it doesn't get much better than that.

after our contented stroll through the epitome of paris in the early springtime, we headed back home. emily and i went to the grocery store and then did a mostly hilarious yoga workout in the backyard. we had yet another fabulous dinner with nannick, she couldn't get over our sun kissed cheeks, and then i wrote this whole blog, accidentally deleted it, wanted to cry, and now i have written it again. hopefully it is as good as it was the first time around. too many good pictures today.

gumballs!

religieuse chocolat.

merengue and chocolatey goodness.

double door feature

typical french

crazy numbers

i liked this little stick today

the dreyfus affaire was quite the scandal

me in a hut

1. beehives

2. old men playing petanque.

they told us we were distracting and to go away.

hard to tell when people joke in french

3. keep off the grass

4. a mini statue of liberty

5,6. okay i couldn't subtly catch the martial artists or the children on donkeys, so you'll have to make-do with us practicing our martial arts.

7. a couple kissing on a bench

this couple is serious about the whole kissing thing

8. joggers

9. an intense game of chess

in fact, two!

other parc treats:

old woman sunbathing

precious sailboats
apparently newspapers make for great pillows
one of my favorite trends, soaking up some sun

copying,

and getting sunburned

wildlife in the parc

couldn't be happier

sunshine friends

important man imitation

sunshine colors.

nothing like a quick stop at the leader price