the story of how she became a bag lady

once upon a time there was a girl. this girl's name just happened to be madeline. madeline lived in a little house all covered in vines. this little house just happened to be in france. when this girl first arrived in france she noticed that everyone around her carried purses. everyone just happens to mean everyone. men and women alike carry purses. madeline suddenly felt a little bit ashamed about her bulky backpack. she did not want to stand out. she did not want to be the obvious american on her way to school. she wanted to fit in. she started to use her purse.

using a purse made madeline feel better. using a purse means that one has a little bit lotta bit less room. this is alright. this is alright until one needs to have an umbrella, two cameras, a water bottle, a notebook, and a lunch on hand. madeline began to wonder how they did it. then she started to notice something else. women on the metro often had one purse and one sack. often a reusable grocery bag, sometimes just a very full department store paper bag. one purse, one sack. one purse, one sack. one purse, one sack. madeline thought about it. madeline didn't think she could do it. could she really bring herself to this bag lady state?

but just as she made the transition from backpack to purse, she decided to make the transition from one bag to two. she tried it. she put her lunch in a cute reusable grocery bag. she felt free! after the lunch was consumed, she folded up the sack and put in in her purse. when she stopped at the store on the way home, she took the sack out of her purse and unfolded it. this two bag idea was ingenious! and so madeline became a bag lady. she became proud to carry two bags at all times. she became able to carry multiple notebooks, a pair of shoes, a lunch, a water bottle, a kinder kare package, and everything else necessary all at once. the two bags just made perfect sense! and so, she lived happily ever after, and she carries two bags to this day. (and every time she does, she feels so french.) and that is the story of how she became a bag lady. a classy french bag lady.

pastry of the day: donut a la fraise.

so it isn't really a pastry, but we made an addendum to the rule for donuts.

because, hello, it is hot pink.

taste rating: magical

how can you refuse a 'pastry' that matches your outfit!?

today we finally crossed another thing off our to-do list.

hot chocolate at angelina

it was absolutely divine. em and i got the chocolate chocolate, james got white chocolate. we were thoroughly pleased. we loved the drinks and the ambiance of the whole place.

cute table next door offered to take a group shot

l'africain - that's what they call it. apparently

liquid chocolatey goodness

oh hey, its my birthday.

as if we weren't already sugar-ed out from the hot chocolate, we were tempted into buying these hazelnut kit kats on the way to get our daily pastries. classy.

best donut i ever had

em had a pistachio and framboise tarte

today james went for a caramel religieuse.

legitimately surprised that there was a strawberry filling

everyone needed a taste

in honor of it being day two, james and al both got two pastries.

go home big right?

we sat in the park and told stories for hours!

this is emily's story telling face

sometimes for an extra adventure emily and i take new metro lines.

today we knocked off two more. we were not impressed.