art for art's sake

            today was spent mostly in class. class from ten thirty to twelve, from one to three, and from four fifteen to six thirty. that sounds like a lot of class and that doesn't sound like a lot of fun. and then i remember that i have my art history class in museums where we actually stand there up close and personal with the art we are studying and i think to myself, class isn't so bad after all.

            and so today we were back at the musee d'orsay (which i highly recommend) and i was excited because i knew we would be looking at degas. edgar degas did the series of ballet classes that i just love. we looked at impressionists and post impressionists today, and i must say they are probably some of my favorite artists. monet, manet, cezanne, degas, i love the way they study light, the way they capture ephemeral moments, the way they use every color but blue to create water, the way they fragment their strokes to let the eye do some work too. these are the paintings that make me wish i could paint.

            the degas lived up to my expectations. it was lovely to see the real deal, but what i was not expecting was to fall in love with a certain renoir mini series. renoir was an impressionist and he painted two paintings called the country dance and the city dance. 

 i immediately fell in love. i think what stood out to me the most was the detail of the country-woman's dress. those little rosettes just caught my eye and wouldn't let go. but i love it all. the clothes, the gloves, the expressions, the contrast. these paintings capture two real moments, two different seconds on the dance floor. and i love it.

            i am grateful for my art class. i am grateful for painters who stopped painting art exactly how they were told and started painting art for art's sake. i am grateful for painters who wanted to capture everyday moments. i have really come to appreciate art.

pastry du jour: framboisine

description: a raspberry cream surrounded by a darling sponge cake, topped with fresh fruit

taste rating: fresh and fabulous

(the best part might have been the fresh raspberries on top)

why do they have to be so cute?

we love pastries

friends on a bench.

 new high heels.                          

em is too cute.

she loved her caramel millefeuille

 these shoes reminded me of something...

mom, jenn, any ideas?

 now i am in the loire valley in a little hotel. 

room 3 ELEVEN. that has to be a good omen, right?

everyday an adventure.

we shared girls camp stories on the drive here. gotta love liahona forever.

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.

spring break part two: the fun

i know you all have been eagerly awaiting spring break part two, so here you go. let me sum it all up in a few short words: we had lots of fun. here are just a few more pictures from the quality times. okay a lot of pictures. enjoy.

torrential rain storm.

everyone has umbrellas

focus

love the color

me and rome

loved the trevi fountain

making wishes

we will all return

gelato is the best in roma

colosseum.

roman boys and togas

sunshine

vatican singles

we love being outside

sistine chapel.

look mom! i went inside the colosseum!

in paris i have my doors,

in rome i found mail boxes

biking shots.

best day.

socks with crocks.

'switzerland is the world'

spinny singles

best of friends

jet d'eau

james does the splits

weeping willow

last minute church stop

as for today's update...

in spirit of our 'go big. go home. or go home big' motto, we've made a new goal: a new pastry for every day we have left. awesome

today's pastry: the religieuse. chocolate please.

its called a religieuse because it looks like a little nun.

taste rating: tasty

love life