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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

my friends are coming!

Two of my very best friends are coming to spend a week with us here in Paris!  

On the agenda is of course:

Tour of our neighborhood - Le Marais, Bastille and Notre Dame (within walking distance)
Eiffel Tower/Parc du champs de Mars/Tocodareo
Bateaux Mouche Tour
Les Invalides & Pont Alexandre III
Rodin Museum
Montmartre and Sacre Coeur
Latin Quarter/St. Germain (Les Deux Magots or Cafe de Flore, Pantheon, Rue Mouffetard, Jardin des Plantes)
Laduree Macaroons!
Versailles
Le Louvre, Jardin de Tuileries and Place de la Concorde
London is Calling!  One crazy day in London (First Train out Last Train in)
Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysee, Shopping day - Haussman/Opera Area
Musee D'Orsay


Pictures of our crazy tour of Paris/London are to come!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

what music is popular in france right now?

Do you love old French music like Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel or Serge Gainsbroug?  Are you craving some more modern French music?  Below are some current French favorites.  Even though they not all are necessarily French these are some of the most popular singers/bands enjoyed by The French today.

French Singers/Bands:

Nico Teen LoveBb Brunes - Rock/Indie Rock
Camelia JordanaCamelia Jordana - Pop
Ben L'Oncle SoulBen L'Oncle Soul - Pop/Reggae
Coeur De PirateCoeur de Pirate - Indie Rock
Help Myself (Nous Ne Faisons Que PaGaetan Roussel - Rock
On Trace La RouteChristophe Mae - Pop/Rock
Sur Mes GardesJoyce Jonathan - Pop/Rock
ZazZaz - Pop/Rock
Lily Wood and The Prick (French but sing in English) - Indie Rock
Wolfgang Amadeus PhoenixPhoenix (French but sing in English) - Indie Rock
Mister Mystere (Bonus Dvd) (Pal0)M - Matthieu Chedid - Rock
One Love (Deluxe Version)David Guetta - Techno
CheeseStromae - Rap/HipHop
Métisse(s)Yannick Noah - Pop
La Femme ChocolatOlivia Ruiz - Pop/Indie Rock

Non French Singers/Bands:
The ResistanceMuse - Rock (UK)
101Keren Ann - Pop/Indie Rock (Israel)
JoyfulAyo - Pop/Indie Rock/Reggae (German)
The King Of LimbsRadiohead - Indie Rock (UK)
Down The WayAngus and Julia Stone - Indie Rock (Australia)
The Boy Who Knew Too MuchMika - Pop/Rock (UK)
Before NightfallRobert Francis - Rock/Indie Rock (USA)
21Adele - Pop/Rock (UK)

Enjoy the new French music!

You can download all MP3's off of Amazon.com directly by clicking the CD cover and in most cases listen to a part of the songs on their website.

Not included in this article are the Top 40 in The United States i.e. Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry as they are also popular in France

Saturday, March 12, 2011

what i'm reading...

When F was in the US a few weeks ago he picked up a new book for us to enjoy.  Here it is Winter's Bone.



Winter's Bone: A Novel

Friday, March 11, 2011

teaching aids for small toddlers

When we were in the US I picked up a few teaching aids...since I am the only English Speaker in the household and I want to make sure M would learn adequately.   I found that there wasn't much to offer little toddlers...boo!  Below is the Brain Quest series I bought...they didn't have much to offer for 2 year olds...but I am very excited for him to get older as they are GREAT!  M really enjoys using these...I can usually get about 20 mins of focus.  Right now (20 months) he is answering about 20% of the time.  I am not sure if he is acquiring more words or not.  But it's a start!

Brain Quest Write & Erase Set: Numbers My First Brain Quest

I also saw the KUMON series which sounded just as great but they didn't have anything for 2 year olds that was language related...more activities and that's really what I was looking for.  But it might be good for others!

My First Book Of Tracing (Kumon Workbooks)
Let's Fold! (Kumon First Steps Workbooks)Let's Color! (Kumon First Step Workbooks)Let's Cut Paper! (Kumon First Steps Workbooks)Let's Sticker & Paste! (Kumon First Steps Workbooks)My Book of Easy Mazes (Kumon Workbooks)My Book of Coloring (Kumon Workbooks)



What have you used?  Any recommendations or ideas to encourage language skills?