Good news : we found an apartment. We spent 3 days in Paris between Christmas and New year and I wasn't very hopeful, but we found it on the second day. I gave up Paris, apartments we could afford to rent there were not only very small but shabby. I suppose people who are good at making and renovating things, who can redo walls and floors and kitchens and bathrooms could make something nice out of them, but that's not our case.
Our new home will be in Enghien les bains, 15 minuted from Paris by train. It's a small spa town which came into fashion in the mid 19th century. We will be 5 minutes on foot from the train station and from Puni's school. We will leave in the main street with all the shops and there will be a lake nearby. I was pleasantly suprised as I was considering Northern Parisian suburbs to be at best drab and at worst dangerous. But Enghien retains a special aura from its days as a place of villegiature for rich Parisians and its inhabitants are above the local average in revenue and professional status. Here's the map :
Bad news : as we came home from our holiday last Saturday, I heard a "drip..drip..." in the living room : a radiator had leaked in my bedroom upstairs and the water was flowing through the floor and dripping in the living room below. I won't be sorry to leave this house. Fortunately there weren't any big damages, the carpet and curtains are stained and fit to throw away, and the low wooden table is discolored in places, but none of our important possessions has been damaged. If Marina's dolls had been ruined I'd have been livid. The ceiling is cracked and stained but the insurance company will see to that.
Our third day in Paris, we had brunch at Ladurée on Bonaparte street. I had never been there before, only to Royale street and the Champs-Elysées. I bought the charms, pictured here next to an empty macaron box :
The opened box :
In order to be able to wear the charms I bought a bracelet from Thomas Sabo.
In other news, it's king cake season, here's our crop of fèves this year :
The eggs are from king cakes bought in my hometown, Nancy, the capital city of Lorraine, and are miniature reproductions of Longwy porcelain eggs.
I gave Puni my collection of tea-time Colas fèves :
Here's Puni's fève box :
I still have a chance to add to her collection. Yesterday at work, we had king cake during a management meeting, and though I tried to get the fève (it's supposed to be where the cake is at its lowest), I failed. But next Wednesday the site manager is giving away king cakes to all departments so I have another chance!
Your new place sounds lovely! Those charms are beautiful, are they available online?
Posted by: aichaku | January 11, 2009 at 04:19 AM
Congratulations on the new place!
Posted by: Tracy | January 11, 2009 at 07:31 PM
congrats looks like a great area..how fun.. :)
Posted by: calcrochetnut | January 14, 2009 at 07:41 PM
Congratulations on finding an apartment!
The Feves are adorable ^-^
Posted by: Elizabeth | January 14, 2009 at 08:56 PM
こんにちは。
お久しぶりです。お元気ですか？
新しいapartmentが見つかったとか・・・前に話されていた仕事の異動があったのでしょうか？
日本もここ数日とても寒いです。
体調を崩さないように気をつけてくださいね。
ブログのアドレスが変わりました。（日本のブログです）
http://blog.livedoor.jp/peaceful_time_/
Posted by: Sachiko | January 15, 2009 at 08:46 AM
Such a delightful place! Glad I stopped by!
Posted by: Irene | January 15, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Congratulations on finding the apartment, I hope you will all be very happy there :)
Posted by: redcountess | January 17, 2009 at 03:47 AM
What a lovely lovely BLOG!
Posted by: Laura @ Robson and Mason | January 27, 2009 at 09:05 AM
Congratulations on finding a place to call home !
The area sounds lovely,pretty and ideal, especially with a young one...
I liked living by a body of water nearby..when my son was little,each day we drove past it to go to work and school...in the summer,we went to the restaurant down the road from our apartment frequently...
I hope you will have many happy memories in your new home ~**~
Posted by: ~Mia | February 23, 2009 at 04:35 PM
What a lovely tradition...King Cakes...your charms are simply beautiful...
Bonjour, Carrie
Posted by: Carrie | April 24, 2009 at 01:41 AM