Last weekend was Saskia's third birthday party and to celebrate she had a pirates and princesses party. There were about 8 children and of course all the girls came as princesses and the boys as pirates. Of course. Saskia is what her mum describes as a 'trash queen' which I think has a different meaning in New Zealand to what I think it means, but what I think she means is that Saskia is a bit wild, she doesn't care particularly about looking pretty- she dressed up as princess but insisted on having her face painted as a scary tiger. Mila on the other hand, in some ways is quite a tomboy, but she LOVES princess and she wore the whole get-up for the party, make up and all. It was a good children's party with all the standard games - pass the parcel (although the children didn't seem to quite get this, they all tried to open the present as soon as it was handed to them!) musical bumps and statues and a treasure hunt. It was a joint party and the other girl's parents made this amazing cake! Although apparently to have cakes like this is very Anglo-Saxon, the French don't really go in for that kind of thing.

On Monday I went with Frances to the Jacquemart-Andre Musee. We did try to go to the big Monet exhibition at the Grand Palais but apparently all advance tickets are sold out and there was a 2 hour queue to get in. So we decided not to this time. Although I really want to go at some point, there's over 200 of his works there! As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm a big fan of his. The Jacquemart-Andre Musee is the old palace of a 19th century couple who dedicated their time to collecting artworks. It's an amazing building to start with, from the street it looks like a typical Haussman style house but the entrance is tound the back and it's an incredible, luxurious palace. It's beautiful. And all the rooms are beautifully decorated and the amount of artwork for one house is astonishing. Afterwards we had tea in the cafe there. And of course it was typically luxurious and beautifully furnished. Having tea and pastries in one of Paris' finest salon de thé, you know, I've really got it good here.