Monday 30 June 2014

A Celebration in Paris

The two granddaughters school
 Dancing, flitting butterflies - made by granddaughter for her mother
Oh dear! Oh dear! are we late?
 "Whooo...are...you?" he said in a breathy voice
Once upon a time........
there was a Mad Hatter's tea party
This is
 Alice  
these are Alice too and a sweet baby flamingo
and the Cheshire Cats had a mischievous grin
A fun wonderland day at the British School in Paris celebrating their 70th year

52 comments:

  1. These are such precious photos, Rosemary. It all looks like a completely fantastic day for everyone. (I think Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are my favorites – so cute!)

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    1. Thank you for visiting Georgianna - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are a couple of cuties.

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  2. So nice to attend this celebrations with your geranddaughters in Paris. Your wonderful pictures show a lovely day.

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    1. When we travelled over we didn't realise that such a lovely occasion would be taking place, so for us it was a bonus.

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  3. What fantastic celebrations! The decorations are amazing, especially the ribbon chandelier "thingy", not quite sure how to describe it, but it is a wonderful thing nevertheless! All of the costumes and outfits are great too. Everyone must have had a wonderful time indeed. xx

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    1. Ribbon chandelier 'thingy' is perhaps as good a description as anything Amy. Someone had worked very hard making it, and we all thought that it looked lovely showing the patriotic colours of both Britain and France.

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  4. This is a lovely theme for a children's celebration, and Paris is looking nice and sunny. What beautiful butterflies your granddaughter has made for her mother. They will be kept forever, surely. I see some very fancy cake action at the Mad Hatters teaparty! It looks like a great day for everybody.

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    1. It was a glorious fun day Patricia with perfect weather. I think that the butterflies were inspired, granddaughter also made some that she attached to her mother's eyelids and below which fluttered as she walked.

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  5. Hello Rosemary,

    Well, this looks like the perfect celebratory party for us. A Mad Hatters' tea party, now there we should be entirely at home!

    What fun this all looks to have been. A very jolly way to celebrate the 70th birthday and everyone looks to have gone to town, if not Wonderland, for their costumes. It is good when everyone enters into the spirit of things. And, how clever your granddaughters are with their butterfly making. A flight of fancy, no doubt!

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    1. Dear Jane and Lance - you would have been very much at home, your black and white hats would have been perfect on the day. I was very impressed by all the costumes, decorations etc. Many of the costumes were actually put together by my DiL - she is a whiz with the needle and thread and has lots and lots of energy.

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  6. I want to go back to school if it can be this much fun!!!!
    What a fabulous celebration, a lot of hard work went into the costumes etc. Thankfully a sunny, dry day so all could have a 'wonderful Wonderland' day.

    Thanks for your recent lovely comments whilst I've been away Rosemary - I'm back now and will catch up soon!

    Hugs - Mary


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    1. My dear Mary - so pleased to learn that you getting better and hopefully your jet lag has worn off now.
      This in no way resembles my school days either, the youngsters have much more fun today.

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  7. Hello Rosemary, It's so nice to see a wholesome celebration like this, especially when it involves two of my favorite books--Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass. Have you seen Jan Svankmajer's surreal filmed version? (Sorry that I missed a couple of your posts--I was traveling en route to Ohio.)
    --Jim

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    1. I would love to see that film Jim, I have seen some images from it.
      I thought that you must have flown home to Ohio - I suspect that the flight must be about 16 or 17 hours, so hope that you are now fully recovered after it.

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  8. Dear Rosemary,

    What a delightful posting! It does my heart good to see that children can still derive joy from the simple pleasure of dressing up and using their imagination. With everyone so ramped up in a digital world, there's all the greater need to step back and just play.

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    1. Dear Mark - I do wholeheartedly agree with you. Fortunately my grandchildren seem to be so busy doing other things that I have yet to see them fiddling with mobile phones or iPads - one thing that I find very worrying is the number of people that sit at meal times or during conversations playing with their gadgets instead of interacting with those around them.

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  9. I'd really like to echo Mark's comments. Plus it's wonderful to see so much effort being made to create a special day, making memories for everyone involved.

    Jean x

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    1. Memories, especially childhood ones are so important - even my DiL, who was involved with helping to make the costumes, was impressed with everyones input. There were tea-cups hanging in the trees, clock faces attached to the tree trunks, a wonderful BBQ and lots of interesting stalls - it was a fine effort, and the weather was perfect.

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  10. What a gorgeous Mad Hatters Tea Party. I've never been to one, but now, even as an adult, I'd love to throw one. The decorations and costumes are quite creative. What a delightful day you must have had.

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    1. If everyone participates it is good fun, yes, you are right it was a delightful and memorable day had by all.

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  11. So cute and lovely! And what a bright day it was!
    Marian

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    1. Every day was perfect weather Marian - a good job too as we travelled light - no coats or jumpers.

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  12. What a lovely celebration! It must have been fun to be part of it all. Are the Cheshire cats your granddaughters? They look lovely!

    Happy week.

    Madelief x

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    1. The Cheshire Cats are sporting the colours you love! - I know you will forgive me dear Madelief if I leave you guessing on that one.

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  13. Hello Rosemary

    What fun and your images capture the spirit of the day. The concept of the Mad Hatter's Party allows for frivolity

    Helenx

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    1. Dear Helen - it was a wonderful wonderland day with everyone entering into the spirit of the occasion, from the tiny ones to the teenagers to the Mums and Dads and even the Grandparents too.

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  14. You timed that just right to be at the Mad Hatter's Party, Rosemary. The young ones and teenagers all look as if they're having a good time. Attending the British School in Paris will be a good experience for your grand daughters.

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    1. These two granddaughters really get around Linda - 5 years in Norway and now back to Paris where they spent 5 years when younger - they can both speak French well. We didn't know about the celebration when we booked the flights, but it was lovely to be present.

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  15. What a wonderful "do"! It makes me feel patriotic and international at the same time - and how super that these well-travelled children are living with their parents and not at boarding school.

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    1. Dear Nilly - It is the longest established British International School in the world with well over 50 different nationalities attending - hopefully it is good for all our futures that these children are mixing together and growing up knowing more about each other.

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  16. How wonderfully , the school has decorated the garden. Alice in Wonderland - such a good choice for the children to relate too and dress up.
    All the children look so happy. What a great time they must have had.
    Thomas , my eldest grandson, has a friend that came from the Paris international school.. he is in his class.
    So nice, that you could be there Rosemary, with your grandaughters. Magical times to remember.
    valxx

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    1. The parents and the youngsters too did a wonderful job of making the grounds of the school fun. Although my DiL was involved in making many of the costumes even she was delighted that everyone had worked so hard to make it a wonderland day.
      I stayed behind at the end waiting for a lift home, and it was surprising just how rapidly they cleared it all up.

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  17. I feel like clapping heartily after this splendid array of photos, Rosemary! Hurrah! The weather was clement, the skies blue and your pictures are so very bright and beautiful! There's a lot of beauty here and the combination of French and English culture always make me feel well-balanced.

    Stephanie

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    1. It was so nice to see children from many parts of the world interacting together. As you know with your own family it is a wonderful opportunity to be fluent in both French and English.

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  18. Rosemary,
    How wonderful to be there at the party, with all the children dressed up.

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    1. It is lovely to see young people enjoying themselves Margaret.

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  19. Long time, no see, rosemary! I’m slowly back to blogosphere. What a fun school festival in the style of Alice in Wonderland party! Every child shines through the party. It’s so nice to acquire the second language being immersed in the language’s culture. My daughter-in-law studied at the International school in Thailand because of her father’s new post in Thailand and now she is a trilingual: she speaks English, Thai, and Japanese, while I’ve been struggling with only one foreign language. Lovely array of photos as always.

    Yoko

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    1. Dear Yoko - lovely to have your visit, I have been thinking about during the time you have been offline and the sadness that you your family must be feeling.
      Struggle is not the right word Yoko for your mastery of English language - everything you write is perfect.
      Both children can speak Norwegian and French so as you suggest schooling abroad does bring with it added benefits.
      Thank you for your visit Yoko, I loved hearing from you again.

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  20. Sweet photos that exude joy all over , must have been a real lovely day !

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  21. What an wonderful day! So much happiness...love it!
    Have a lovely summer evening,
    Titti

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    1. Thank you Titti - hope that the sun has now arrived in Sweden for you to enjoy.

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  22. Such a fun day in such a lovely spot in such glorious weather. Thanks for sharing this, Rosemary. :)

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    1. Wall to wall sunshine Yvette and lots of laughter.

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  23. What a lovely colourful post - it looks like a joyous time was had by everyone

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    1. It was a great day and the weather was perfect - hope the same was true for your visit to HRH

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  24. And a great time was had by all!
    How fabulous for your granddaughters....
    So....your brother is back in a Florida, eh?
    Wasn't darn hot enough here for him? Hahaha!
    I am really looking forward to next year....5 weeks this time! YAY!
    Enjoy the rest of your week, Rosemary...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. It's no wonder that they call you all snowbirds♡

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  25. What a perfect way to celebrate the school's 70th anniversary, Rosemary. The children have all been very creative with their costumes and props and it looks like a wonderful time was had by all.




























































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    1. We felt fortunate, Perpetua, to be there for it, we didn't know when we booked our flights.

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  26. What a fun-filled day for the children.

    The excesses of the royalty eventually caused the demise of many of their members at the guillotine!

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    1. On this side of The Channel too - "off with their heads" was used at the same period in history

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