My 10 Favourite things

First and foremost, a big thank you to Working Mama at Last of the mojitos for the tag. I can't believe that less than a month ago I had never been tagged, and this is now my third one.

This meme reminds me of a book I used to have, one of the many books I had to leave behind and never recovered. It is a french book by Philippe Delerm, a collection of 35 short stories, of no more than 1 or 2 pages each, all about The small pleasures of life (incidentally this is the translated title of this book, when the original french version is called La premiere gorgee de biere et autres plaisirs minuscules. In other words, the first sip of beer and other small pleasures). It also reminds me of the beginning of the film 'Amelie' (another translated title, but then again who, in their right mind, would go and watch a french film called 'The fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain'). I think that we (by we, I mean French people) are somewhat experts at this, little pleasures, I think it is in our nature and culture. The French are often portrayed as people who know how to enjoy life and its little things (amongst other stereotypes). I often reflect on the little things that make me happy. So here is my (non exhaustive and in no particular order) list.



1- Watching my girls playing together. Noelie has developed a fascination with her sister lately. She will do anything to get a laugh out of her. She also has started to sit up and Marie seems to be less afraid of playing with her (not to mention, that it is a lot more comfortable).

2- The smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. Not instant coffee (that smells more like some kind of dirty socks having brewed overnight, tastes like it too). We bought a monster of a coffee machine recently and it just makes the best coffee. And it fills the house with the most wonderful smell.

3- Sitting outside and feeling the sunshine on my face. It doesn't have to be for long, just a few minutes are enough to recharge my batteries.

4- Having a long hot bath, with a good book and a nice glass of wine and topping up with hot water after a while (candles optional). The most relaxing experience.

5- Watching a film with all the family. We tend to do this on rainy Sundays. Mr Foodie in his chair, Marie with me on the sofa under a nice cosy blanket. Mr Foodie and I are big film lovers and we want to pass this on to the girls.

6- A walk with the family on a nice, sunny, cold and crisp winter day. I already wrote about this in a previous post but there is nothing like wrapping everybody warm and heading out. And nothing better than coming back into the warmth of the house afterwards.

7- The smell of an old book. As a girl, I used to love reading (and still do) and I used to raid my grandmother's library anytime I got a chance. Some of her books were quite old, the pages yellowed by time. When opened, that smell would draft from them, musty, ink and old paper.

8- Getting into a nice warm bed on a cold night or alternatively, getting into a nice cold bed on a hot night (although it very rarely happens here that the nights are so hot that you can't bear to sleep with any covers on whatsoever).

9- Sitting at the terrasse of a french cafe, watching the world go by. One of my favourite pastimes. I could sit there for hours, sipping coffee.

10- Cooking and baking of course. The smells, the tastes, the textures and the sense of pride and pleasure that comes with seeing the plates emptying in silence. Not because we have nothing to say or are just to hungry to talk, but because it's so good that everybody is engrossed in just that, the taste, the smell, the textures...

And so many other favourite things that I haven't listed but are equally up there, little things that make life beautiful (and more bearable at times). I will now pass this meme onto the following great mummy (and daddy) bloggers:

• Josie at Sleep is for the weak


• Tim at Bringing up Charlie


• Jen at The king and eye


• Young Mummy at Young and Younger


• And last but not least, Northside mum

Happy blogging everyone!


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Foodie Mummy