Teddy in Paris Day 2 Part II: The Sainte Chapelle, The Conciergerie, The Pont-Neuf

On the way to The Sainte Chapelle we were walking around, took pictures near the Seine, and when passing the bridge we met a musician playing the accordion, quite common picture in Paris, you can meet live performers almost everywhere.

The Sainte Chapelle was quite impressive with its Gothic style, stained glass, rich colors and vertical trends, even being under renovation that time. We left the stroller at the entrance to get upstairs, one stairs to go up and another one to go down, a quite interesting circular stairway. Teddy was involved playing with dolls in a boutique on the main level, they had Medieval style queens and kings, knights, horses and other toys.

We continued with The Conciergerie, the former royal palace and a prison during the French revolution. Museum passes did a great job giving us the fast way to enter the historic attractions skipping line-ups, great if you  are visiting with kids.


On the street we also found an artist painting on the road, Teddy liked that so much even offered some help to the guy.

Our last stop for day 2 was the Pont-Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the Seine, it was more like a mid-river island, you can have great views from it. This bridge was not over-crowded when came there, nice place, Teddy was running there back and forward, looking how boats crossing the river and chasing birds. The bridge fences were covered with locks and Teddy decided they are toys and tried to take them out. This bridge somehow reminded me Toronto Center Island in a smaller version but the feeling is same. At the end of the day we were so tired, headed home after vising the Pont-Neuf to prepare for next day royal treat at the Palace of Versailles.

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Little Driver - Wordless Wednesday

One of  the opportunities to be in the driver's seat for a while at Chuck E. Cheese's.

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Belly Banter stickers review

Recently I received Belly Banter boy sticker set for review. Belly Banter is a funny, easy and stylish way to announce baby’s milestones, monthly birthdays, pregnancy stages and make some funny statements; great for photos, photo cards and scrap booking. The motto of using is easy: Peel, Apply and Capture. Each set has 15 4” inch stickers.

We had an interesting turn around when I showed my Belly Banter sticker set to our family members, their reaction was more like “Oh, another stickers, there are tons of them around”. Everything changed when I started using them for my boy photo shots, I chose clothes which were close by color and a theme to the sticker’s message and we made some great pictures. Then I showed the photos to my family and friends, this time they were saying “WOW, this looks really awesome!” or “Where did you get that T-shirt?”


I like how Belly Banter stickers help to announce baby’s monthly birthdays, it is not only a capture of important moments of your life but also lots of fun for a mommy, a baby and the whole family. I think the round shape of stickers and applying them on a belly bump make them naturally attractive, we had so much fun with Teddy, and it was like playing a game.

Kids are growing fast, and as a parent I want to capture every moment of my kid’s life, all these precious moments we enjoy together from birth to first food, seasons and holidays. Thank you, Belly Banter, for making it so real and we are looking forward to new creative sets.

Amazing news:  Belly Banter was announced as one of the latest and fabulous PTPA Winners. Congratulations!

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Teddy in Paris Day 2 Part I

Our second day in Paris with a toddler was quite challenging, we decided to visit Notre Dame de Paris, The Conciergerie, the Sainte Chapelle and finally the Point Neuf, these famous attractions are located close to each other.

We started with Notre Dame de Paris, a beautiful church with such familiar look but this time we saw it real. Lots of tourists were around fascinated with the magnificent view. The front of Notre Dame was filled with visitors taking pictures; when we arrived, the line-up to enter the Cathedral was very long and stretched for a few blocks. Finally, the line-up turned out not to be a big problem as it moved fast, and during that time me and Teddy had a chance to look around and do some shopping (since lots of boutiques were just across the street)  while my husband was standing in line.


It was a little dark inside the Notre Dame, but I am glad it was allowed to take some pictures there (with no flash mode). The Notre Dame Cathedral was quite big so we were able to use our stroller inside and have Teddy sitting and watching all the beauty around. We all found the Notre Dame so beautiful: these walls, sculptures and mosaics. Then we walked around outside, and I can say that outside views did not disappoint either.


We decided not to climb up the stairs of the Notre Dame,  it would be nice to see the bells and other interesting views but with our toddler and stroller that could have been such an undertaking plus slow moving line-up so we skipped that and headed to the Sainte Chapelle, our next attraction for that day.

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Remodel & Create Your Dream Home with Royal Building Products

This post brought to you by Royal Building Products. All opinions are 100% mine.

After our European travelling and breathtaking images of beautiful architecture we were eager to apply some changes to our home, add a fresh and new look to it according to seasonal waves.  Spring urges us to start some renovations, wake up our inner creativity and get rid of everything old, dull and gloomy.  That’s why we turned our requests to Royal Building Products a leading manufacturer and distributor of building materials.  

Their dedication to quality, renovation and exceptional customer relationships attracted not only professionals in the construction industry but also regular homeowners willing to renovate and improve their residences.  Operating throughout North America, Royal Building Products offer a wide range of innovative products including mouldings, deck, window profiles, siding, patio doors, trim, accessories and rain ware.

Besides tons of colors, sizes and styles, Royal products designed to provide low maintenance, save energy and last over the long term.  And one of these products is vinyl siding which nowadays the choice #1 for exterior cladding in the United States and Canada.   Did you know that vinyl siding became super-popular since 1960 due to its durability and easy maintenance.  Vinyl siding is available in such vast variety of colors and designs that can help any architect or builder meet their remodeling and construction needs.

Royal Building Products also offer an amazing Virtual Remodeler on their Web site where you can get a “taste” of their products applying to your home, a future project or already existing images on-line, check it out for your creative ideas. I found this tool is very helpful and easy to use.

Do you have lots of renovating ideas in your mind, on the way of creating your dream home or just want to add some remodelling features to your existing residence, so visit Royal Building Products, they always ready to help and provide the best products to homeowners.

 

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Improve Your Life with Krill Oil

Our active lifestyle requires significant resources as physical as emotional. Being a busy mom and having an active toddler is not the easiest that is why when I was given an opportunity to review Krill Oil by Everest Nutrition I was excited to do that. It was also a way to think and care more about myself.


I learned that Everest Nutrition’s Krill Oil is extracted from Krill, very small, shrimp living deep within the waters surrounding the Antarctic. Krill Oil product was shipped to me few weeks ago, it was a nice blue color bottle, the color which reminds me ocean, sea or something related to the water. That time I was not in my best mood dissatisfied with everything in my life including myself.

It is recommended to take two capsules daily for regular use and for intensive one take two capsules twice a day. So I started taking two capsules daily, I found them smell like fish and like that, even after reading some reviews that there were not. I also like that they made in capsules so they do not stuck in a throat as other non-capsule made medications.

I was reading Everest Nutrition Krill Oil’s research report to learn how I can benefit from taking the supplement. Here are the benefits of omega 3 krill oil I found good for my health: abilities to support joint health, boost your energy, reduce aging and promote heart health.

After taking Krill Oil for few days I noticed changes in my body, first in joints, I stopped feeling that slight pain in my legs and neck. It definitely filled me with more energy since I started doing more tasks during the day. As for heart health I cannot measure that because I do not have any significant problems but I want to make sure I am on a healthy track.

Overall I started feeling myself much better, I compare it to the moment when you have a deep breath of fresh air but it lasts much longer. You see the world in a different perspective, and feel like everything is possible. Not sure if that feeling is seasonal or Krill Oil did most of the work or both. I will recommend for sure this product to my friends and relatives, because I want them to improve their lives and their health too. Better health is better life for everyone.  

Disclosure: I received Everest Nutrition Krill Oil product to facilitate this review on behalf of Blog Friendly PR. No other compensation was received.  All thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog post are 100% honest and my own.

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Teddy in Paris Day 1: Arrival, Hotel, Eiffel Tower

We were at Pearson Airport ready to fly to Paris I have never been but heard so many good and exciting stories. My research guides before the going were Internet and Rick Steves' Paris 2013 book. The flight was quite good, Teddy fell asleep right after the dinner giving us time to watch movies from the beginning to the end. Travelling with small kids also gives a benefit of skipping line-ups during boarding.

We arrived to Charles de Gaulle Airport on Friday afternoon; it was Easter week-end. At the airport ,workers were really nice treated us with sweets, chocolate bunnies especially when they saw Teddy in a stroller (he was sleeping that time) , saying that one more treat for a baby.

We easily found the Information Booth, bought tickets and transit passes Pass Navigo for a week. I decided to get the pass for a week just being out of hassle with tickets and a flexibility of travelling for the whole week. There are so many things to explore were ahead.

Initially we also wanted to buy museum passes at the airport (it was a good idea) but we were so excited to be in the City of Lights so we skipped that planning to buy them at the attractions close to our hotel (the better solution was to get passes at the airport as later we spent some time standing in a long line for passes with active toddler).

The day was nice and sunny; we caught out RER train going to the city, not having problem passing with our UPPA Baby stroller with sleeping baby via checking gates. At the second stop a musician with accordion entered the train playing nice music, after first sounds we were sure we are finally in PARIS.

In comparison in Toronto no musicians play in a train, of course, there are lots of them on a platform and near shopping spots.

Our second RER gates passing was not as successful as first one, our stroller was stuck and squeezed with gates which made me panic, but glad we managed to push it forward. After that we decided to fold our stroller all the time we are travelling by RER or subway (Metro).

Finally we reached the stop École Militaire where our hotel was located. Our Hôtel Royal Phare turned out to be exactly what I read about it on-line, small elevator, small stairs and corridors, but we were lucky we got a quite big room (I think because of three of us) .


This hotel became our home for the next nine beautiful and amazing days in Paris. That day and first day we ended by visiting the Eiffel Tower since it was close about few minutes’ walk from our hotel. The view was so impressive, as Teddy said “Oh, that’s THE TOWER”.

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