Would you like to read a little bit about the trip Mimi and I took to London? It was our first time seeing the city and thanks to your recommendations, I really think we had the ultimate London getaway. We stayed at the Grange St. Paul’s and it is literally across the street from St. Paul’s Cathedral — such a dramatic way to greet the city each morning.
There were loads of great restaurants nearby and even an adorable candy shop right down the street. We used the Big Bus Tour as our transportation (we could hop on right outside the hotel) and saw everything we hoped to see. We took a boat ride down the Thames to the Tower of London. Waved at Big Ben. Rode on the London Eye. Tasted our first Turkish Delight at Harrods. Took afternoon tea at Kensington Palace. Wandered around all seven stories of Hamleys toy shop. Ordered breakfast in bed. Took bubble baths in our swanky hotel room. And loved seeing Wicked.
We took so many pictures!
An unexpected treat: We’ve been working so hard on our French since we moved here, that it was a relief to be able to speak English freely — even for a few days. Can you believe how challenging it is to communicate in a new language? Makes me sweat!
P.S. — When Maude was very little, her nickname was Mimi, but in New York it sort of faded away. Here in France, she’s taken to introducing herself as Mimi again. I love it. It’s so cute and it feels so French, don’t you think? Do any of your kids use nicknames?
My daughters’ nicknames are Petunia and Maizie. The boys have them too but they aren’t used as frequently.
I’m glad you enjoyed London though. My son just found out he’d be serving a mission there. He’s quite excited…and I miss him already.
Gabrielle the slide show is a brilliant idea, a great way to share a whole lot more photos, and you know we just LOVE seeing as many as possible!!!
What a great girly weekend – Mimi must have just adored it all. It looks like the weather behaved itself for you.
Our nicknames for our daughters are Woo woo for Maddison (no idea how we got that :)) and Paree waree for Paris. And no we only use these names in private, especially as they are aged 19 & 16.
Hi there, I’m an avid follwer of your blog all the way from Johannesburg South African! My daughter’s name is Imani, which is Swahili for Blessings and we have called her Mimi since she was born.
She’s only 2 now but I’ve enjoyed reading about your mom and daughter trip, totally inspired me to dream of one day doing the same! Thank you, thank you for sharing your journey!
My daughter’s name is Mirabel, but we’ve been calling her Mimi for a while now – it’s what she calls herself. At two she can say a version of Mirabel, but she still uses Mimi!
Looks like a wonderful trip. We always go by eurostar, but I would love to take the kids by ferry like you did if it’s a nice trip. Hope Maude enjoyed St. Maud’s Day. In France, people really do remember to wish each other “bonne fête” for these days. (Benjamin is the March 31st by the way.)
We have a Mimi in our family, too; my 2-year-old niece Emilia, though mostly we call her “Meems.”
Loved seeing your pictures. I couldn’t help but notice the blue skies in some of the pics – you really lucked out, considering the typical London weather this time of year. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Looks so much fun. The sky is so blue in your pics.
My 6yo daughter is nicknamed Peaker… because from the first moment of life, she would peak with one eye opened ALL.THE.TIME. Her real name is Grace.
My 3yo daughter is most often called Bean or Jilly Bean since her name is Jillian.
Wow, Maude is your spitting image. That last picture looks like an age progression. Amazing :)
London is a great city to discover, specially when you try to get off the beaten path. Did you take the trip just with your daughter? If so, what a great idea to do something special :)
How fun, London and Paris in the time frame of one week. How cosmopolitan of you:), love the pictures, thanks for sharing. My children would have thought they “died and went to heaven” in that candy shop, wait, what am I saying, I would have too.
Oh, and my children are Kailey “KK”, Dominic “Dee”, never Dom, and Ionie “I-O, or Icakes”, not too original really, but it started after my son(middle child) was born. I didn’t want people calling him Dom, so we went with Dee, apparently his great grandfather was also called “Dee”, which we didn’t know at the time.
PS. The children call my mom “Mimi”, love that name!
Beautiful pictures. I’ve been so enjoying all your posts on how you & the family are adjusting to the new surroundings.
Mimi is also a perfect name for France & really anywhere.
Couldn’t help but think, “that’s how a candy shop should be!”. Where I’ve lived in the states, the candy stores are basically sparse and essentially boxes w willy wonka stuff and jelly belly assortments.
Love seeing pics of your trip. Splendid way to love on your daughter. :)
I love that your holiday photos are photos of my route to work!
I’m glad you enjoyed your visit – that area is one of my favourites – historic and lovely but nowhere near as crowded as oxford st way!
That sweetshop is lovely -I go there quite often but they are SO expencive – theres a chain called the sugar boy (mainly in kent – next time you come to the UK you should visit canterbury) which does sugar mice for 20p instead of £1! (how it should be!)
It looks like your trip was wonderful!
When I lived in Paris, I went teaching with the sister missionaries once a week, and it was so nice for an hour or two to just prattle away in English and laugh and share my stories and experiences from the week–I felt like I had my full personality back, since I had the vocabulary to express it! That was the biggest challenge for me in being immersed in French–I wanted to be able to express myself at the same level I would in English, and I felt like so much of ME was lost in my sadly lacking French skills. Good luck with developing your French skills–my life has been so enriched through being able to understand and read French (the literature alone…). :)
Thanks for sharing your trip with us! My son doesn’t remember going up in London Eye but I have a holiday card from 2006 to prove he really did it. He was afraid of it when we were there last spring. And I look forward to taking the kids to Hamley’s too, when they are just a little bit older. The Orangery was on my list for last trip but we didn’t make it. Back on the list it goes!
I’m a Maude as well. A French speeking Maude, with an “e” from Montréal.
When I was a teenager, I spend a year in California with an exchange student program. I always had to spell my name, because people there didn’t seem to understand what my name was when I told tem.
Now that I hear that you have the same problem in France, I guess it’s just an accent thing :)
Profitez pleinement des beaux moments.
What a super birthday celebration! Love the mom & daughter time together too!!
Ah, nicknames! I started going by ‘Bri’ in college because people had a difficult time with ‘Brianne’ (BREE in, not, Brian, not Brianna, not BriANNE). People would actually correct me in pronouncing my own name once I’d spelled it! Then I went back to Brianne in graduate school. My parents seemed a little sad that I’d shortened it to ‘Bri’ and I missed my real name. My friends still call me Bri – especially those who met me that way.
Then I did the same thing to my daughter. Her name is Aine Lea (AHN ya LEE, not ‘Ainey-Leah’). We call her ‘Lea quite often. And sometimes “Lea-Loo” (like Lilu) because our last name starts with Loo…
Then I named my son George. We call him G, Geo, Jorge, and Georges. And I call him Porgie-pie…..because he’s still a fat ‘little’ baby. I’m sure that one won’t sitck….
What a fun trip to take with just you and your daughter — I hope to do things like that with my boys when they’re old enough.
I love the nickname “Mimi,” and I love nicknames in general. My son is named after his dad and grandpa, so he’s got a “III” at the end of his name. We call him “Trey” because it means “three.”
Ooh the candy shop! What a wondrous-looking place. I can almost taste the sweets… thanks for sharing your memorable adventure!
great pictures! and a great adventure! my girl’s nickname is: Mimi! ;) Her cousin was using it, as he was to small to say her name right, ever since, everyone calls her Mimi. (in the family)
loved the pictures, especially the mother/daughter one!
yes, Yes, YES … learning another language does produce sweat! i lived in argentina for a few years and experienced the latin sweat of language immersion.
i must say that i’m finding french quite easy ~ as i live it through you anyway! :)
I could spend all day in the candy shop.
Looks like you had a fabulous time! Lovely photos. And great idea to take the river boat. I love her nickname too.
Hi, I just have to say I think that it is really weird that you say that Maude is a difficult name to pronounce in French— I live in Geneva (French-speaking) and there are plenty of little girls named Claude, which rhymes with Maude. But the name Mimi is quite cute!
I just wrote a recommended reading list about Britain for Flashlight Worthy Books (http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/British-Invasion-Books/660) and your pics have me dying to catch a flight across the pond! In the meantime, I’ll just live vicariously through your blog ….
Looks like a beautiful, wonderful, mother-daughter trip. And it inspires me for the future with MY daughter.
I also thought at the beginning “I love that you call her Mimi” – so I love the little note at the end. No nicknames yet for our kiddo’s – well we add an -ie to the end of one, but I don’t think that really counts. Of course neither hubby or I really had nick-names growing up either.
What a wonderful memory trip you made with your daughter! Can’t tell you how important those will be to her (and you) as she grows up and moves on – but you have years still! My oldest daughter, Lauren, is quite often called “Lala” by friends and family. And Lexie (already shortened for Alexandra) is called Lex. Family names are so fun and interesting! There was never a fun way to shorten my name as a kid, but I’m ok with that!
what a beautiful trip…our family just got back from a bit of traveling as well. 3 weeks in new zealand. i’m having fun catching up on your posts.
as for nicknames, oh yes. we call my daughter madeline, leni (as in lean-e). sorta came from mad-e-leani ballerini, then tortellini, then simply leni. she loves it. we love.
What fun! I love looking through all of your pictures!
My family lived in London for 10 years. Unfortunately, i was born 9 months before they moved back to the states. I have only been back once and it was awesome, but I look forward to the day I can take my kids to explore and be a tourist where their mama was born and their aunties grew up. I especailly fantasize of making the trip during the 2012 Olympics when the bike time trial will literally go right past our old driveway and church in Kingston.
My favorite nickname of my children is Mille, short for Amelia.
Hi there! So glad you made it into Hamley’s! Even I’m enjoying your stay over here–it’s fun to follow your blog!
By the time your children are of age this blogger thing will have given way to an evolved state but I would love to fast forward and read their take once they are older and can reflect on this wonderful once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you and your husband have given them. Not to mention what a lovely birthday present for Maude.
I love these photos! What slideshow plugin did you end up using?
Nobody has said it yet . . .
“Mimi” is short for “mignon”, or “cute” in French. My daughter and her friends are always saying “ohh, c’est trop mimi!” when they see something they find adorable.