Tuesday 30 December - The Invalides and Passage Choiseul

Steam effects from the sauerkraut and rotisserie on rue de Levis

There was a cloudless sky today and the effects of the low winter sun were excellent. We went first to the Invalides where the sun was shining brightly on the dome. We were able to walk around to where the sun was shining to the grearest effect on the ornate golden dome. 

 

 

The Eiffel tower seen from the Invalides

The rue de Grenelle is always interesting with it's official buildings in the west and the small shops and boutiques in the east. We made a detour to look at the Basilica of St.Clothilde and found a very quiet area. 

St. 

Cloth independent

The magpies had a wonderful view from St. Clothilde

Rue de Grenelle

The St. Germain market was not very interesting so we quickly walked along the rue de la Seine to the river with its expansive views across to the Louvre. 

The Louvre

 There is a pedestrian foot bridge over the river to the Louvre. Couples have placed so many padlocks on the railings that a couple collapsed under the weight. The places to put locks has been significantly reduced but the touts were out in force selling padlocks as well as Eiffel towers.

Le jardin du Palais Royal

The passage Choiseul is one passage we have not visited previously.  It is long and the glass roof lets in plenty of light. It was lunch time and the small restaurants and take out counters were very busy indeed.

Passage Choiseul

Dinner was at Le Relais de Venise where Benoite served us. Paul had vacherin for dessert.

Monday 29 December - Errands

We were woken this morning by a symphony of sounds. The first movement was a prelude for doors, car doors and starter motors. The second movement was scored for garbage trucks and garbage bins. The minuet and trio was performed by the street sweeper where the dulcet tones of the broom acted as counterpoint to the tinkling streams running down the gutters on both sides of the street. The final movement was for angry car horn with car radio accompaniment terminating in a percussion finale of car doors. All very entertaining.

After yesterday's trekking around Paris Karen and Paul are in Basel today leaving us to get in some essential supplies such as wine, cheese and a baguette.

It was sunny today and not so cold as yesterday so we walked through Monceau Park to the Arc de Triomphe then around the Arc. This took some time as there are eleven roads leading into the Étoile. We returned via Place des Ternes.

Sunday 28 December - Tourist stuff

Quite a bit colder today and the wind was pretty strong at times. However the clouds cleared off mid afternoon leaving great light effects later in the day. The Monge market was in full swing and Mouffetarde was reasonably busy. There was singing and dancing at the bottom end of Mouffetarde.

In the window of a chocolate shop on Mouffetarde

A beautifully decorated house on Mouffetarde

The singing and dancing on Mouffetarde was in full swing

Notre Dame from the Ile St. Louis

Hotel de Ville

We then went to the Île St. Louis and Notre Dame and then to lunch at Le Bourguignon du Marais - onion soup with bavette of beef. We have found the staff to be very friendly and attentive and the cuisine is excellent.

A new piece of art in the garden of the Hotel Sully. The metal plates were vibrating in the wind.

 There followed the Hotel Sully, Place des Vosges, the Marais, the excellent metro station for Arts et Métiers and the Pompidou Centre where there was a pause for (very) hot chocolate. The parvis of the Hotel de Ville was very busy with skating and free roundabout rides. One man was making very large soap bubbles for the kids to burst. 

The children were having a great time jumping to burst the bubbles but not many realized that the man was trying to raise some money

Next came the Jardin du Palais Royal, the Louvre, Tuileries and Place de la Concorde before heading back to Lévis. The Palais Royal was quiet but the hoards of tourists elsewhere were very heavy.
Paul and I did a dry run to Gare de Lyon and back as he and Karen have an early start tomorrow for their day in Basel.

Saturday 27 December - Karen and Paul arrive

I took the RER out to CDG to meet Paul and Karen and bring them to the apartment they are renting for the next week. It is close by in the rue de Lévis. Everything went as expected. We all went out for lunch at the Bistrot D'Id. There was onion soup gratinée and rabbit on special. We then went grocery shopping and finished up at the fromager on the rue de Lévis. Even though we only wanted a Langres the lady took trouble to select the particular cheese that was just right for us. There were smiles all round for a simple and small transaction and we left the shop wishing each other a Happy New Year.
This evening we went to the Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower lit up and came back via the Arc de Triomphe and the top end of the Champs Élysees. The tourist crowds in both places were heavy and not very pleasant.

At le Bistrot D'Id

Friday 26 December - Flaneurs in the 17th

With parking being less of a problem in the holiday period this was the first time I was able to get a clear view of our favourite boulangerie

Today was a slow day. We mucked out the apartment and went for a walk through Parc Monceau.

The gull detracted somewhat from the classic pose.  The pond in the background had been drained for a major rehabilitation.  The fish have been relocated to the Bois de Boulogne.

Now that the leaves are off the trees we noticed this tree with large orange fruits.  There were many birds feeding on the soft flesh

From there we went to Place des Ternes and along the Boulevard des Ternes as far as Pereire. 

Quite a display at the Place des Ternes

Walking this way we had views of the Arc de Triomphe down the side streets but from several different angles. There were people about and many businesses were open but there was a feeling in the air that the pressures of buying presents and preparing a meal were gone - almost a feeling of relief.

The Poncelet market was in full swing although the horsemeat shop was closed.

Dinner this evening was at Le P'tit Canon, our favourite local restaurant. The rognons and confit de canard were excellent as was the tarte tatin.  We have found the Chinon is a good red wine for these meals.

Thursday 25 December - Christmas Day

We got up late and walked down to the 2nd arrondissement for lunch at Le Grand Colbert. It was a great meal. Not too busy when we arrived but it was soon full although the noise level was not too high. We started with a coupe de champagne and had a bottle of Saumur Champigny with the meal. I started with the pickled herring (help yourself from a great tureen), and Mary had the onion soup au gratin. For main courses I had steak au poivre with really good fries while Mary had veau au citron with risotto. Dessert was apple sorbet with vieux Calvados for me while Mary had two scoops of caramel salé ice cream. The entire meal was very good, made especially so by the waitress and waiter who served us. We got into conversation with a couple from San Francisco. She lives here and is applying for citizenship.  She speaks French and thoroughly likes Paris and the French way of life.

 

We stopped in at La Madeleine on the way back to hear an organ concert. In the past these concerts have been somewhat unsatisfactory as the organist has tried to show how loud he can make it play and the tunes are lost in the overall noise. This was a little different. Two organists played works by Albrechstberger, Dandrieu, Gigout, Soler, Daquin and Wagner. They played some at the Choir Organ and some at the Grand Organ (four hands, four feet) and some at both organs together. The Wagner was the only piece we knew - The Ride of the Valkyries. Wagner never wrote for the organ and this transcription suffered from the tune being lost in the general overall volume. The church was well filled.

It was dusk when we came back, the church of St. Augustine  was well lit.

Wednesday 24 December - Christmas Eve

People were out early today doing last minute shopping. The number of baguettes purchased must be  enormous.
It was nice this morning, sunny and mild. After a last minute foray to Lenotre as well as Diva et Chocolats we walked down to the Square des Batignolles via the book store in the rue des Dames where we found the book Chats Parisiennes which has Roxanne on the cover. At Batignolles several little kids were floating sticks through the channel between the two water sections. Kids must have been doing this for almost 150 years. The free roundabout was going well. It stopped at one time when there were no new kids wanting to get on, everybody else sat tight and so it started up again. The kids were really packed in on some of the vehicles - there were eight in the fire truck.

Our Christmas Eve meal. All of this was purchased within five minutes' walk of the apartment.

Pate de foie gras and mousse forestière

Bisque de homard avec gambas sauvage

Ballotine de volaille with vegetables.

Fromage - Cammembert, Langres, Valençay

Le Nôtre, maron glacé (l), celebration (r)

Diva et Chocolats caramel (l), chocolate (r)

Champagne, Sancerre (white), Margaux (red)