Blog for 2015

The blog for 2015 can be found at http://colinchurcher2015.blogspot.ca/

Monday 5 January - Coming Home

I checked the web first thing to verify that the RER line B was working properly (I.e. not on strike). The flight was scheduled 30 mins. late as the incoming was delayed in flight so we took a little longer getting ready. We now know the ropes.  Waking to the Metro, metro to La Chapelle,  walking to Gare du Nord, RER to CDG on the slow train, fighting the crowds to get to the Air Canada check in, printing tickets and baggage tags, customs and security. All of this took just 1 hour and 35 minutes which must be a record. We sauntered down to the gate stopping for a coffee and a final excellent croissant at Fauchon.
And this is where the story really starts.
Departure was further delayed for an hour or so then they had to take on extra fuel. There was freezing fog at CDG so there was a further delay while the aircraft was de-iced. Visibility was very poor - possibly a hundred yards or so. I have never taken off in freezing fog before.  It must have been exciting  from the cockpit barrelling down the runway at full throttle with a heavy plane full of fuel and passengers and not to be able to see the end of the runway. It was great to break out into the sun above the gloom.
By this time we had missed our connection to Ottawa in Toronto.  Not to worry as Air Canada will have a table at the connections area with new boarding passes for us. The table was there but no boarding passes. We had to go upstairs and check in again. Then the Air Canada computers went down. I managed to get boarding passes out of a machine but it wouldn't print new baggage tags. The check in lines weren't moving. With a little prodding I managed to get to a check in person who sorted out the baggage tags and told us that next time the computer knows of any flight changes so the old tags would have been fine.
All this to say we arrived home just two hours later than planned.
It was -15 and, wonder of wonders, the 97 bus driver didn't need a pee break so we got right in to a warm bus - otherwise we would have had to wait outside in the cold looking at a warm bus.
Ottawa is a winter wonderland as all the trees are covered in ice. We can enjoy the results of the freezing rain without having to put up with it.
With all the good eating over the last 6 1/2 weeks I was delighted to find that I have actually lost 3 pounds. It was a fantastic trip.

Sunday 4 January - Bastille Market

The Bastille Sunday market is reputed to be the largest in Paris. It stretches in four rows of stalls from the Bastille to the Bréguet-Séguin metro station along the covered portion of the canal. It is big, but the  unofficial market under the Metro bridges at Barbès Rochechouart must come a close second. Lots of choice and an amazing selection of foods, prepared and unprepared, as well as wine, clothes, knick nacks, tools. etc. The Place des Vosges was very pleasant and we walked through the Marais before returning to Lévis.

Bastille market

Bastille market

Bastille market

We said good bye to our friends at Diva et Chocolats

Saturday 3 January - Taking it easy

It was raining most of the day. Not heavily but enough to make it unpleasant. We abandoned the idea of a walk in favor of watching rugby, reading and getting captions on the pictures in Flickr.

Friday 2 January - Hunter Gatherers

Paul and Karen return to Canada tomorrow and we prepared dinner. There was a captured Époisse, called Horace, in the fridge that was let out into the kitchen where it percolated sullenly to itself. Some serano ham, carrots and red peppers crawled out and were sacrificed on the cutting board. A nicely roasted chicken was tracked down. Baked potatoes were persuaded to join in the fun along with some pate de canard en crout.  At Pascal Caffet, four macatartes were jumping up and down in their display case until Mary liberated them. A small galette du roi was tracked down at Diva et Chocolats along with a couple of baguettes traditions.

After this exhausting preparation Mary and I went for a short walk in the warm sun.  A circuit of Monceau Park with its plaque to the first parachute jump in October 1797, was followed by rue des Malsherbes to rue Jouffroy to Pont Cardinet and the Square des Batignolles.

Paul and Karen brought a bottle of  white Valais wine from Basel which turned out to be very good. We finished off a number of bottles of wine and cleared the fridge somewhat ready for our departure on Monday.

We had a small Galette du Roi and Karen won the feve

Thursday 1 January - Trams, La Madeleine and Le Train Bleu

The first sounds I heard from the street this morning were cawing from a couple of crows nesting in the roof tops further down. I went with Karen and Paul to ride trams this morning. Public transport was free until noon and we made good use of this. This is not so much of a benefit to Parisiens as it may seem because in many areas fare evasion reaches 40%.
We went to Saint Lazare and took the train to La Defense. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky although it was very frosty in places.
Tram T1 took us to Porte de Versailles. The views towards the Eiffel Tower and the Seine were very good in the sun.

Porte de Versailles

At Porte de Versailles we took a coffee in a cafe to use the bathroom and then took T3a all the way to Porte de Vincennes. The T3b took us to the Metro 7bis. We just made it through the turnstiles at 1155. Buttes Chaumont was looking good in the sun. There were many family groups and joggers. The gulls were walking on the thin sheets of ice that had formed overnight. We had to pay to get back to Villiers.

Sacre Coeur from Buttes Chaumont was quite hazy

The Hotel de Ville of the Nineteenth Arrondissement

We passed St. Augustin on the way to La Madeleine

St. Augustin

The organ concert at La Madeleine had a good first half with pieces by Delalande, Daquin and Bach, the Bach Prelude and fugue BWV 552 was extremely good. However we should have left at the interval. Perin, the organist, played melodies from The Sound of Music which would have been more appropriate for the organ in the Blackpool Tower in front of beer swilling holiday makers.  Better yet, sitting naked doing a Monty Python.  The organist's own improvisations on themes of noel was a painful disaster. He should stick to playing the organ rather than trying to compose

We had dinner in Le Train Bleu at the Gare de Lyon. The room has been recently renovated

Amuse bouche - parmesan froth over asparagus soup or bisque with pate de foie gras and fig jam

We both had sliced scallops in a mango jelly - very good indeed

I had doe with foie gras on turnip

Mary had veal chop with breaded cheese, bread stuffing and roast potatoes

The food was extremely well done.  However, the service, although very polite and friendly, was off hand and slow.

Wednesday 31 December - New Year's Eve

I went out to Barbes Rochechouart and was surprised to find a street market set out underneath the Metro bridges towards La Chapelle. It must have stretched 400 yards. I had wanted to get pictures of the approaches to the Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est but this was not possible because of the wire fencing and restricted views from the overbridges. I took a picture of the front of the Gare du Nord but this was even difficult because it is so vast.

Gare du Nord

The St. Quentin market was interesting and I found a large Wallace fountain inside this covered market. It did not look as if it had been used recently.

In the St. Quentin Market

With time to spare I came back to Villiers by bus - a lady got on carrying two scraggly Ostrich feathers.

We had our New Year's meal, as usual, at Aux Îles Marquises. We were greeted by Mme. Thiery as old friends. M. Thiery, the shef, came out to speak to us as well. The meal was up to the usual superior standard and the menu had been lightened a little. The scallops with black truffles (which I forgot to photograph) were a welcome variation as was the lobster soup, a broth with much lobster.

Consomme de homard with homard

Barbue (brill) with oysters

Venison

Dessert

We started with a bottle of champagne, progressed to an excellent white Sancerre and then to a Saumur Champigny red. Madame accepted our reservation for next year although there is the possibility that they will have retired by then.

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.