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)

Tuesday 23 December - Flaneurs

We decided to go for a walk today bearing in mind the holiday season will soon be upon us. We have found it great fun to choose a Paris street and see where it will take us and find out what it will reveal. We went to Barbès Rochechouart and walked down the rue du Poissonnière. First there was a profusion of wedding and formal dress shops, the more expensive ones are on the rue de Magenta the next street over. Some of the dresses are over the top from bright red to fluorescent lime green.
We made a side trip to look at Trinity church.

These barracks were built in 1932 on the site of earlier barracks.  The soldiers here were originally sent to Nouvelle France or Canada.  The area is now known as Poissoniere or Nouvelle France

We eventually crossed the Boulevard du Poissonnière which runs at right angles to the rue of the same name and passed the enormous Rex cinema which has a roof shaped like a Greek temple. 

This green wall completely covered the end of this building.
See http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/

Rue du Poissonnière becomes the rue du Montorgeuil, a higher class version of the rue de Lévis.
We turned right or west, and walked along Rue Etienne Marcel eventually to the rue de Saint Honoré with its high end shops, embassies and the Élysee Palace. We turned north on rue Miromésnil back to Villiers and home.
Some new streets as well as some familiar ones. Things were quite quiet until around 1330 when a number of businesses closed for the holiday and the shops, restaurants and take outs became busy.

Monday 22 December - Trams

I decided to ride the T8 tramway again today to see the branch to Villetaneuse as well as the main line to Épinay in regular operation. I took first the branchline to Villetaneuse.  Nothing special of note although the section beyond the terminus has a sharp curve and goes to single track, presumably leading to the car maintenance and storage yards. I returned to the main line and rode out to Épinay and back to St. Denis Gare. Many of the traffic regulation problems seem to have been fixed although there were a number that still need attention, maybe the running time could be reduced by a minute or so. Some work has been done at stations although some signs had been placed at the wrong locations so that one station bore two names. A squad of inspectors was out to ensure people were tapping in.
St. Denis Gare is a great place to watch trams with T1 crossing T8, both double track. However there were a lot of people lounging around, deals going down etc. I was very careful where I went and took care getting out my camera. The trams on T1 are short and always crowded east of St. Denis. I decided to go west to Courtiles which is less busy. This section has been open some two years now and has a good interchange with the Metro.

T8 at Épinay

T1 at St. Denis Gare

T8 trams on the diamonds at St. Denis Gare

T8 tram for Courtilles approaching the diamonds at St. Denis Gare

T1 trams at Courtilles.

There was a piece on the TV3 news this evening about fare evasion on RER line B.  When the SNCF put on  a team of fare inspectors the ticket machine receipts go up 40%.  It would seem like a good idea to increase these inspectors considerably.  Jumping over turnstiles and dodging in after a paying customer is endemic in Paris.  It is particularly easy on the Metro because there is no exit check.

Sunday 21 December

The city has set up the free rides for the kids at the Square des Batignoles.

Fred Mills asked me about the famous picture of a locomotive which crashed through the wall of the Montparnasse station in 1895.  There are many pictures and explanations available on the web but one of the most interesting is a dream sequence from the movie "Hugo"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YWpPEZnNq8