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.