Friday 26 December - Christmas Day

Although it was Christmas Day the daily garbage came around as normal.  Trains were running into Saint-Lazare as normal although in England the railways shut down completely on Christmas and Boxing Days.

Trains were running into and out of Saint-Lazare roughly one a minute.

There were not many people around this morning except in the rue de Levis where all the bakeries and specialty food shops as well as florists and laundromats were open.

We walked down to the Grand Colbert on rue Vivien for our traditional Christmas lunch
Coupe de champagne
White wine for Mary/red wine for me
Half a dozen oysters
Flan of scallops and lobster with caviar/french onion soup
Plate of scallops/confit de canard
Christmas suggestion du chef - vanilla mousse with caramelized apple and shards of caramel/apple sorbet with calvados
The food was excellent and the service was exceptional.

Flan with scallops and lobster with caviar

Scallops

Suggestion du chef -vanilla mousse with caramelized apple and shards of caramel

Apple sorbet with vieus calvados

The serving staff were very good

We had a little time after lunch before the concert at La Madeleine and we made good use of it to walk through the jardin du Palais Royal and then to view the shop window displays at Le Printemps and Galeries Lafayette on the boulevard Hausseman.  There were not too many people around so it was quite pleasant looking in the windows.

The organ concert in La Madeleine was an enormous disappointment which we had expected.  The introduction to each piece was much to long, almost as long as the piece played.  The first couple of pieces were tuneless, slimy music which the organist made worse by playing them much too loud. There was a piece from Handel's Royal Fireworks Suite. However, it was arranged by the organist who managed to butcher it so that the tunes were lost in the overall sounds of the organ.  We and many others left half way through.

The walk back to the apartment (Malhderbes to Miromesnil then Levis) was very pleasant, the weather was mild and the winds moderate.

Thursday 24 December - Christmas Eve - Montmartre

We did our grocery shopping early this morning.  The shops were not too busy although there was a long line up at the fishmongers - both to be served and then to pay the ticket.

Sacre Coeur from Boulevarde des Batignolles

Rue des Abbesses

A very ornate copper hot chocolate machine near Sacre Coeur

Montmartre is not very busy at all.  There are significantly fewer tourists this year.  Place du Tertre almost had more artists than tourists.  The steps of Sacre Coeur were empty and there was just a small trickle of visitors to the church.

We walked around to the back of Sacre Coeur to get an unusual view of the building.

Lapin Agile cabaret http://www.au-lapin-agile.com/  This is just across from the Montmartre vineyard.

As usual our Christmas Eve meal was in the apartment from items purchased locally on teh rue de Levis.

We started with foie gras n gingerbread toast

Gambas sauvage

Pate en croute de canard a l'orange

Stuffed quail

Mont d'Or cheese

Salted caramel bouche de noel

Wednesday 23 November - Relais de Venise, Model Shops and Gare Saint-Lazare

Le Relais de Venise is one of our favorite restaurants.  It is strictly steak and frits.  There is a set menu which includes a salad then steak and frits.  The only choice to make is what wine to have (a bottle of St. Emillion) and how do you want your steak cooked. Just when you think you have finished the waitress brings around the second portion of steak and frits.  The sauce is exceptional and the frits are excellent.

The restaurant does not accept reservations so it is best to line up.  Space inside is very cramped and the staff are good at shoe horning customers into a small space.  We were there in good time and but the two rooms quickly filled up and late comers had to wait for the early customers to leave.

To get people into the back seats the table is drawn out then pushed in so that the person is effectively imprisoned.  It is important to go to the washroom first

One advantage of being so close is that it is easy to get into conversation with your neighbours - pass the mustard etc.  This time we talked to two ladies from Finland as well as two men from France..

The desserts are exceptional:

Vacherin

Profiteroles

After lunch I took the Metro to Place de Clichy to visit some model shops to make my way to Saint-Lazare.

I was surprised to see a Sybic locomotive in here.  First one I have seen in Saint-Lazare

A crocodile - used as part of the train control system 

There are still some blazons to be seen on the old electric trains that have not yet been painted into the STIF livery.

This diesel hydraulic shunter was lurking under the warehouse area.

Tuesday 22 December - Ternes

I walked over to the Square des Batignolles this morning.  The main line out of Saint-Lazare has eleven tracks.  Three trains are visible in motion here - I have seen up to six.

The Square des Batignolles.  The plane trees in the centre and on the right were planted in 1840 and 1872.  In 2015 they were given the label Arbre Remarquable de France

The water works are attractive

And very much appreciated by the water fowl in this case shell ducks.

The free roundabout was very much in demand by the small kids who had to line up until it was their turn to get a ride. There was a large group of kids all wearing high visibility vests with "Mairie de Paris" on the back.  One little girl couldn't get a seat and was close to tears.  Another mother noticed this and talked to her child who agreed to give up his seat so the little girl could be with her friends.  The look on her face said it all.

We walked up to the Arc de Triomphe to see the crowds. There were a number of electric "trams" which are run by the RATP.(the Paris equivalent of OC Transpo)

These minibuses are being charged - the drivers were all sitting in one of the buses.

Our next stop was the street market just off the Avenue des Ternes for a quick snack then on to FNAC to get some tickets for a performance at La Madeleine next Wednesday.

For dinner we went back to the P'tit Canon where Mary had the lamb shank and I had the magret de canard.  Both were excellent.  Mary needed extra bread because she had to sop up the gravy in the pot as well as on her plate.

Lamb shank

Magret de canard au miel

Monday 21 December - Aux Iles Marquises

We were happy to find that Aux Iles Marquises was open for lunch with Mme. Thiery out front and M. Thiery in the kitchen.  We had made a reservation for New Years's Eve but there was a strong possibility that they would have sold the restaurant and retired.  We were happy that our reservation is good but the Thiery's must be disappointed that they cannot begin a well earned retirement,
Lunch was outstanding and it was good to chat briefly with M. Thiery and look forward to his meal on New Years Eve.

Terrine de chevreuil

Kidneys in a rich gravy

Dorade

Mignardises

It was a warm sunny day today although there was a cool wind at times.  A short metro ride took us to Balard and we visited the Parc Andre Citroen.  This is a very large space on the site of the former Citroen automobile plant.  It is set out in the grand style with a lot of concrete, reminiscent of La Defense.  There are grand walkways similar to Versailles with large well trimmed trees.  The whole place has a lot of small spaces with many interesting small gardens and wild areas.  Each one has been carefully thought out and each area is different.  One end of the park fronts on to the Seine.  This is an urban park as opposed to Monceau or Buttes Chaumont which have plenty of green spaces.

On the way back I stopped off at the Gare Saint-Lazare where I noted a number of changes.  There are a lot of the new electric multiple unit trains and the long distance trains I saw were all equipped for push pull working with ugly driving trailers.  I didn't see any of the old 1960 vintage electric locomotives.  Their numbers were declining last year so may be they have all been replaced,

A really ugly driving trailer conversion

There are many more of the new trains now in evidence.