Monday 31 December - New Year's Eve

Walking around this morning we were happy to see that the work on the restoration of part of St-Augustine's church has been completed. The parvis has also been cleaned up.

With Aux Iles Marquises closed for good as of last Saturday we had to find another venue for our Saint Sylvestre meal. We chose Chez Leon on the rue Legendre very close to the apartment. It was a good choice with pleasant, friendly staff and a very good kitchen. The meal included a glass of champagne and a small bowl of chestnut soup with foie gras and mushrooms.

There was then a choice of foie gras or ravioli stuffed with shrimp.

We both had the turbot marinated in champagne in a ratatouille 

The lamb in a pepper sauce with a mousseline of artichokes was , well done on the outside but rare inside

Nougat glacee au caramel latier

  

Grosse truffe chocolat a l'armagnac was very chocolatey and the "sail" was a very chewy toffee.

A bottle of Saumur Champigny went well with the lamb and we were given complimentary digestifs (Grand Marnier and Calvados).  As the evening wore on the restaurant filled, mainly with local people, many of whom were well known to the numerous staff who all wore formal clothes. A great meal and a great evening. 

After the meal we admired the lights along the rue de Levis and started out along the Boulevard de Courcelles towards the Arc de Triomphe. However, we needed a bathroom break and decided to turn back to the apartment. We were able to view the sound and light show of the Arc de Triomphe on TV and had a much better view than if we had joined the 200,000 people who jammed the Champs Elysees.

Happy 2019 everybody.

I have started a new blog for 2019. You can find it at:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3473729577479877995#allposts

Sunday 30 December - Mouffetarde

The weather forecast today was for 99% humidity with some drizzle. The streets were wet but the temperature was around +5 and it was pleasant walking around.

Place Monge Market

Large wall art

 We had lunch at the Cafe Bourgogne.

Mary had a very large piece of beef and an enormous potato. Both very good.

Mouffetarde was very busy but as usual, people were talking very quietly so there was just a pleasant ambient buzz.

After lunch we walked back up Mouffetarde and past the Pantheon with crowds of tourists and into the Jardins de Luxembourg where we heard a couple of parakeets,  The gardens were busy with many families with small children. Passing the donkey rides we exited close to the museum and made our way past St. Sulpice and took the metro back to Villiers.  With no wind and mild temperatures the walk was very pleasant indeed.

Saturday 29 December - Flaneurs

Still a couple of days till the New Year.

A normal Saturday on the rue de Levis.

Friday 28 December - Another pleasant surprise at St-Lazare

I went down to St. Lazare to see if the arrival of the 17000 class was a regular occurrence.  It seems that it is as a different locomotive from yesterday arrived.  In En Voyage livery I filmed 17053 coming in to a stand.

It later took its train empty out to the carriage sidings.

Taken from the rue Legendre overpass looking towards Pont Cardinet

There is a movie being shot in this area. Walk around a corner and one can bump into a bunch of lights and several vans containing equipment. Yesterday they were at the small plaza at the end of Levis close to the Villiers metro station.  They were filming a many sitting on the ground against a lamp post and begging.

This evening we went over to Gail's who prepared an excellent magret de canard with a pear sauce.  Alain was there also Delores and Peter from Amsterdam. Georgina dropped in briefly.  It was a good evening, mostly n English but with a lot of French.  Gail's two cats were pretty active at times and made some noise rushing around.  

Thursday 27 December - Pleasant surprise at St-Lazare and a great lunch

I found one of the BB 17000 electrics in use at St. Lazare this morning. It brought in a local train around 1035 and took it out empty stock at 1100.

17075, in original paint scheme, is obviously kept in good condition and away from taggers.

We had lunch today with Gail Bisclair and Georgina Weavers at La Refuge des Moines on the rue des Moines.

 

Kit, was very good indeed. She doesn't make a noise and just sits on a lap in spite of all the delicious food being served almost in front of her.

Soupe a l'oignon gratinee was made with a cream sauce

Escargots

Magret de canard wiith a black cherry sauce

Chicken with a foie gras sauce

Tarte tatin

Cafe gourmand - tarte tatin, pineapple, ice cream, mi-cuit au chocolate

We started with a glass of white wine and then had two bottles of an excellent red.  The food was impeccably prepared and the service was excellent. This is a very small restaurant with perhaps eight tables but well worth visiting 

We walked back through the new development and Martin Luther King Park. It is well used and it was surprising to see so many water birds as well as a heron fishing.

Petanque was in full swing at the Square des Batignolles

115014 running down into St-Lazare to take out a train.

I couldn't resist having a cuddle of Kit

Wednesday 26 December - Bois de Vincennes

The island, with its bridge is in the center

It was sunny but cooler today but we had a good walk through a small part of the Bois de Vincennes. We entered by the Porte Doree and walked around Lake Daumesnil as well as around the two islands in the middle of the lake.

There is a large colony of parakeets here and we could hear them all over and saw several

While watching this one we fell into conversation with two delightful ladies who lived close by. At certain times as many as a hundred will congregate and make a lot of noise.

There were a number of cormorants fishing. One surfaced with a fish in its beak and was dive bombed by several seagulls whereupon it immediately left the surface. Cormorants have to eat their catch under water.

There is a large number of swans as well as at least twenty peacocks and peahens. They seem free although they are weak flyers.

Many trees were festooned with mistletoe

Tuesday 25 December - Christmas Day

Christmas Day dawned with a clear blue cloudless sky

Square des Batignolles

Square des Batignolles

Parc Monceau

Parc Monceau

Fish and meat courses