Tuesday 26 December - Montmartre

We decided to walk to Montmartre knowing that it would be overcome with tourists but the walk there and back would be worthwhile. We went out via Place de Clichy and rue Lepic to the funicular, both cars of which were working. Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre were wall to wall and pretty unpleasant. I cannot think why tourists even would enjoy this.

The north side of Sacre Coeur is always practically deserted and there is the opportunity to enjoy the architecture in peace from a small park

The decoa=ration on this truck is pretty good - nobody would want to steal it

On the way back close to Les Abbesses we found this delightful park with a Wallace fountain

We came back past the Montmartre Cemetery and Rome.  The weather was bright with some sun and we had a couple of hours of good exercise.

Monday 25 December - Christmas Day

I went out early to Diva et Chocolat to get a couple of croissants and a baguette.  It was dull and rainy and there were very few people around.  The boulangeries were open as was the charcuterie, green grocer, fish shop and the specialty meringue shop.

Champagne

Red: Julienas Beaujolais, 

White: Valencay 

Foie gras de canard with fig chutney on gingerbread

Shrimp and lobster mousse

A little later we took a walk through Parc Monceau and were surprised to see several green parrots eating the bright orange fruit of the persimmon tree.  It turns out there are several thousand parrots living wild in the Paris - Ile de France area. 

On a wall on the rue des Dames
Invader has been busy since 1998 decorating the walls of Paris with ceramic tile mosaics of Space Invaders, an iconic Japanese video game from the seventies

Gambas sauvage

Gambas sauvage on a bed of caviar de tomates

There was another short break for a walk around the Square des Batignolles.  By this time (around 1400) virtually all of the establishments had closed and everywhere was very quiet.

Wall art near the Square des Batignolles

Magret de Canard with potatoes, broad beans, brussels sprouts and tomatoes

I actually did some cooking today. The duck was very good 

Camembert, Epoisse, Pont l’Eveque

The cheeses have been stinking up pour fridge for several days trying to get out. The camembert was very good.

Buche de noel 

An indulgence from Le Notre

Calisons, nougat, marron glace, chocolate orange peel, sugared almonds, chocolate nuts

Sunday 24 December - Le Grand Colbert

It was dry today and we enjoyed the 45 minute walk down to Le Grand Colbert (Saint Lazare, the Opera to the Bourse). We were a few minutes early and took the opportunity to walk through the gardens of the Palais Royal as far as the Comedie Francaise.

The Santas were out in force

The flower beds in the Palais Royal added some wonderful splashes of color.

 We were warmly greeted at Le Grand Colbert and had a long leisurely lunch. It was much more relaxed than on several previous occasions and it was good to have come early on Christmas Eve rather than later on today or on Christmas Day.  We each had a starter, a main course and a dessert, Mary had a half bottle of Pouilly Fume (Loire) while I had a half bottle of an excellent Bordeaux.

Mary helped herself to as much pickled herring as she wanted.  The waiter threatened to bring her a second pot!

There was also a bowl of boiled potatoes to go with the herring

I started with an excellent bowl of Soupe a l'onion gratinee.  The bowl looked small but the broth was very deep and full while the cheese was gooey and very thick.

Mary's main course was scallops

My second course was rognons with several rashers of bacon. There was a side plate of potatoes au gratin and an excellent mustard which took the roof of my mouth off..

By now we were pretty full but we couldn't leave without a dessert.

Mary was tempted by this mousse buche

I had the apple sorbet with some vieille calvados

Over coffee we chatted with a couple from Turkey with their two children.  They arrived here yesterday and leave on the 27th December. Makes us realize how fortunate we are to be able to spend six weeks here - every year.

The 45 minute walk back was good exercise. We stopped off at Marks and Spencer and I dropped into the Gare Saint Lazare where, wonder of wonders, I saw BB 17054 again on a train of double deck suburban cars.

The long distance side of Saint Lazare (platforms 24-27) was empty this afternoon as most people will already have left on their Christmas journeys.  However, the suburban side was still busy.

This picture reminds me of working at Reading passenger station at Christmas. To handle the rush I had to work 12 hour days then 12 hour nights alternating with the other Assistant. A few days before Christmas things would get really hectic and Christmas Eve was the worst of all.  Then about 1600 the crowds disappeared and a calm came over the station so that we were able to sweep the platforms clean and take a breather. I spent Christmas Day sleeping.

Saturday 23 December - Christmas Shopping

I think Penn would have received a million dollars for a picture like this.

A Sybic 26008 was in the pocket as I walked up to the Batignolles Organic Market this morning.  The railway doesn't use this short siding very much any more

The ornate entrance to Rome metro station with Sacre Coeur in the background. The market is just behind there.

I wanted to buy a Camembert. There were three cheese mongers in the market but only one had any customers so I joined the line.  It took 15 minutes to be served.  People were buying enormous quantities of cheese and it had to be just right.  There was a discussion over each piece and very often a chip was passed over to taste. There were a lot of people and a great deal of discussion yet the sound level was just above a whisper.  The only person with a raised voice was an American who had to be served in English.  The two servers were very good. One lady customer asked if a particular cheese was good - the reply was a laughing "Mais non!".  

We went along the rue Levis to buy some things for Christmas Day on Monday.

A panhandler had set up a sign 

Square des Batignolles

Square des Batignolles

In the Square de Levis a small tent was set up for the kids

Friday 22 December - Riding more Paris Trams

I took metro line 3 to Saint Lazare this morning and was surprised to see electric locomotive BB 17054 on a train of suburban coaches.  I thought they had all been withdrawn from Saint Lazare.

I took one of the new Z50000 trains out to La Defense
Tram T2 La Defense to Porte de Versailles
The section south of La Defense is built on an old railway right of way using concrete ties, ballast and railway rails.  The extension north to Pont de Bezon and south to the Porte de Versailles are tramway lines.  The line uses custom built trams in multiple running on the right. There are several single crossovers, mostly trailing and one at least hand operated. The line has good views across Paris towards the Eiffel tower, it runs close to the Seine and through the exclusive neighborhoods of Sevre and St. Cloud.

Tram T2 at Porte de Versailles

These trams have a distinctive nose which contains the multiple unit connections.

Trams T3a from Porte de Versailles to Porte de Vincennes and T3b from Porte de Vincennes to Porte de la Chapelle
Tram line T3 is broken into two parts. They both run in the roadway, mostly in a center grassed reservation using tramway rail.  The crossovers are nearly all single trailing, many with signals.  The trams used appear to be identical although they are maintained in two separate garages at Pont du Garigliano and Porte de Pantin.  The two sections are separated by a wide highway at Porte de Vincennes and through travelers have to use a subway which also gives on to metro line 1.  There is a double track connection between the two sides but this does not seem to be used for public trains.

Towards the end of the run the line runs through Rosa Parks a former industrial area which contained some railway sidings. It was pretty bare when the line opened a few years ago but there has been extensive development of housing and shops which is bringing the area alive.

Tram T3a having just arrived at Porte de Vincennes

Tram T3b at Porte de la Chapelle

Work is actively under way to extend T3b westwards to Porte de Clignancourt and Porte de Clichy which involves considerable road realignment.

From Porte de la Chapelle I took the metro back the Saint Lazare where the holiday rush was fully under way. The next two main line trains out (to Cherbourg and Le Havre) were fully reserved,

The Tarte au Citron from Diva et Chocolat is excellent.  It is very lemony and not as sweet as many.

Click here to see all RER and RATP pictures taken

Click here to see all SNCF pictures taken

Thursday 21 December - Irving Penn at the Grand Palais

The weather was strange today. Everywhere was pretty wet although there was no actual rain - it was like a fine Irish mist.

There was an exhibition of the photographic works of Irving Penn at the Grand Palais. He produced a large number of prints for Vogue and similar magazines.

Woman with a real chicken hat.  To quote Winston Chrchill "Some chicken".

I liked the series of prints in the "Small Traders" section.

Bakers

Engine driver, London 1950, preparing to oil around

Locomotive Fireman London 1950. Carrying the heavy oil cans for his mate.

We walked back up the Champs Elysees and past this Russian church near the Parc Monceau.

Dinner this evening was at Le P'tit Canon which was busy as usual. We started by sharing a plate of anchovies (pickled but not salty as from a can) and ended by sharing a tarte tatin. We each had a gogot d'agneau (lamb shank) which was very good but a ;ot of meat in a rich broth with plenty of vegetables. Maybe we should have shared the lamb as well.

The Cheverny was a good red to accompany the lamb

Good job I had made a reservation.

Wednesday 20 December - Party

It has been a mild but damp, but not rainy, day today.  There has been water in the air but hot heavy enough to make it worthwhile opening an umbrella. We walked down to Marks and Spencer close to the Gare Saint Lazare to get party snacks and dropped in to the station on the way back.

The Sybics are coming to the locomotive hauled trains in Saint Lazare

We walked with Colleen McCarthy to the party organized by Phrederic and Gail at an Irish pub on the Boulevarde de Clichy close to the Place de Clichy.  It was a great deal of fun and mainly ex-pats living in Paris with a small number of visitors like us.  There were people from all over - Canada, USA, England, Ireland, Brazil, Italy, Germany, even France and there were a variety of languages spoken. I settled for Guinness while Mary was drinking white wine from Les Landes.

Mary and Colleen

Gail won the prize for the most sexy Santa costume. Good job there was a fire extinguisher close because she was hot.

We took a short detour afterwards to take a look at the lights on the Moulin Rouge.