Paris Snow 30-31 Decembre

30 Decembre (Mercredi) - When we arise in the morning, we always make coffee.  But, unlike at home, where we have a Cuisinart Coffee Maker, here we have to use a French Press Coffee Maker. The larger Press makes about three or four cups, while the smaller one makes bout a cup and a half.  If you're not familiar with the French Press, it's really quite simple.  First you pull out the cap and press. Into the glass pot, you place enough coursely ground cofee for however many cups you want to make. Then, you pour in the appropriate amount of boiling water and stir.  You replace the cap and press, and let it sit for about five minutes.  After five minutes, you press down until the press is as far down as it can go, then pour yourself a very good cup of coffee.  The press pushes the grounds to the bottom of the pot so all you get is a cup of groundless coffee.  We use the French Press here because that's all there is, there is no other kind of coffee maker in the apartment.  Lucky for us, we already knew how to use it.  Here's a video for making French Press coffee.

Robb has lost a scarf and is sure he left it at O'Jules, so we walked up to the bus stop near the Saint-Paul métro.  We were going to take a taxi, but decided at the last minute to take the bus.  Of course, taking the bus isn't quite that simple.  We had to take the 69 to Place Léon Blum, where we caught the 61 to Gare de Lyon (a train station), where we finally boarded the 57 to Place d'Italie.  When we got to O'Jules, they said the only scarf they had found was green.  Robb was sure his was blue. We decided to have a sandwich.  Robb had a Croque Monsieur, I had a Croque Madame.  We walked over to the taxi stand and rode home.

 

The other day, I took this picture of a lamp.  When we went out to get the pictures of Hôtel de Ville and the skaters, I wanted to photograph it while it was lit.  But I couldn't find it.  I was sure it was close to the kiosque, where Parisians go to buy newspapers, magazines and etc, but it wasn't there.  Luckily, I had the picture to prove I wasn't any crazier than usual.  Today, when we walked up to get the bus, I saw it again.  It wasn't near the kiosque at all.

 

31 Decembre (Jeudi) - New Year's Eve.  The weather has turned bitterly cold again.  We had hoped to go to the Champ de Mars to watch the fireworks, but it's just too damned cold and they're predicting rain. The closest métro to the Tour Eiffel is a rather long walk, which I'd rather not do if it's cold and raining.  So we will have dinner at Fontaine Sully, return to the apartment, and watch it on television or online.  We did go out to Monoprix to pick up some stuff, because we think it might be closed tomorrow.  Just another exciting New Year's Eve in Paris.

 

Well, it actually did become exciting.  When we got to the restaurant, there were a lot of people already there.  We've never seen it so crowded.  We lucked out and got a seat by the window.  We were no sooner seated than the waitress brought a glass of champagne and a small plate of appetizers.  We noticed that she did not do that for everyone, so I guess the regulars get special treatment.  Dinner was good, I had the faux filet, Robb had the Boudin Blanc (a white sausage). Both came with a side of potatoes. I think the chef must have gone to some kind of special Potato School, because no matter what kind they bring to the table, they're always the best we've ever had.  After dinner, we ordered a glass of champagne.  Robb had a dessert of Petits Fours, of which I had a couple.  Then, just before midnight, the waitresses came around handing out more champagne, party hats, streamers and a package of toys.  Okay, you say, nothing strange there. But included in the toys was that red and silver thing that I thought was a noise maker.  I tried and tried to get it to make noise, but had no luck.  Then I noticed that the French people were using the "noise maker" to blow the red, yellow and white balls at each other.  A blow gun.  No wonder I couldn't get it to make noise. After the official hour arrived, craziness ensued as little red, white and yellow balls were flying all over the place.  A funny juxtaposition was the two little old ladies seated at a table behind us, who were trying to behave as ladylike as possible while this craziness swirled all around them.  By 02h00, the place had pretty much emptied out and we walked all the way back to the apartment in the freezing cold. Happy to have been a part of a really fun evening.  It was probably more fun that we would have had at la Tour Eiffel.

 

Bonne Année!

 

À la prochaine, mes amis