Paris Snow 05-06 Janvier 2010

05 Janvier (Mardi) - Mon Dieu, it's -3C and the guy across the courtyard has his windows open.

This was another special day. We met and spent several enjoyable hours with Peter of Peter's Paris, a fantastic website on which he features various areas of Paris. There are great pictures and a lot of good information. Peter is from Sweden, but has been living in Paris for twenty-five years. We all bundled up and walked over to Fontaine Sully, where Peter treated us to lunch and a glass of champagne. Afterward, we came back to the apartment and opened a bottle of Bordeaux Supérieur, with a very dried out cork. But the wine was good. Peter, as you would expect if you've read his blog, is a virtual font of information. Thank you, Peter, for the good champagne and the great conversation.

It was also special because I finally managed to get the picture of the heater that I've been trying to get for a couple of days. I mentioned that most of the restaurants/bars in Paris have heaters for those who want to sit outside to drink and smoke. I also mentioned that you have to be warmly bundled to do that. There are apparently, only two kinds of heaters; electric or gas. Some may look a little different than these two, but basically, one of these is what you will see. They work quite well, but when it's windy, no heater is going to keep you warm. On our walks since we've been here, I usually must stop for a breather every now and then, and I always try to choose a place with a heater. More to the point, with a heater that's turned on, becuse they aren't always on. Sometimes the waiter will wait for someone to sit down before they turn them on. Of course, that tends to lose them some customers, because if the heater isn't on, they will get up and walk to a place where they are on.

06 Janvier (Mercredi) - It is 11h00 and it is snowing in Paris.....again.

We went out today to investigate Saint-Antoine, which is only two blocks down the street toward La Bastille. We stopped long enough to take this picture of me and one of Robb. Believe or not, I'm actually smiling in that picture. Then I shot this little fountain in the courtyard. On the way to Saint-Antoine, we came across a shop that previously had been closed everytime we passed. It's a shop that sells all the wonderful goodies one thinks about when one thinks about the foods of France. And, as you can see in the picture of Au Sanglier, it was crowded. We had to pass this fine example of old architecture, Hôtel de Mayenne. If you can read French, this plaque de histoire will give you some information about the Hôtel de Mayenne. There is more information here, and here. When we arrived at Saint-Antoine, we discovered it was closed, so I turned and took this picture of the Colonne de Juillet.

We started walking back toward the apartment when I suggested we could get a taxi to Italie2, because I wanted to check out Darty and FNAC to see if they had the earphones I was looking for, and Robb suggested I could go to rue des Archives and get my jacket. Then I thought, well, we're not sure the place is open, but we can take a taxi and, if when we arrive, it's closed, we can just tell the driver to take us to Italie2. As luck would have it, the place was not only open but, because this was the first day of the winter sales, I got my jacket and paid €30 less than the regular price. I'll bet you can see the big smile on my face right through the internet.

We wanted to stop at Caffé Vito for a café, but it was standing room only inside, and we were not about to sit outside. We next tried Chez Tsou, a Thai restaurant we had enjoyed last time we were here, but it was closed. So we settled for Les Marrionners again. Robb, as usual, was hungry but couldn't decide what to order. I suggested the Croquita he had had before and he agreed. I ordered a pomme tarte and champagne for both of us. Well, I thought I was ordering a pomme tarte, but the waiter brought something that looked like sliced ham and a side of potatoes. It looked quite good, but it wasn't what I wanted. Turns out, one doesn't say "pomme tarte", one says "tarte pomme". Don't ask, I have no idea what the difference is. But I got my apple tart and apologized profusely to the waiter for the mix-up.

Afterward, I thought we could walk down and get the bus, but suddenly remembered I had left my tickets at the apartment. As many times as we've been to that area of the city, we still didn't have a clue where the taxi station might be. We stopped into the Pharmacie de la Mairie where one of the clerks was kind enough to point us in the right direction. Merci, madame.

Tomorrow, will be our last full day in Paris and we still have a full bottle of Crémant, champagne that can't be called champagne because it's not from the Champagne region, but is just as good, and sometimes better, than champagne. We also have a full bottle and two half-full bottles of wine. What to do, what to do. After speaking to Geoff in Fort Lauderdale, it was decided we would pack the wine in our check-in cases and take it back with us.

After dinner at Fontaine Sully, we walked back to the apartment in the falling snow.

À la prochaine, mes amis