Wednesday 30 November - Herge, Tintin and Bigre at the Theatre Tristan Bernard

We went to the exhibit of the work of Georges Remi or Herge who is best known for the Tintin cartoons.  It was another well thought exhibit, this time at the Grand Palais 

  

He did a great deal of work other than Tintin

He was Belgian and much of his early work was done there.  He made some strong snti German statements during the 1930s and the war was a difficult period for him

The window painters have been busy along the rue des Rochers with this caricature of Donald Trump on an Italian restaurant.

This evening we went to see Bigre at the Theatre Tristan Bernard on the rue des Rochers, about ten minutes walk from the apartment,  We had wondered how we would manage with the dialogue but needn't have worried as there wasn't any.  There were three players, two rabbits and a goldfish and it was slapstick comedy all the way through.

Tuesday 29 November - Buffet Retrospective

We went to see the Bernard Buffet Retrospective at the Paris Gallery of Modern Art.  This was a useful follow up to what we had learned at the Montmartre Museum.
We decided to take the #30 bus from Villiers to the Trocadero as it is always a lot of fun crossing the Etoile at the Arc de Triomphe.

Waiting for the bus we had a great view of Sacre Coeur

There was a cloudless sky to view the Eiffel Tower

There was also a good view of the Invalides from the Trocadero

Our visit to the Trocadero was enhanced by a group of Hasidic Jew who danced around in a circle singing the Marseillaise while one of theior number made a video. We walked from the Trocadero to the Gallery of Modern Art.  It was bright and sunny although pretty cold in the shade or wind.

The Buffet Retrospective was very well shown.  The museum has a large space so that the exhibits are not crowded.  There were quite a large crowd but we had plenty of space to see the pictures and other items at our leisure. The paintings on the horrors of war were particularly moving.

We decided to walk back.  This gave me the opportunity to buy some back bacon and chocolate biscuits at Marks and Spencers.  From there we had a snack in a small place off the Champs Elysees (much cheaper) and then through Monceau Park.

The fruit on Persimmon tree has ripened in the last week 

Kindergarden kids in Monceau

For supper this evening I found a rotisserie chicken with potatoes together with cherry tomatoes and green beans.  It took just over ten minutes to get out, make the purchase and get back. 

Monday 28 November - A Contrast in Stations then Monceau

I went along to look at Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord this morning.  The Gare de l'Est was its usual calm self with the beautiful covered salon concourses leading to the 30 platform concourse (the final 5 or 6 platforms are unused at present).

A new way tom provide  additional food selling places

Locomotive cleaners who like the bugs caught on the front of locomotives

This ICE from Frankfurt was about 30 minutes late

A short walk past the site of the embryonic hotel brought me to the chaos of the Gare du Nord.  There is additional security for the trains to Brussels and this has created a chaotic state for the concourse.  I hate to think what it will be like in the holiday season.  

Blazon on 15058

This afternoon I went to Ternes to get tickets for the Messiah from FNAC.  It was a lovely sunny day although the wind was very cold but I walked back through Monceau Park.  It was mid afternoon and the achoolkids were out in force.

Sunday 27 November - Mouffetard and La Madeleine

We took the metro over to Monge where the market was in full swing.  It is very busy on a Sunday, Much of the produce is organic and the lines were very long at some places.

One stall sold a great number of sausages - nothing else.

Walking down Mouffetard several galette places were sending out steam and smelling delicious.

Extra large crabs

In the square at the bottom of the street they were giving out song sheets

At least I knew the tune to "Hello Dolly"'

The dancers were pretty good with some interesting moves.

We made the mistake of looking for lunch at the Bistrot Mouffetard.  It has gone downhill and the service was pretty bad.  Next time go somewhere else, there's many to choose from.

We planned to go to the concert at La Madeleine at 1600 and had plenty of time to make it across the river.  We walked along the Rue Monge as far as Saint Germain where there was a row of shops:

greengrocer, fishmonger, baker, butcher, fromageur, patisseur and a cafe - everything you might want in one row.  We then went up to the river which we crossed below Notre Dame.  

We finished up walking past Notre Dame to the Rue de Rivoli and eventually La Madeleine. There was still plenty of time which we spent in a cafe across from La Madeleine.

The concert was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Dimanches Musicales at La Madeleine. The choir was good but the acoustics where we were were not the best.  Works by Mendelsohn, Nicolas and Handel (extracts from the Messiah).  The Handel was familiar but the choir was drowned in places.

Saturday 26 November - Flaneur and Square des Batignolles

I went down to the Organic Market on Batignolles near the Rome metro again this morning.  The traders are very friendly and people treat this as a social occasion and an opportunity to meet friends and to chat.  It can take a little while to get through but this is part of the fun. I found the lady who was selling gougeres. These are a baked savory Choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese. The cheese is commonly Gruyere, Compte or Emmentaler but there are many variants using other cheeses or other ingredients.  Gougeres are said to come from Burgundy, particularly the town of Tonnere in the Yonne department.

Gougere

I walked along to the rue du Douai only to find that the model shops were not yet open (at 10:30) so I walked back to Saint-Lazare.

A badly injured bicycle.  Wonder how its rider is feeling?

I have always liked this piece of art outside Saint-Lazare

A free piano in the Gare Saint-Lazare - what a great way to wait for a train!

Another way to wait for a train is to cycle away the pounds by charging your phone.

Back at the apartment I ate the gougere with some Epoise which is beginning to make its presence felt in the fridge.

This afternoon we went along to the Theatre Tristan Bernard to make a reservation for next week and finished up in the Square des Batignolles where we spent some time watching the water birds.

This heron flew over hotly pursued by a couple of crows.  It landed on the statue of the vultures in the middle of the pond and stood there for a long time calming down after the crows attack.  We have never seen herons in this park before.  There may be frogs and worms but the fish (Carp) are bigger than this heron.

I took several pictures of the beautiful Mandarin ducks.  I deleted several images but still cannot make up my mind which is the best.  I hope my readers will let me know.  I will just label them A, B, C and D:

A

B

C

D

Quite a treat for supper this evening.  Stuffed cabbage rolls from a shop on the Boulevarde des Batignolles with runner beans.  Haven't had runner beans for a long time. 

Friday 25 November - Montmartre

It was cooler today and very misty.  We walked to Montmartre along the rue des Dames to Clichy and then past the Moilin Rouge to rue Lepic and on to Abbesses.  We took the funicular up to Sacre Coeur.  At the funicular a woman asked Mary if it was worthwhile going up to see the Place du Tertre. Mary replied it is worth going to see once.  At the top, the Eiffel Tower was just visible in the mist while the Place du Tertre was its normal nasty self crowded with pickpockets and pseudo artists wanting to make your picture.

We walked a little way away from the tourists and found a haven of calm in the Montmartre Museum. This is very well done and worth a visit.  There is a good audio visual introduction then there are two houses to visit as well as Renoir's gardens.  There is a good overlook over the small Montmartre vineyard.

Model of Montmartre

12 rue Cortot

Montmartre Vineyard

Bar from the Chat Noir

Painting of the sign for the Lapin Argil

View of water tower and part of Sacre Coeur from the garden

Painting in Bernard Buffet retrospective

It was good to have an understanding of the work of Bernard Buffet as well as an appreciation of how the artists developed in the area (Suzanne Valadon, Maurice Utrillo, Toulouse, Lautrec, Renoir etc as well as musicians such as Eric Satie.

We walked back along Batignolles and had a meal cooked in the apartment.

Confit de canard with fried potatoes.  I am sure Pat H. would have approved of the crunch factor.