Monday 21 November - Le Grand Colbert

Although the old 1960 vintage electrics are no longer in evidence at Saint-Lazare there are still a number of locomotive hauled trains such as this dual voltage Sybic.  The SNCF has scrapped a few of these even though they date back only to the 1990s.

I went to the temporary La Vie du Rail bookstore on rue de Clichy this morning only to find that the book I was looking for was not in stock but they could get it within a week. I walked back over the interesting traffic circle at Europe, a six way intersection that is built right above the throat of the Saint-Lazare station itself.

We went for a late lunch to Le Grand Colbert on rue Vivienne and made our reservation for Christmas Day lunch.  The food and service were both good:

French onion soup and soufflee au Grand Marnier and a large glass of Alsace Riesling (Mary)

Rognons and a large glass of Rasteau (Colin)

We struck up a conversation with a couple close by who turned out to be visiting from Geneva.  They both spoke English - she was born in Sevenoaks, Kent which is very close to Orpington, my home. She talked about visits to Knole Park and agreed that Sevenoaks was very hilly.  They told us that although Swiss wines, especially those from Vaud, were very good, they didn't travel well.  I suppose that is a good enough reason to visit Switzerland.

We had a quick walk around the garden of the Palais Royal and came back - Mary is still feeling the effects of her cold.