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.