Sunday 4 December - Green Wall and Le Pied de Cochon

We took the Metro line 3 to Sentier and took a look at the progress of the green wall on rue des Petite Carreaux.  It is magnificent, exciting.  There are 237 different varieties of plant in this wall which is growing very well.  There are flowers of many different colors growing in profusion and it must provide a habitat for many birds.  One of the secondary advantages is that it provides an extra layer of insulation for the building and so heating costs are lower.

There might be a problem looking out of some of the windows.

The rue Montorgeuil provided some entertainment on a Sunday morning.

Follow those ballons

Fancy a game of chess while waiting for customers

The sun was right but unfortunately there was scaffolding on St-Eustache church

Lunch was at Le Pied de Cochon.  We arrived early and had a good place but it rapidly filled around 1230.  We were seated next to a delightful couple who lived in the 15th and had a cottage in the Loire valley near Azay le Rideau.  He was 93, a retired doctor of philosophy while she had worked in human resources.  They had both traveled extensively and we enjoyed a pleasant meal chatting with them.  She said they enjoyed sitting next to tourists because that allowed her to practice her English.  However, we practiced our French on them and she only used the odd word of English.  They always have table number 30 at Sunday lunch.

The meal was very good as we have come to expect from Le Pied de Cochon

Oysters in the shell

Razor Clams (Mary)

A very good onion soup gratinee (Colin)

Pigs foot stuffed with foie gras Perigourdeux (Colin)

Coquilles St-Jacques (Mary)

Cafe Gourmand

Leaving the restaurant we came across this group playing brass instruments against a sunny wall of Dt-Eustache church.  Unfortunately I stopped recording too soon. A police car came through with its siren on to add to the din, they went on playing and the spectators got out of the way