Thursday 1 December - Le Relais de Venise

This moving truck was outside this morning showing the ladder used on the higher floors.  This particular move was taking place o the ground floor and so the truck was only used to haul a trailer

We went to Le Relais de Venise for lunch.  They do not take reservations and it quickly fills up so we waited outside almost half an hour before it opened.  It was cold again with a sunny sky but the wind has dropped and there was a pollution haze over the city.  The restaurant is a favorite of ours. Space is at a premium and people are shoehorned into seemingly impossible spaces. The menu is:
- lettuce salad with an oil and vinegar dressing with walnuts
- steak and fries
The only decisions that have to be made are how the steak should be cooked and the type and amount of wine. We chose "saignant" and a bottle of St. Emillion.

What first timers do not realize is that the main course comes in two portions.  This was the second helping.  It helps to be hungry.  The sauce is wonderful and the fries are crispy but not over-cooked.

Being placed so close to one's neighbors has an advantage - we get to talk to them.  It starts by the way the table is pulled out to let one of the diners get in.  This causes merriment and with a glass of wine we were quickly talking to the two gentlemen next to us.  They both lived in Paris and we had several good conversations throughout the meal.

There were two tables next to us on the other side.  Under normal circumstances they would have seated four but this was in a corner and six people were assigned.  There was much merriment as two of the number were visitors from Kenya and another was from Montreal.  In this friendly atmosphere we pointed out to the two Kenyans the vacharins we were having for dessert.  They latched on to this and insisted on getting one each as well. The way the restaurant is set up it is almost impossible not to have a good time

After lunch we walked along to the north part of the Bois de Boulogne to see the Louis Vuiton Fondation museum designed by Frank Geery.  They have added colored glass panels and I feel it makes it too flashy.  It looked impressive as it was built.

The museum was so crowded that it would have taken a long time to get in so we decided to go into the gardens instead.

This peahen had three youngsters to look after

These cranes were very impressive.

After a leisurely walk through the gardens, which were practically deserted, we came back via metro to the apartment.