Friday 28 December - Pat Arrives Finally

We went out to Charles de Gaulle airport this morning to meet Pat Hurley who arrived 8 minutes and a day late because of bad snow conditions in Windsor, Ontario.  We quickly returned to the apartment using RER line B and the first order of business was lunch at Bistrot d'I-D.

First beverage was a coupe de champagne

Second beverage was a glass or three of Saumur Champigny

To start we shared a house terrine.
Mary - scallops with a creamy risotto.
Pat - wild boar with fries
Colin - Magret de canard with scalloped potatoes.
The meal was excellent and our server was pleasant, friendly and attentive.
After a short rest we decided to walk along to the Square des Batignoles

On the way to Batignolles the kids were having a great time at the roundabout where the city was giving free rides.

After a walk through the park we decided to catch the bus to Gare Saint Lazare.  There were some homeless drunk people at the bus stop.  The woman recognized my Stade Francais rugby hat and we started to talk about rugby.  They thought the best team was the New Zealand All Blacks but they were pleased that they were beaten by England recently.  It was a good job the bus came when it did because I am sure the bus shelter was about to blow up from the accumulated alcohol fumes. 

We admired the recently completed main hall at Saint Lazare then walked back past the music shops on rue de Rome.

In the evening we took the bus to the Trocadero.  I sat next to an unshaven security guard named Claude who was taking up two seats.  He was from Brittany and couldn't understand why I liked Parisians.  He was going to work on the night shift at the museum at Trocadero.  We arrived just in time to see the sparkling lights on the Eiffel Tower then back to the Etoile to see the lights on the Champs Elysees.  The metro took us to the Montmartre funicular again just in time to see the next session of sparkling lights on the Eiffel Tower.  We were beginning to flag so a short walk around Montmartre and we took the funicular and metro back to the apartment.

From the Trocadero

From  Montmartre