Holiday street scene in Montmartre

street scene in montmartre, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

This kind of thing is what absorbed most of our waking time yesterday [12/27].

Originally posted 12/28/06

Late start and a mostly lazy day

side street in montmartre, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Pretty much an entirely nocturnal day, as we left the apartment around 5pm today. Catching up on some rest after all the walking around. Walked up the hill to Place du Terte [the main tourist square in Montmartre] then down the hill toward the neighborhood where we've stayed previously. Took a few pictures, stopped in a few shops, etc. Just relaxing for the most part.

Originally posted 12/28/06

Ice Skating at Hotel de Ville

hotel de ville 4, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Not especially clear, but all those people in front of the building are skating.

Originally posted 12/27/06

Hotel de Ville

hotel de ville 12, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Hotel de Ville, aka Paris City Hall, at night. Next post will show [kind of] the ice skating rink that is set up in front of it.

Originally posted 12/27/06

Christmas dinner in

P1010211, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

While there definitely were plenty of restaurants open - Japanese ones, in particular, were all open - we opted for dinner in. Grabbed some pasta, prosciutto and vegetables from a market down the street, along with a bottle of totally non-descript bordeaux. The one bonus was dessert - we picked up what I think officially qualifies as a yule log [clarifcation: this is someone else's yule log, standing in as a proxy for ours, which we dug into right away without bothering to photograph ... maybe next time].

The woman at the boulangerie/patisserie was friendly enough, which I appreciated - bearing with my minimal/non-existent french-speaking capabilities. I think I've landed on a decent new approach for getting by in shops without any real french. It goes like this:

's'il vous plait ... parlez vous anglais?' 4 out of 5 times this will prompt either a 'oui' or even an 'of course', in which case we're off and running. However, a few times I've gotten an unsure 'c'est depends' or 'un petit peu', in which case I follow with what I hope to be a disarming, empathy-eliciting 'je vais essayer en francais, mais je ne parle bien' ... then I just really start pointing ... je voudrais cette ... et aussi cette, etc. Anyway, the woman seemed to give me the credit for giving it a shot and adopted the demeanor of someone who is ready to deal with a 'slow' person - think the scene from Can't Buy Me Love where the girls at the dance see Patrick Dempsey doing the African Anteater dance, and declare "aww, he must be in special ed".
Also, I suppose the fact that we're getting ready to spend money doesn't hurt either.

Originally posted 12/26/07

Christmas stroll in Le Marais

P1010201, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

While there weren't as many stores open as I thought there would be, Le Marais did seem to have more activity going on than our neighborhood [Montmartre], and everyone apparently was looking to eat. Every time we stopped to check for a table in a cafe or restaurant, they were all jammed - so we carried on.
This shot here catches our call home. I was actually just aiming for the blue door in the background, but Judy kept wandering into my shot.

Originally posted 12/26/06

Christmas Eve dinner at La Mere Catherine

la mere catherine, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Judy and I had dinner here two years ago on Christmas Eve and decided we'd come back this time, too. Got here a little earlier this year [around 10pm vs after 11 last time]. Recognized at least one waitress from previous visit. Think the piano player and chanteuse were the same as well.
Sat in a back room and it was pretty full - with most tables full of French-speaking guests, which was kind of surprising as I had expected a greater tourist ratio. Feels a little bit similar to maybe Cheers [aka Bull & Finch] in Boston used to feel, or how Butch McGuire's in Chicago can feel - definitely draws some tourists, but also has a strong contingent of locals.
Could be the location, the time, or any other intangible variable, but the ravioli au fromage and la soupe a l'oignon are amazing. Also tried a dish called millefeuilles de chevre [sp?], or tomatoes with goat cheese mousse - really, really good.
Ordered a modest bottle of Bordeaux, then noticed virtually every other table had a Beaujolais - note to self: mimic the locals, as they surely know better than I do. But then, the Bordeaux was fine.

Originally posted 12/25/06