on christmas day, we were graciously invited to spend the day with our friends brian and shawna. shawna cooked up a storm: mac and cheese, a super juicy ham, stuffing, sweet potato and collard greens. it’s fun being able to share in other families’ christmas traditions.

heather got a fancy video game, which joe and brian enjoyed playing!

we spent a better part of the afternoon playing their wii. can you see joe’s mii? shouldn’t be too hard to spot…

tried the golf, and then i got into the action too with some tennis.

(stained glass window from Saint Séverin Church in Paris)

Luke 2:8-14
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Merry Christmas!

we had a very memorable time in paris; joe was able to be quite productive in his research at the louvre…

and i definitely got to know the city much better. i enjoyed being able to walk around with less time pressure and see things i otherwise might not have made time to see, like the many free city sponsored art museums or just random parisian street life. having the trip coincide with pre-Christmas festivities was very interesting and a big bonus.

it snowed on our last day in paris. it was neat to see the city under a fresh layer of snow… pretty! we took one last stroll through notre dame cathedral with her christmas creche…

little birdies watching us eat one last nutella crepe…

looked through a few more second hand bookstores before dinner…

then it was time to go. au revoir!

on our way to france, we watched the movie “julie and julia” on the plane which got our tastebuds ready for french food and cooking. since we stayed at a place with a kitchen, we ended up making most of our meals to save a few euros, although we did get to eat out a few times. my routine included going through the market on rue montorgueil to buy groceries and produce, which was so fresh and beautiful. these heads of lettuce were literally bigger than the size of my head!

the produce market across the street, getting ready in the wee hours of the morning:

on our first night there, we were too tired to cook, and so we ate at “La Grille Montorgueil”. my huge plate of penne with an olive sauce.

on the weekend, we tried the christmas market food (as previously blogged), and when we were in montmartre, ate lunch at “La Maison Rose”. this was a scrumptious tagliatelle with duck breast.

in my pre-travel research, i came across a blog that recommended the food from a guy who cooks paella and beef bourguignon from his truck every wednesday at a food market on Place Baudoyer. i managed to track him down, and especially for only 7 euros, the paella was delicious! (there is big piece of chicken right in the middle of the plate)

another travel site recommended this little cheese fondue restaurant in the Marais called “Pain, Vin & Fromage”. for our last night in paris, we found the restaurant, and although it turned out that you needed reservations, we were lucky that they could fit us in. oh my, the fondue! we got the savoyarde fondue, which was a combination of emmental, beaufort, comté cheeses and other ingredients. it was really good but really heavy. needed to drink a lot of water.

bon appétit!

over the weekend we spent the morning in the montmartre neighborhood. luckily it was a clear (but cold) day when we got to sacre-coeur basilica.

afterwards we went to the montmartre museum, which was small but quaint, featuring artwork and history of the neighborhood. we were able to see the original painted sign from the local cabaret “lapin agile”. you can see a replica hanging on the storefront in the picture.

a few scenes from walking around…

one of two remaining windmills in montmartre.

a peek at sacre coeur.

we’ve been indulging ourselves with french pastries. can you say “butter”?

since we are living on rue montorgueil, we had to try something from “La Maison Stohrer” just down the street, the oldest patisserie in paris. in fact, the original Mr. Stohrer was King Louis XV’s pastry chef, and opened the store at this exact location in 1730. we tried the Baba aux Rhum (a brioche soaked in a rum from Malaga, an original recipe dating from the days of Louis XV) and a pear tart.

also tried a “religieuse”; basically like an eclair and it’s supposed to look like a little nun. they were generously filled with chocolatey or coffee flavoured cream. i love how pastries are packaged here .

i’ve come across cute pastries and pretty pastries.

not really a pastry, but equally yummy: crepe with chestnut cream.

oh, what will we have tomorrow?

we really wanted to attend a show of “les ballet russes” at the Opera Garnier, but tickets had been sold out for months. so we took our chances, arrived two hours early and got in line with other hopefuls for last minute tickets. it was really cold, and we were finally allowed inside after one hour of waiting outside. turned out that the only seats left were reduced visibility… but for only 6 euros each (which is basically the same price as an admission for a tour of the opera house), why not? and so we got tickets!

the Opera or Palais Garnier is really beautiful with its majestic staircases and ornate molding. i think it was the inspiration for “the Phantom of the Opera”.

the ceiling was amazing with the painting by Chagall, and the huge chandelier.

our seats were definitely in the nosebleeds with around half of the stage hidden. once the show started, many people in our section got up and crowded into the corner in order to get a better view, which meant standing for many of us. one girl was literally straddling/hanging her leg over her box behind us, and the girl next to me actually fainted. i’m not even kidding: i don’t blame her though, it was hot, someone was wearing perfume, and we were standing for nearly an hour. it was all a bit comedic, but despite the craziness, i think we got our money’s worth!

we couldn’t wait to try the food from the christmas markets, and so we decided to make a meal out of it. we went to the market between the trocadero and eiffel tower. first course, french onion soup, and a sausage sandwich.

then we tried a foie gras and duck breast sandwich, which was dee-licious. definitely our favorite and worth every euro!

followed with a freshly shucked raw oyster each, and finished with a tartiflette, which is a potato gratin with bacon and creamy goodness, and crepes for dessert. it was really cold, but our tummies were very warm and happy!

a few scenes from random spots around paris.

found a space invader by the canal de st. martin. bonus!

view of st. eustache church with les halles in the foreground.

fontaine des innocents.

ile st. louis.

ile de la cite and ile st. louis.

jardin des plantes.

cimetiere montparnasse.

at night the champs elysees is busy with people and bright with christmas lights all the way down to the arc de triomphe.

more window shopping… at LV.

another christmas market down both sides of the street. we tried the vin rouge chaud and hot chocolate.

french candyman.