Our last day in Paris was jam-packed. Bruce attended Mass while Julian and I went to the Grenelle open-air market. We always seem to go to these markets the day before we return to chain-grocery monotony. The displays of fish, meats, cheeses, and other foodstuffs were tempting. Julian bought a vegetable peeler and a tin of goose foie gras. On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at LeNôtre for a snack. He got a mini-bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. (This was probably the fanciest bagel he’d ever eaten.) I got a chocolate hazelnut madeleine to go with some leftovers we had in the fridge.
The next stop was Le Grand Palais. This is a confection of a building that was constructed for an exposition in 1900. Wings of the building house museums. During the holiday season, the center pavilion is converted to an ice rink. Bruce got there before we did and scored a rink-side seat so we could watch the action. Our admission tickets included ice skates, but we all declined. None of us wanted a visit to an emergency room. Le Père Noël (Santa Claus) chatted up the crowd. A few children dressed as Santas followed him around.
The Grand Palais. You can see a disco ball at the top of the picture. At night it turns into ice skate disco.
A rink-side view of the action.
We planned to go to the organ concert at St. Eustache. We took a detour through a Christmas carnival in the Jardin des Tuileries. That necessitated hustling to get to the church on time. The concert was excellent. The organist was in his early 30’s at most. Unlike other churches, the keyboard console at St. Eustache is on the floor of the church rather than in the rafters.
Our final dinner was an all-out gorge at Au Pied de Cochon, about a block from the church. Bruce had a huge seafood platter with shrimp, lobster, and langoustines. Julian opted for oysters and chicken with sauce Nantua and crawfish. I had onion soup and a pork dish. We took the train back to the apartment and packed up for the trip home.
Shrimp head puppet in Paris. Bruce is in the background, trying to put a dent in his seafood platter.
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