In the past, we have had the most wonderful experiences purely by serendipity and Paris was no exception. We woke on Saturday with no agenda in mind, except to walk to the Bon Marché, a huge department store. And on the way, we took note of various concerts on offer arround the city. We passed a market (several) and I noted some interesting things to do with food.
These "roses" are the tops of Brussels sprouts. How clever these French people are.
And the Bon Marché was packed as if there was no end to money. We made our way to the food section with all the beautifully presented teas, meats, fruits, candies.....you name it. And then the wine section.
These are super magnums of champage. The smaller of the Veuve Clicquot is 12L, at 1150€ and the larger is 15L. I mean, who could lift it, let alone buy it and how will it fit in the fridge? We couldn't see answers for any of these questions, so we left without purchasing one. And the lineup for the cashier was at least 20 minutes long anyway.
At the market, we bought some food that we could heat up for dinner before we dashed off the the Concert de Noël à Notre-Dame de Paris.
We were in line at 7:15pm for the 8:30 concert and all was fine until the rain started at around 7:55. And of course, we knew the weather would be fine so didn't take umbrellas. Fortunately my trusty gortex coat kept me warm and dry and the gentleman standing beside Les discretely held part of his umbrella over Les' shoulders. The church was packed but we finally were seated about 20 rows from the front on the side, a Mom with two kids in front of us, with a huge pillar between us and the view of the choirs, but technology has come to the churches and we were also about 10ft from a flat screen TV so could hear very well and see everything. Three choirs from 8-10 year olds, 12-17 year olds and adults. And the camera was also able to take closeups of the organist, something that you never see in one of these churches. He played three improvizations between sets and the first one started off like a durge and ended a bit like Star Wars. The very last one he did, he was riffing and had all feet and arms going on the 5 keyboards, plus pedals. At about 20 minutes into the programme, the little boy in front of us (about 10) vomited dinner.....very discretely. Immediately, his sister (14?) move away to distance herself from the mess, but all others surrounding, offered plastic bags, kleenex, whatever they had that might help. That's the Christmas spirit. The family did leave, as did the two men directly behind them (beside us). As the concert continued, people could see that there were vacant seats up ahead and we had a flow of people sit, look dismayed, and then leave. Quite funny.
On Sunday, we struck out again, this time to visit the Galeries Layfayette, but got waylaid by the 11am mass at Saint-Eustache for the 4ème Dimanche de L'Avent. We stayed for half the service and then bumped into a Sunday market.
And then we were waylaid by the 2e Noël Gourmand. We bought a glass for 10€ and then sampled cheese, wine, champagnes, and chocolate from all over France.
We finally made it to the Galeries Lafayette and the store is quite marvelous. I like to visit each time I go and take the escalators to the top to get the best free view of Paris.
You can see why Les is sometimes mistaken for Santa at this time of year.
Again, people shopping and the store very crowded.
We walked back to catch the 4pm concert at Eglise St. Ephrem, a tiny church, holding only about 90-100 people. We listened to a string quartet playing Mozart, Chopin, and others and a soprano sang Ave Maria (two versions) Douce Nuit. All a lovely way to spend an hour. We rested for a bit in the apt and then walked the Tuileries and down the Champs Elysées. I was expecting a lovely quiet walk, but it was pandemonium as the largest Christmas market in the whole world is there. Tons of people, but a bit too crowded for us. We did see Santa, in the sky, and then found a quiet street for a quiet dinner.
We took the train back to Montpellier late on Monday after another full day of walking. I'm now going to rest for a few days!
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