Christmas Day in Paris, Continued

Just a few scenes from our Christmas Day in Paris. Above is the first shot of the morning, taken at the cafe while we drank un express on rue Montorgueil. Everyone was running to the bakery for their daily baguette(s). We'd grabbed one at the very end of the day before from Eric Kayser. His natural leavening made for a bread that was still fresh and tasty for this evening's meal.
After our cafe trek, we came home for the impromptu variation on Noah's family tradition for breakfast - bagels and lox. Here it was lox and a baguette with a fresh chevre from the local fromagerie. Have I told you about the five kinds of cheese in our fridge right now? Yum. There's the fresh chevre, a bleu, a Vacherin, a Brin d'Amour and another goat cheese that is delicious. We're kind of in heaven.

After breakfast we took a nice three hour walk around Paris, including a stop at the ice skating rink in front of the Mairie in the 4th. We didn't go skating, but it looked like a blast.
Down at the rink there were a bunch of street vendors selling roasted chestnuts and I had to have some. They were good, but I think it was more the ambience - a crisp Christmas day - than the quality of the roasting that made them so good.
From there we headed over to the Ile de la Cite and the Ile St.-Louis. This tree was in front of Notre Dame, amidst the frenzy of tourists and rush of "ladies in long skirts" aka local con artists. A quick trip through the gardens provided a much less frenzied view of the church - a view I prefer anyway. We wandered a bit further, over to Ile St.-Louis and through its beautifully decorated streets before heading back up the Marais and over to the 2nd.

It was time to prepare dinner, as our friend Chris was coming to eat with us. He too decided to ditch Los Angeles in favor of a more traditionally weathered Christmas spot. We put together a fine dinner, despite a total lack of skills when it came to starting/lighting/using the oven and burners in our rental. The menu: Cote de Beouf, Brussels sprouts with lardons, salad, cheese and this beauty:
Okay, the picture does not do it justice - it's a Bouche de Noël from Gerard Mulot over in the Marais. Dark chocolate, with caramelized almonds, it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

After dinner we headed out, back over to the Marais for a drink. What turned into many drinks. Hence this post going up at all hours, after a night of boozing. But damn, it was fun.