ParisFamilyXmas Day 4: Market, D'Orsay, Trois Marmites

Well, after the excess that was last night, my parents were feeling a bit tired. Apparently, the sheer quantity of beans they had consumed had kept a certain parent up all night (the poor thing).

Nonetheless, they got up and walked over to my place this morning to join me for my usual weekly market. We all went together to the neighborhood market and started walking through the stands. We stopped at an artisan charcutier (prepared-meat person, usually pork but not necessarily), where we bought some whole foie gras for xmas dinner and some fine dry sausage for me. Aside from that, I got some vegetables, cheese, pears and eggs for my place and then we bought some basic items for a lunch. We got a big bag of mâche (lamb’s lettuce) and then bought some bread on the way home and pigged out on bread, cheese, salad and vegetables.

Today was the day for the Musée d’Orsay, so off we went to pay a visit to my favourite impressionist and Art Nouveau works, housed in a nineteenth-century train station. There was a special exhibition of pastels, which were gorgeous. I love the bright colours you can get from pastels, despite their smudgy, photosensitive disadvantages. After the pastel exhibition, we looked at all of the major impressionist works on the top floor, walked through the decorative arts sections, and then walked along the main floor to get a look at the massive main chamber.

I was going to show an English-language film for my students the next week, so we all headed over to a video rental shop near Luxembourg gardens to rent out the movie. The shop, called Vidéosphere, has a huge selection of international films, including English-language ones. After a bit of searching and finally asking for some help, I rented out a couple of flicks and headed out with my parents.

We swung by my parents’ apartment to take a break for a while, and then headed over to my neighborhood for dinner at Les Trois Marmites. I’ve been to this place too many times to link to here, but if you do a search on my blog for the keyword “marmites,” you’ll see all of it. As usual, the meal was excellent and my parents were thrilled; the food here is always simple and wholesome, but finely executed. Unlike the previous two days, the portions were large but sane, so we didn’t feel sick by the end of the meal. I can’t remember the details of what we ate, but I recall having an appetizer of a savoury clafouti made of leeks and goat cheese, which tasted like a cross between a quiche and my mom’s lasagna. Tasty!