You probably heard that Europe suffered a cold wave this Winter. All things are relative, though. On Christmas Day temperatures dropped to slightly below freezing and the daily highs remained around that level until a few days ago. And one night we had a dusting of snow that accumulated on car tops and park grass and other thin surfaces but quickly melted on the streets.
On the plus side it was consistently sunny throughout this cold spell. But now that the temps have returned to the mid to high forties, the clouds have returned and there has been a sprinkling or two of rain.The nice scarf and black cashmere sweater Wendy gave me for the Holidays helped to keep me warm, and fashionable, too, I might add.
The second day of the New Year we moved back to our fractional ownership apartment on Villa Monceau. And we looked forward to it. While our place in the Marais for December was OK, our Villa Monceau apartment is more comfy and the neighborhood much quieter. We both feel that while being in the thick of the action is convenient for a short stay, when you are here for a month or longer, being in a more serene neighborhood is preferable.Some impressions:
• A delicious galette (buckwheat crepes) dinner on New Years Day while looking at the ice on Stravinsky Fountain.
• The view of the Eiffel tower a few days into the New Year where its nightly display of colors changed from a deep blue back to its usual off white. The blue lights were used only for 2008 to symbolize France having the presidency of the European Union for last year. The EU and goings on around it are a big deal here and, I would suspect, in much of the rest of Europe. Much more than in the US.
• Tea with Inda at her very nice Parisian apartment near Place de la Républic and looking at the great view of Sacré Coeur out her window. Lots of interesting conversation as usual.
• A classical concert (two trumpets and an organ) at the very modern Cathedral St. Marchel near Place d’Italie.
The musicians were in a balcony above and behind us while we watched their performance on a giant screen.• Coffee and conversation after the concert at the nearby and very comfortable Café La Manufacture on rue Gobelins. We talked for well over an hour which led to us having a pleasant dinner there. With the mixed old/new décor, interesting people watching, good food at very reasonable prices, and the relaxing atmosphere I would be a frequent customer if it were closer to our apartment.
• The various versions of SALE signs (SOLDES). Lots of creative window displays.
By law stores are limited to the months of January and July for having sales. 
Prices can be discounted anytime but advertising sales for other than these two months is forbidden by law. 
And today we saw several signs advertising le deuxième démarque, or the second markdown. I am a poor estimator of value but with 50% off some of the prices are approaching rationality.
• Musée d’Orsay on the free, first Sunday of January only to find the mob scene from Hell just to get in. 
We bagged our plans and wandered around the area. We ended up going to the delightful Musée Maillol, a place we had visited on earlier trips. 
Glass stairwell in Musée Maillol
No lines to enter to see the fabulous paintings and sculptures of the standard exhibition as well as several special showings.
We bagged our plans and wandered around the area. We ended up going to the delightful Musée Maillol, a place we had visited on earlier trips. 
Glass stairwell in Musée Maillol• Musée d’Orsay a few days later. The lines were shorter to see the special “Picasso and Le Dejeuner sur l’Herb” exhibition. This work by Édouard Manet marks the transition from more tradition painting to impressionism and is a very, very interesting painting in it’s own right. Alongside this large canvas was displayed about a hundred of Picasso’s paintings and sketches that were inspired by Manet’s work. This showing along with a special exhibition of pastels that took this medium to a totally new level took up most of our time at the museum.
We also had a very nice late lunch at the museum restaurant 
with its classy and graceful décor.
• The marching band we heard one night parading up the Champs Elysée. The band was followed by three teenagers carrying a large floral spray, then a large number of older veterans covered in medals. 
with its classy and graceful décor.
They were walking in formation and many were carrying flags. Bringing up the rear was an ensemble of family members of veterans. They marched up to the Arc de Triomphe,
apparently for a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate some occasion of note. It was moving and we both felt a wave of sadness.• Eating dinner and listening to live music by Le Trio Bugatti (keyboard and vocals, sax, and drums,) at the café Peperoni just a few minutes from our apartment on Avenue Wagram.
Entertaining pop/jazz (about half American music), ok food, good service and people watching made for a nice evening.• Small Christmas trees lined up along the sidewalk of Villa Monceau awaiting garbage pickup. Our stairwell was littered with needles for a few days until the routine vacuuming picked them up. One couple in a third floor apartment next door avoided this problem by tying a strap to their larger than normal tree and pushing it through a front room window. As Wendy and I left our apartment, we noticed the tree dangling from the strap that was held by the husband. The young wife outside was there to help place the tree on the street. But the strap wasn’t long enough so she could barely reach the tree. Being the good guy I am, I helped her get the tree onto the pavement and then we went merrily on our way.
• A talk sponsored by Democrats Abroad, on the current economic crisis. The speaker, Paul Horn, is past equities management director for Smith-Barney/Citygroup Europe and now a private equities advisor. My net was that the situation is beginning to show some signs of stabilizing but we are in new territory and don’t know for sure what’s going to happen. He considered himself an optimist but still thought there would be a three years plus recovery time.
• A nice late night dinner after the talk at a Korean restaurant we passed on our way to the Metro stop at Place de la Républic. We had a good feel about the place as we had passed a number of almost empty establishments before spotting this crowded restaurant. The specialty was Korean barbeque and each table had a grill in the center. We opted for some miso soup, two unique and tasty appetizers, pork barbeque (accompanied by several sauces), some special Korean wines, and two prepackaged desserts typically found in Asian restaurants in Paris. Good service and décor and reasonable prices. Wendy is ready to go back.
• Yesterday Steve and Sue Navaro stopped by the apartment.
Steve was the developer of our Villa Monceau LLC. He has developed two other apartments and is now in the finishing stages of his fourth fractional ownership apartment. Check out his site at http://parishomeshares.com You too can make your Paris dream come true! We had a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant that lasted several hours. Good conversation with interesting people.As most of you likely know we sold our house in Hinesburg before we came to France. While here we are having a house built for us in the same village that will be ready for us upon our return in March. We have been following the construction closely via the pictures and commentary on the web site provided to us by our builder and have been happy with what we’ve seen. This is turning out to be a satisfactory process and our house-to-be is essentially complete. We hope to close within a week of returning to Vermont and move in a few days later.
Dan and Wendy
1/16/09
PS On the first Sunday after the first Saturday of January, or Twelfth Night, a special cake is eaten to celebrate this night of Epipheny. This yummy traditional sweet is seen in the windows of almost all of the patisseries these days. The "galette du roi", or "Kings Cake", is a sweet flakey pastry cake filled with almond cream and baked inside is a "fève", or bean. Nowadays the bean is replaced by a little ceramic trinket.
Heartman had another adventure recently! He got the FÈVE, a little ceramic square with the French "fleur de lis," in his piece of galette du roi! So he gets to wear the little paper crown that came with the cake. Yay, Heartman!
Wendy
