Friday 13 December - Lunch in the 14th

Ave. General Leclerc is a normal Paris street with wide sidewalks and six or seven story buildings. Yet there is a small iron gate which opens on to this completely unexpected view of a hospital with a wonderful avenue of pollarded trees.  A good find in this very urban part of the city

We had lunch at Les Fils de la Ferme which is on Mouton Duvernet in the 14th arrondissement.  It is a small restaurant but with a very good kitchen.  Mary had scallops and fish while I had foie gras and pork, there was mousse and St. Nectaire cheese for desert.  It was all very good.

Mary was in two minds over a choice of white wine.  The server eventually brought her two glasses to try.  There followed an intense and erudite discussion about the merits of the Macon as opposed to the Languedoc which the latter finally won.  They were both excellent.

Afterwards I visited a number of railway model shops.  They are always interesting to visit but I found nothing that I wanted to buy.

This evening we tried a Mont d'Or cheese.  This is a vacherin made in the Savoie and Jura.  It is only available from September to March when the cows are brought down from the mountains for the winter.  It is a mild cheese with a wonderful creamy texture.  There is a faint aroma of pine, as it is wrapped in a sliver of pine.  It can be eaten cold or heated in the oven.

The rind is quite soft.  When cut open it reveals a soft creamy paste. The sliver of pine wood can be seen at bottom right.