Tony's 50th Birthday Celebration - Day 3

This is the day that we've been planning since the start of this whole Tony's 50th Birthday idea. Tony wanted to have dinner at his favorite restaurant in Paris, "Au Petit Tonneau", so we have reservations waiting for us that evening.

To start the day, Tony wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, it was closed due to bad weather. It was fun however to see the park in the winter to contrast with how it was this last summer. It is still a beautiful area with the exception of the annoying street vendors. I even took a picture of Tony in the same spot that I'd taken over 10 years ago when we first visited Paris.




Because of the bad weather, we decided to head indoors to see Galleries Lafayette to see how the Parisians enjoy Christmas. And they enjoy it a lot. There is this amazing iron and glass ceiling, and beneath it a beautiful Christmas Tree. And everywhere tinsel, Garland and flowing Champagne.

We had to stop and enjoy the extravagance. We were in Paris afterall. . .





There were these great creepy puppets in the front windows of Galleries Lafayette. Enough to give kids nightmares. I kind of liked them however. Nothing says Christmas like creepy spooky puppets.





In our quest to do something despite the weather, and maybe it was the influence of the creepy puppets, but we ended up going on a small semi-controlled Parisian shopping spree. Tony bought some new clothes for his birthday, and I bought a shirt. It seemed like the thing to do in Paris.



We then made our way to Angelina's Hot Chocolate - home of the most amazing Hot Chocolate on the planet. It really is awesome. Evidently, we weren't the only ones thinking that this was the thing to do on a rainy afternoon, as the line was very long. It took almost an hour to get in to have our delicious cup, but it was well worth it in the end.







At last, it was time for dinner. We made our way over to Au Petit Tonneau, and found Lisa waiting for us. We all ordered the Chateaubriand, which is absolutely delicious. And heaps of their amazing Potatoes au Gratin, or what we call "Cheesy Taters".






The climax of the evening was when the lights dimmed and Chef Marie brought an Apple Tarte Tartin out to Tony with candles on it. Tony actually got teary-eyed. I think I even caught the staunch and very parisien Matre D crack a smile.

Chef Marie holds a special place in Tony's heart. She looks a bit like his mother did, and that may be part of it.

Of course, the Tartin was as amazing as one would expect. . .