The White Bakery, rue Cler and Eiffel Tower

We've been in Paris for about 3 days and we are still struggling with the jet lag.  Actually I think I have conquered it but Kelly is having a little trouble and Kate is having a lot of trouble.  She wants to go to bed at 6 or 7 pm each night and wakes up at 2 am.  We're working on it.
We have always identified the bakeries in the neighborhood by the color the outside is painted.  The one just a few doors down that we frequent the most is the white bakery.  We like their pain au chocolat and compaillettes, but their regular baguettes aren't the best in the neighborhood.  The bakery on the rue Cler is the red bakery.  It was repainted brown last time we were here but we still call it the red bakery.  We usually go there on Saturdays when the white bakery is closed.  The red bakery is very touristy with uneven quality but I like their merengues.  Occasionally we got to the yellow bakery and the lavender/purple bakery a bit further away.
We went to the white bakery Saturday morning to see what they had to celebrate the New Year.  It was open on Saturday for the holiday so that made us happy.  This is where we get a pain au chocolat each morning.  The baker, M. Bretteau, and his wife are always friendly.  The bakery was still decorated for Christmas with lighted trees, a snowman and a reindeer.  The bakery did not disappoint for the holiday.  They had Galettes des Rois in various sizes and big and little Bonne Année 2012 cakes in chocolate, Grand Marnier, or cafe. 

M. Bretteau's Boulangerie and new van

Bonne Année 2012 cakes and Galettes des Rois

So we had to try one of each, plus a cherry tart for good measure.  They have the King's cake all through the month.  Last time we were here we had a big one for Sunday dinner.  The cake is sliced and the youngest person goes under the table and directs the server who to give the next slice to.  Hidden in one slice is a little plastic king.  The person who gets that slice is the king for the day and wears the paper crown.  Kelly loves the almond flavor of the cake so we had to get a little one just to eat.  I love how everything is carefully wrapped and packaged.  Also note the bueno bar in the picture below.  Kate and Kelly have been enjoying those.  And Kelly ate the "but" or end of the baguette before we even got home.

We shop on the rue Cler, a pedestrian street, every day but Sunday.  There are many practical shops such as the vacuum store, fruit/vegetable stands, butcher, Leader Price (the cheap off-brand grocery store I shop at every day), and the Phone House (the cell phone store).  And then there are many interesting shops and restaurants such as several gourmet chocolate shops, gourmet ice cream and gelati, designer honey, a linen shop, flower stands, a cheese shop (Kate hates the smell), the crêpe stand, cafés, and more.  Here are pictures of one of the chocolate shops, a flower stand and the fish market.  It is oyster season so oysters are being sold everywhere.

Oysters at the Fish Market

The Eiffel Tower is right near the apartment but we actually saw it from a different angle on Saturday.  We were checking out apartments for our friends, Sande and Jenny, and walked behind the Ecole Militaire.  And this is what suddenly popped up.  A cool mixture of the old and the not so old.  Paris never ceases to surprise us!

More to come about New Years Eve on the Champ de Mars by the Eiffel Tower.