Museums, museums, museums!

Art lovers who have roamed the Paris museums will have marveled at the array of options available. Although our Centre Pompidou expedition failed, there were so many alternatives it didn't matter - and so many that we wished we had several more weeks in Paris! I really recommend getting a Paris Museum Pass if you will be making multiple visits, free entry to other sites such as the Arch de Triomphe or the Notre Dame towers are also included but the biggest advantage is avoiding queues as most places have a dedicated queue for pass holders. Note though that due to security checks, some places don't have dedicated queues but the signs are pretty clear. Impressionists
Musée d'Orsay is a must for anyone who likes Impressionist/Post-Impressionist paintings however there is an immense wealth of works from 1848 to 1914 representing the period starting with the Second Republic through the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist eras of art, ending before the start of Wold War I. The museum has just turned 20 - Bon anniversaire! Opened after the transformation of the Orsay train station, the building itself is also a lovely space to walk around.We went straight to the top level where the Impressionist/Post-Impressionist works are and this was where we concentrated our time. It was such a treat to see the works of artists such as Renoir and Monet, and witness Degas' devotion to ballet (and ladies bathing!) but what really stood out for me were Seurat's "The Circus" and van Gogh's "The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise, View from the Chevet".

Make sure you head to Café des Hauteurs for the spectacular view from the balcony and this view through the clock. It was a bit smoggy but in the right weather, you can apparently see Montmatre spectacularly.For more Monet, Marmotton is just on the edge of Paris.


Louvre
Well you can't go to Paris without setting aside time for the Louvre. Lots and lots of time if possible, we went on a Wednesday when it stays open later and spent 7 hours walking around. (We still missed 1 floor and 1 wing, and did selected viewings of the rooms we did get to!) Everything from Egyptian antiquities to sculptures to a wonderful collection of French (naturally!) paintings is there.
The "Mona Lisa" is tiny when you do get to it! We were lucky in that there wasn't a crowd 3 deep around probably the most visited work there but most people are there to see that and the others of the big trio, the "Venus de Milo" and "Winged Victory of Samothrace". Again picking my favourites, I was mesmerised by Canova's sculpture of "Cupid and Psyche" and the Etruscan "Sarcophagus of the Spouses". The latter was very moving and although rather morbid, the couple in a loving embrace expresses so much joy and love, you can't not be moved.

There are plenty of café's where you can fuel yourself for more walking and we felt very sophisticated during our champagne break, enjoying the view of the nearby Tuileries Garden and the exterior of the museum. (And if you must, the Da Vinci audio guide is available for hire - the inverted pyramid is in the shopping centre part of the building that you enter from the métro exit.)

Le Royal
There are so many eateries open late it's great. Le Royal is close to the Louvre and has a very typical bistro menu. I had foie gras that was creamy and very yummy, but the sausages I had were like hot dog franks - I'm not recommending them!
Make sure you ask what the tart of the day is, this apricot one was delicious!

Musée d'Orsay
1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur
7e
(Métro: Solférino)
(RER: Musée d'Orsay)
*Closed Mondays, open late Thursdays

Musée Marmottan Monet
2, rue Boilly
16e
(Métro: Muette)

Louvre
7e
(Métro: Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre station)
*Closed Tuesdays, open late Wednesdays and Fridays

*Current information only: always check opening times!

Le Royal
Near cnr of rue de L'Echelle and ave St Honoré
4e

Parisian food

So what makes up a Paris food experience? Checked tablecloths, rude waiters, red wine and "pommes frites" with everything? We only had the rude waiter and tablecloth once but when I looked back at my food photos, I realised that I had a nice collection of classic French bistro dishes like boeuf borgignon and escargots. Almost everything came with chips and a basket of bread, good thing we were walking so much! Join me on my tour...
Mussels
We'd taken a 7am flight from London to Paris. (If you ever do that, remember that you have to allow time for check-in and nothing runs that early in London! Good thing we decided to stay at a hotel near Heathrow airport the night before so that we could just hop in a cab and go to the airport.) Having showered and checked out our selection of TV channels, my friend arrived to take us out for the day. We strolled to the Arc de Triomphe and were walking down Champs-Élysées looking at the queue outside Louis Vuitton (it's an "art gallery" on Sundays) and admiring the car showrooms that sold lifestyles, when we felt lunch was due. We decided to be tourists and eat on the avenue.

Here's my moules et frites from the Café George V. They were fiddly to eat but quite tasty and we had a lovely time sitting in the sun catching up and watching the world go by. I was too hungry to think about photographing the others' lunches, a very filling salad and boeuf borgignon. We had a very refreshing white wine which I scribbled down as "Ceserre" so highly recommend that. It is expensive on the avenue but glamour quotient is up! I didn't take down the exact address but if you're walking from the Arc de Triomphe, it's on the left hand side. Oh and don't expect too much of the service, the waiter came back 3 times to ask what we'd ordered!

Plat de jour
This is the cheapest way to eat out. Choosing the set menu ensures a speedy meal and is so much cheaper. After we found out Chez Stella was closed, we walked further down rue Thérèse to the corner with rue St Anne and spotted this cafe "B/S". We must have been in an area with many Japanese expats as I spotted numerous Japanese restaurants from teppenyaki specialists to noodle bars and the friendly French café owner suddenly started speaking very fluent Japanese to a family. The meal was only 8 euro and I had my very French Orangina. (Did anyone who did French at school ever learn to order Orangina as well?) I had really yummy lamb with so-so zucchini and T had a great roast chicken.


Macarons
Having said that I was to go macaron tasting, can you believe I only went to one place? Oh the delicate almond powder/sugar/egg white pastries and the soft creamy filling... hmm. I walked past Gosselin and got some of their violet and chocolate macarons. The violet was incredibly musky and really quite pleasant - although Niki describes the violet flavour as grandmothers and lavender! - and the chocolate was delicious. The macarons there are 4.70 euro for 100g. I was walking past La Grande Epicerie at the department store Bon Marché and it was too bad I didn't have enough time to shop because it is an incredible store of gourmet treats. The macarons there came in the brightest colours and I just wanted to taste the mint and berry flavours! Go there if you want to pack a picnic!

The Classics
Dinner in the Latin Quarter is exciting because it's such a vibrant area, forget that it depends on a tourist trade and just enjoy the great variety of cuisines. This is the university area and as with all student areas, there's something very bohemian about the place. We found this bistro right by the Church of Saint Séverin (we didn't get there in time to go in but I really wanted to check out the palm tree pillars). I didn't write down the name of the bistro but they had a wonderfully Paris menu.

I handled my escargots well and there was no slippage!
The boeuf borgignon was melt in your mouth tasty and T said it was better than the previous one he'd had at George V.
And there's always room for dessert especially these scrumptious profiteroles filled with ice-cream!
As you can see the tablecloth was checked, we did drink red wine and the waiter was fantastically rude by doing things like tease us about how long we took to read the menu and asking if we were going to photograph our meals before I pulled my camera out!

Café George V
avenue des Champs-Elysées
8e

Café B/S
Corner rue Thérèse and rue St Anne
1e

Gosselin
Corner rue de Bellechasse and blvd Saint Germain
7e

La Grande Epicerie
38 rue de Sèvres
7e

Église Saint Séverin

1 rue des prêtres Saint Séverin
5e

Les Îles de Paris

Spending time on the islands of Paris was such a pleasure. Like everyone else, visiting Notre Dame Cathedral on Île de la Cité was high on my list of things to do but on my list of recommendations is also Sainte Chapelle for the stunning stained-glass windows that bathe you in a multitude of colours. (French monuments site.)

Sainte Chapelle

Walking over to Île St-Louis, you suddenly reach residential calm - the exclusive 17th century townhouse kind of residential calm! Walking down the main street of rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île, you will find quaint boutiques, epiceries (look at that window!) and the Île St-Louis institution of ice-cream, Berthillon. As with our other Paris food adventure stories, Berthillon is closed on a Monday and Tuesday and we were there on a Tuesday! Do not fret, plenty of other shops sell Berthillon glace!


Whilst deciding which ice-cream shop to go to, we realised it was past lunch time and saw that this restaurant served meals and ice-cream. Perfect! What a lucky find, the waiter at Les Gourmands de L'Île was friendly and the service efficient. So he must have been catering for tourists? No, locals ate there complete with dogs sitting patiently in their carrier bags and they had a 3 course lunch menu for under 20 euros. (I did write it down but can't find my notebook, I think that is a blurred 13 on the board?) The interior is very Parisian chic with candles, gilded mirrors and plush red banquettes and chairs.


Having been disappointed with the Parisian "French onion soups" up to this stage, Les Gourmands delivered this excellent soupe à l'oignon. Thanks to these tourists for a good giggle: having loudly read through the menu in French commenting on what traditional dishes her friends should try, one lady asked the lovely waiter "Your onion soup, it's French right?". I applaud his composure as her friend chastised her for being "an idiot and a total embarassment"! :-D

You'll see the glass of cider in the background. That was *the* best cider I've had, I don't know what brand or type it was but it so beat the cider I last tried at the Slow Food Festival!!

A selection of pastas was on offer for mains and I had a yummy lasagne, but most importantly was the ice-cream that finished the meal! The intense colours and flavours are apparently what is typical of Berthillon, and this cassis (blackcurrant) sorbet and praliné glace left me wanting more, more, more! The sorbet was an intense hit of natural flavours and the ice-cream was so creamy.

I heard the waiter telling someone that they'd only opened in August. Good luck to them!


Berthillon
29 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île
4e

Les Gourmands d'Île
54 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île
4e

J'aime Paris!

Hello! So, it is back to reality. I'm back at work, just got over the jet lag and wishing I was looking at the Eiffel Tower again. Or just being anywhere on holiday again! Obviously I didn't have a chance to blog about what I was doing so there's lots to tell. Can you imagine, no stops for the internet? But seriously, there was so much to do!

Where do I start? Maybe I'll work back from the end. Paris was our final stop and I had scribbled down a list of recommendations sourced from Gourmet Traveller's Paris edition imagining long lunches between galleries and shopping. There were relatively long lunches but nowhere I'd planned. It takes a lot of planning to work out what your next day's activities will be and which arrondissement you'll be in when, I was like a schoolgirl studying every night. Unfortunately you can't plan opening hours!

I did consider selecting some of the famed restaurants and making a booking way in advance but I thought it'd be more exciting to just find cafés and maybe discover a new treasure or two. (A lot cheaper too!) There were two cafés I'd really wanted to try. Café Constant is an off-shoot of Christian Constant's Le Violon d'Ingres; we went there on a Sunday night and it was shut. OK, Le Violon d'Ingres is also closed on a Sunday so maybe they shut on a Sunday. The next day we found ourselves on rue Saint-Dominique again, hey let's see if they are open for lunch... but no, it remained shut, "chairs turned upside down, lights out" shut. I figured I gave them 2 chances but funnily enough, we didn't feel like seafood in the restaurant nearby and I now realise I turned down the other restaurant in their portfolio, Les Fables de la Fontaine. Oops!

The other café was Chez Stella because Gourmet had such a lovely description of an old favourite. (It's actually in the above website link.) We were going to head that way anyway so when Café Constant didn't come through, we headed towards Chez Stella. I knew that after 2 misses, we would have to be treated to a fantastic meal so I excitedly dragged T out of the metro, threading my way through the streets. When we got to Chez Stella there was a sign on the door, "Closed due to health reasons". Arrrghhh! We did wonder if it was the chef or the patrons' health in question. :-)

After that, I was determined to just stick to my plan of not planning and it worked a treat! Funnily enough that afternoon we were going to the Centre Pompidou. Check out what was on their door:


Don't worry, after that everything went smoothly again and we had a fantastic time. I love Paris!

Café Constant 139 rue Saint-Dominique
7e
01 4753 7334 (To check when they open!)

Chez Stella
3 rue Thérèse
1e
01 4296 2215.