Paris December 2024

[KennethT]

11 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

I totally understand ordering familiar stuff, but the beef we get here in America is just so much better than France's.

 

 

Not necessarily.  We loved the Charolais beef in Burgundy. I still think about it sometimes.

[weinoo]

30 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Not necessarily.  We loved the Charolais beef in Burgundy. I still think about it sometimes.

 

Undoubtedly true.  However - I have a friend who moved to Paris about 3 years ago, with his wife (she's French) and kids. He owns a bagel shop/deli in Brooklyn, and travels back and forth quite frequently.  And constantly complains about the quality of French beef - non-Charolais, evidently. And other than maybe once, at Café des Musées where I ordered the rather mediocre boeuf Bourguignon, I generally shy away from ordering beef dishes.

[weinoo]

10 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

The cheese with an ash rind is a (sliced) Sainte-Maure, recognizable by its cylindrical shape and hole in the middle where a piece of straw was.

 

It's interesting you mention this cheese...

 

 

This is the cheese plate we had, prior to dessert at a small bistro in the 18th, called Bistrot du Maquis.  I enjoyed the goat so much I actually asked the proprietress for its name, which she wrote down on the back of a business card for me!

 

Now that I think of it, maybe one of us had the cheese plate, while one of us enjoyed dessert?

Edited Thursday at 01:33 PM by weinoo (log)

[liamsaunt]

Today we headed out in search of second breakfast on our way to the Orsay museum.  

 

 

We stopped in at this Boulangerie 

 

 

i got a few pictures of the cases 

 

 

 

Some of our choices 

 

 

Some scenes from our walk to the museum 

 

 

 

It was very crowded at the Orsay. Obligatory clock picture

 

 

and main gallery photo

 

 

We only visited two of the five floors because of the crowds and then headed out. We walked over to the Louvre area to get more coffee and a box of macarons. It was very, very crowded 

 

 

Everyone was tired, so we headed back to the apartment and put out a bunch of cheese, bread and apples, and called it dinner

 

 

And for dessert…

 

 

Edited Thursday at 08:07 PM by liamsaunt (log)

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

more Sole .

 

nice.

[liamsaunt]

Yesterday we walked from our apartment to the Louvre. On the way, we went by this Jeff Koons sculpture called “Bouquet of Tulips.”

 

 

 

We stopped for some ice cream in the Tuileries Gardens before tackling the museum. It was pretty terrible.

 

 

The Louvre was so, so crowded. The lines were just insane. We had timed tickets, but the line for our slot was still hundreds of people long when we arrived. Luckily for us, a guard came over, checked our tickets, and then told the people at the back of the line (aka us, plus a few other people) that we could go in through side entrance rather than through the pyramid. So we walked over there and went right in, probably cutting about 45 minutes of waiting from our day.  
 

My sister, niece and nephew really wanted to go see the Mona Lisa, since they have never been to Paris before. They could not get close of course. But, my nephew is tall, so he just stuck his phone up and took a snap! He laughed and said he did it just to annoy me, then showed me the photo he took yesterday at the Orsay of the Van Gogh self portrait, which he deliberately took at an off kilter angle to make it doubly annoying 😂. He said he considered resting his phone on my head while he took it but thought violence would ensue. So behold my nephew’s painting snaps as his contribution to this report 😂😂😂

 

 

 

 

We spent the rest of our time in less crowded areas of the museum. The detailing is just amazing

 

 

You could have a very large dinner party at the table in the Napoleon Apartments

 

 

Speaking of dinner, last night we had dinner at the Brasserie du Louvre. Lighting was a bit challenging, so no menu photos. Cocktails

 

 

Gougeres stuffed with truffle cheese

 

 

Asparagus with egg mousse and hazelnuts

 

 

Burrata with green gazpacho

 

 

Sea bream crudo

 

 

Sister and husband had the sole meurniere. This came with a salad

 

 

Nephew and niece both got the tuna with zucchini

 

 

And I had a spring vegetable risotto.

 

 

Complimentary pre dessert of walnut and currant cookies

 

 

Husband had the Saint Honore with raspberries.

 

 

And a few got the caffe gourmand. Niece swapped out a latte for the espresso.

 

 

Dinner was very good, but it was definitely a…leisurely experience. Over three hours! Luckily we had nothing else planned for the evening! 

Edited Saturday at 09:17 AM by liamsaunt (log)

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

more sole !

 

Excellent.

[liamsaunt]

Yesterday was our last full day in Paris. Niece and nephew wanted to go shopping on the Champs d’Elysses. After about 15 minutes of fighting the crowds, they turned to us and said “we hate shopping!”  😂. We did have the unfortunate experience of ending up in a cafe on the street because nephew was starving. We just ordered some lattes and dessert. It was pretty terrible but we were expecting it to be. Interesting ceiling decor

 

 

Crepes

 

 

Banana Nutella crepes

 

 

Chcoclate ice cream

 

 

We retreated and went to a less crowded area for the rest of the day, but then regrouped and decided to do the most touristy thing of all: have dinner with a view of the Eiffel Tower!
 

 

We were seated at a window table with a pretty good view of the tower. Drinks. 

 

 

asparagus with bearnaise

 

 

pizzetta

 

 

salmon tartare

 

 

Husband, niece and I played it safe with omelettes

 

 

nephew had pasta with ham and Comte

 

 

sister had coconut cod curry

 

 

dessert was a millefeuille

 

 

a liege cafe

 

pain perdu 

 

 

and strawberry sorbet

 

 

with a sparkling reward

 

 

 

 

Overall, it was a pretty successful trip considering the size of our group and differing interests.  We have some time before our flight, but I am not sure if eating will be involved. If it is, I will update this thread. If not, see you soon on the dinner thread! 

 

Edited Sunday at 07:37 AM by liamsaunt (log)

[liuzhou]

It's been a vicarious pleasure to accompany you on your visit. Thank you.

(My parents were of the firm opinion that the best place to eat in Paris was in the restaurant IN the Eiffel tower because it's the only place in Paris where you can't see the Eiffel Tower. I'm not sure they were wrong!)

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

thank you for sharing .

 

Bad Food in Paris ?

 

who knew  

 

I counted at least 3 Dover Sole's  , nicely cooked

 

so there is that .

 

and that's worth the trip , in my book.

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

nephew had pasta with ham and Comte

 

 

Seems as if this pasta might be a thing, as we had a quite similar dish, at a small bistro way down in the 14th called L'Assiette.

 

 

It was just this past February, and as it was still black truffle season, why not?

 

Apparently, they like the elbows.

 

Edited Sunday at 01:15 PM by weinoo (log)

[TdeV]

Thank you, @liamsaunt, for another lovely trip.

[liamsaunt]

One last installment from the Prime Class Lounge at CDG. We had to be out of the apartment by 10, but were able to leave our luggage with the housekeeper, so we went to another neighborhood boulangerie

 

 

Some of the cases

 

 

 

We ordered croissants and lattes

 

 

 

And then we went to the park near the apartment to knock off our daily minimum 10k steps. It’s so pretty in there. The Bois de Boulogne. I could have spent days exploring it. 

 

 

 

This is a restaurant in the park. You have to take a boat to it (all we could think of was the movie The Menu). There was a line of people in their Easter outfits waiting to be taken over for a meal

 

And that is really it for this visit, unless you want to see airplane food, but I guess we already have a thread for that 😀 
 

[rotuts]

@liamsaunt

 

nothing quite like the aroma that hits you when you enter a bakery like that one.

[Shelby]

Thank you @liamsaunt!

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, liamsaunt said:

One last installment from the Prime Class Lounge at CDG. We had to be out of the apartment by 10, but were able to leave our luggage with the housekeeper, so we went to another neighborhood boulangerie

 

 

Some of the cases

 

 

 

We ordered croissants and lattes

 

 

 

And then we went to the park near the apartment to knock off our daily minimum 10k steps. It’s so pretty in there. The Bois de Boulogne. I could have spent days exploring it. 

 

 

 

This is a restaurant in the park. You have to take a boat to it (all we could think of was the movie The Menu). There was a line of people in their Easter outfits waiting to be taken over for a meal

 

And that is really it for this visit, unless you want to see airplane food, but I guess we already have a thread for that 😀 
 

Thanks for this!!!   I  love the Bois de Boulogne... not only is there this restaurant, but there used to be a 3* Le Pre Catelan... I don't know if it's still there, or still 3* though.....

[lemniscate]

On 4/15/2025 at 11:21 AM, liamsaunt said:

 

The food photos are Oh My!   But this photo caught me, so poignant.   Especially during Holy Week.

[MaryIsobel]

Thanks for another lovely journey with you - your photos and descriptions are the next best thing to being there.❤️