Bookmarking

Some years ago, I read that baby wipes were useful to have in your day bag for spills (and freshening up on a hot and sunny day). Waiting at the cable car turnaround one morning in San Francisco, a seagull unloaded on me (wearing a brand new twin set!) and the lady next to me. Those baby wipes cleaned up everything very quickly. I was totally amazed. I've carried them every since. They came in handy again during a walking tour in London when my husband got hit.

The link to the map of the best bakeries in Paris does not appear to be correct. I'd love to see that map though.

Restaurants all sound wonderful, I'm taking notes.

I'm all a-puddle reading about the food! Dreamy!

Will be in Paris in a few weeks and would love to dine at La Regalade. Is calling the only way to place a reservation? I can't seem to find their website so I can place an internet reservation. Thank you.

Very few restaurants in Paris do reservations by email. Calling is the way, definitely for Le Regalade. And they will ant to confirm the res the day before as well. Most of the folkswho work there do speak some English though so making the resrvation by phone is easy.

Try this link to Julot's bakeries:
http://tinyurl.com/3ysk8ot

Heading back to Paris Sunday and your report is getting me excited! My friend called today to say she ate at Le Regalade St. Honore yesterday (coincidence, no?) and was, frankly, disappointed. Sorry now I didn't ask why.

I stayed in an apartment in the 15th on each trip for years and always loved it. For the person who said they are heading there in November, may I suggest Geppetto's on Rue St. Charles for dinner one night? Very small and the locals love it so get reservations, but warm and wonderful food.

I'll be in the 12th this trip (another area I love because it's non-touristy).

I noted your rec of La Rotunde for tartare--thanks!!!

Great report! Hope I get to Paris soon--I have been wondering about Jadis and now you've sold me on Rostang as well. I am the sort who loves food details so I hope you're feeling encouraged.

Great report and thanks for the bakeries map. Jadis sounds amazing and will definitely be on our list for our next trip. I have mixed feeling about Le Regalade since we had such BAD service there. Every time I think it couldn't have been that bad I remember that we got the famous pate plopped on the table with no bread, we couldn't get their attention to get some or the wine we ordered and they took it away without ever having brought the bread.

Yes, the service at La Regalade, both the old place and I think the new one, can be an issue. We've done OK but I've heard many complaints from others. You definitely do not feel as if they are glad you're there and that they want to make your experience special. It's quite perfuntory (though never rude)and sometimes a little haphazard. The trick is to not hesitate to wave for attention or to speak up if there's a problem. Sometimes this can feel a little overwhelming if you don't speak French, but it's your dinner and your money and it is their job to take care of you. And we have always found that the food more than makes up for the lack of congenial service.

Love reading this and making notes for my next trip

The next day was Saturday and the Edgar Quinet market beckoned right up the street from our apartment. We decided we would cancel our reservation at Zygomates, a well recommended small classic French bistro in the nether-reaches of the 12th (7 R. de Capri, tel 01 40 19 93 04) and buy ingredients to cook a meal in our very well appointed kitchen. We wre at the market before 9:00 paying close attention to which stalls had the longest lines, particularly of little old French ladies with their pull carts, knowing that these vendors would have the best quality provisions.

What fun to fill our canvas bag with fresh spinach, girolles, fresh farm chicken breast and livers, as well as onions and herbs and a fine piece of 2 year old comte cheese. A fresh baguette and a bottle of wine were all that remained to be purchased and a fabulous dinner awaited cooking that evening.

After depositing our groceries at the apartment, we hopped on the metro for a visit to the Museum of Music out in the 19th. DH is a professional musician and he has wanted to visit this museum for a while but we’ve never managed to fit it in. This time we decided to make it a priority and had looked at the website before we cam to Paris and discovered that there would be a free guitar concert in the museum on Saturday afternoon and since DH is a guitarist, it made sense to plan our visit for that day.

Before going in to the museum, we decided to wander around the 19th since we had never been to that area of Paris. We stopped at an artisanal boulangerie and a bought ham and cheese croissant and a chocolate almond pastry for a small picnic lunch. We visited the lovely Buttes-Chaumont Park, one of the loveliest parks in Paris, in my opinion and then made our way back to the music museum.

I cannot recommend this museum highly enough. If you have any interest in classical music or in musical instruments, this is a fabulous experience and also great for kids. The museum has a stupendous collection of instruments and a headset allows you to learn some interesting information about the instruments but most appealing, allows you to listen to the sounds that the individual instruments make as well as hear famous compositions featuring each instrument. You can listen to as much or as little at each exhibit and it’s just wonderful.

The guitar “concert” turned out to be one lone musician playing very modern electric guitar, using some interesting looping sound tracks. We listened for a short while and then moved on to finish touring the museum.

Because it was such a nice day outside, we decided to take a detour on the way home to visit one of my favorite areas in Paris: Invalide. I love to walk all around this area particularly between the palaces and over the Alexander III Bridge. Especially at night, this bridge offers spectacular views of the Eiffel Tower. We took quite a few photos before heading back to the apartment to cook up our market ingredients.

I so enjoyed cooking that meal! We had sautéed breast of chicken with livers, smothered in caramelized onions with a Dijon mustard wine sauce along with creamed spinach and girolles, as well as fresh toasted baguette, dripping with the melted 2 year aged comte cheese. Totally delicious! After the meal settled a bit, we went up the street for cones at Amorino, a fantastic gelato place. Much better that the famous Berthillion’s, in my opinion. A night time walk through the always busy Montparnasse area topped off our day and we went home to sleep, hoping all that wonderful food would digest in time for us to enjoy our lunch the next day at Le Cinq!

Le Cinq, (31 avenue George V (8th) 33 (0) 1 49 52 70 00 ) is for me the quintessential French Michelin starred experience. The atmosphere is palatial but warm, the room is elegant with gorgeous floral arrangements, the service is over the top, and the food is divine. It’s a fabulous place to celebrate a special occasion where you will be pampered to the nth degree. The lunch special menu makes it affordable for this kind of meal. You have choices of 3 different entrees, plats, and dessert, as well as an unending stream of other special treats, for 78E plus beverages.

We were seated at a wonderful table (although all the tables are great here!) and I was provided with a special little stool for my bag. We were offered our menus and almost immediately the parade of goodies began. The muse bouche consisted of a tiny buckwheat blini topped with a cube of fresh horseradish infuded farm cheese, a shotglass filled with pumpkin puree, topped with a sorrel mousse with a chunk of pumpkin found at the bottom of the cup, and a piece of perfectly cooked eel with crisp skin and a teriyaki glaze. Yum.

After we ordered, out came the bread and butter. There were 3 kinds of bread to choose from as well special unsalted bread just for dipping into their amazing olive oil. Bordier butter, both unsalted and mixed with seaweed was provided for the other breads. For entrée, I had foie gras ravioli with tiny winter vegetables swimming in a rich duck broth. DH had razor clams topped with caviar served over spinach and tiny new potatoes. Both fantastic. We both ordered he same plat: roast Basque pig with apple confit, gingered bok-choy, creamy mashed potatoes and cepes browned in butter. So good!

Next came a palate cleanser of coconut mousse over tiny cubes of mango, pineapple and kiwi. So refreshing! After that, we were treated to quite a show as part of our pre-desserts. Out came two round glass bowls sitting over dry ice which created the drama of billowing smoke. Inside the bowls we found a serving of mint granits topped with an egg yolk sized chocolate thing that was solid like jello on the outside and popped to let go of a soft runny chocolate interior. A heavenly layered thing of various textures and temperatures. Along with this we were served an outrageous chocolate tart, the crust made up of toasted peanuts and crispy wafer-like substance and topped with mint foam. Again, so delicious I had to eat all of it even though this was the pre-dessert and I knew the dessert we had ordered was still to come along with the sweets trolley to go with coffee!!

The main dessert was 4 perfect, hollowed out strawberries sitting on a thin piece of sponge cake, and filled with sabayon and run quickly under the broiler and then surrounded by more sabayon sauce. Along side was a scoop of intense strawberry sorbet sitting on a butter cookie with a candle stuck in and a chocolate bar with “Joyeaux Anniversaire” written on it. Our Parisian friend who made this reservation for us a month ago must have told them that were celebrating our wedding anniversary! We were, but we’d been keeping it very low key so this was a sweet surprise.

Because I don’t drink alcohol and so refused the port they offered us with dessert, they brought me instead, a glass of chocolate milk to have with dessert. Now this wasn’t Nestle Quick! This was pure chocolate mixed with cream and chilled. Wow!

After a few sips of the chocolate and polishing off the strawberries, we ordered coffee and they brought over the sweets trolley. Wow. Such an assortment of beautiful sweet things I had to try something even though I was stuffed to the gills. I had a tiny lemon tart and tiny cream puff topped with a perfect raspberry. DH tried a piece of nougat with nuts.

The staff saw me taking notes and photos throughout the meal and at the end the captain asked me if I’d like to have a tour of the kitchen. Would I ever! The he took me through and showed me where the magic happens and I got to see the chefs in action. I met and had a lovely conversation with the pastry chef. All in all perfect afternoon. We rolled home and for the first time ever in Paris, I took a nap!

I love it. Lunch at Le Cinq was an integral part of one of my all-time favorite treat-myself-to-something-superb days. You describe the experience so well I feel as if I'm reliving it--with new courses.

The meal you cooked at home sounds pretty tasty as well.

Taking notes and enjoying reading of your time in Paris. I will be there in early December and staying in the 15th, so those places I will check them out. Will be doing allot of walking aroung as I have time to do so on this my I think 6th trip to Paris (aka = Happy Place. A culinary grad from last century so the food has me getting excited try all of the food I can while I am there.

i'm sorry, i won't fully read your trip report.
i'd be driven mad with envy. ;-)

acacia67 - In the 15th there is a superb totally French bistro
Le Volant, 13 Rue Beatrix Dussane. Tel:0145752767 -Metro: Duplex - Closed at lunchtime Saturday, Sunday (& Sunday dinner).
We went on a week day for lunch - their Boeuf Bourg is fab.
They are not at all expensive.

lunch at le cinq for your anniversary - would you like to send a postcard of this to my DH?

sounds fabulous. i generally hate these sorts of questions, but what did you wear?

We are leaving for Paris in two weeks, and like you, I center my trips around food. Last time, I took four cooking classes while in Paris, and this time, I plan to eat, eat, eat in amazing restaurants, making your trip report timely. Thank you for the amazing detail!

As I just told my boyfriend while sending him your account at Le Cinq: "as if we/I need anymore inspiration and/or excitement to up the enthusiasm for our trip. This is why I love Paris; they are even more obsessed with food than me, and there are restaurants that turn out these types of experiences for their guests." Very well-written!

bookmarking - for the food of course!

Thanks for sharing!