Day 2 in Paris, France
Statuary in a park at the Grand Palais, Paris, France.
I've arrived back at the hotel from my day of leisure, now it is time to freshen up and begin the evening portion of the program. Bob and I meet Dean and Jens on the Rooftop Terrace at the Penninsula, which by all accounts was to be closed today due to weather, but still, no rain. We have a beverage and the guys discuss their trip while I look at the view and snap a few pictures from both the terrace and the adjoining restaurant, L'Oiseau Blanc.
"Le Rooftop" at the Peninsula Hotel and the adjoining "L'Oiseau Blanc" Rooftop Restaurant, both with amazing views of the Eiffel Tower.
Once cocktail time is over, we move towards our dinner destination: l’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile. I saw this restaurant on an Anthony Bourdain travel show and have been dying to go ever since. Bourdain stood in awe of Joël Robuchon as a chef, and he likes almost no-one. But he is not alone. Joël Robuchon has been called "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau, and his restaurants collectively hold the most Michelin Guide stars of any in the world to date. I am so looking foward to this, but at the same time, I think no-one is up for a 97-course extravaganza, including me. The conciege assured me that we can eat a "simple" three course meal, or have a multi-course extravaganza. They can provide either experience. So I am re-assured.
The restaurant is on the Champs-Élysées, a mere 4 - 5 blocks from our hotel. The walk takes us right by the Arc de Triomphe onto the Champs-Élysées, which is lined with trees, expensive shops and expensive cars. We are a bit early, so we stop for a cocktail on the main floor above the restaurant at a place called Le Drugstore, and wait for our 5th dining companion, a gentleman from Dublin, Ireland who runs an advertising agency there. He arrives and we enjoy our surroundings as we wait for the restaurant to open. We have 6:30 dinner reservations, which in Paris is cocktail time. Dinner can be anywhere from 8:00pm until midnight. We are so un-hip.
The Arc de Triomphe and other sights, including a Lamborghini parade as seen from the Champs-Élysées. Drinks before dinner at '"Le Drugstore", which is in the same building as a large drugstore and a bookshop. The restaurant Joël Robuchon is on the bottom floor. I know, weird combo.
It is finally time to hit the restaurant, and we descend down a mirrored flight of stairs to a retro-chic space done in red and black, with funky lighting and a foosball table in the foyer, which Bob and Jens immediately attack. There are dining tables, mostly for larger parties (6 or more), but we are seated at a bar that surrounds the kitchen, with views into it from all angles. They put us at a corner to facilitate conversation with a party of 5. Neat. We take our seats and are approached by the bartender, who pours cocktails (this is a scotch crowd) and offers a wine selection to Bob. Bob makes a choice. We are off to the races.
The entrance and dining area at Joël Robuchon. Plus a little scotch and wine selection.
We settle in and review the menu. Yes, there is a tasting menu available which would offer many courses with wine pairings, but one can also order à la carte. Thank God! I'd provide a link to the menu but even though there is an English web site, they provide menus in French only (because FU), so please use link above. The first course, which is complimentary, is a tomato and cherry soup with a quenelle of crème fraîche, sprinked with pistachio. It is cold. And delightful.
Bob's wine selection, and the tomato-cherry soup with crème fraîche and pistachio garnish.
Time to order. Bob selects his wine, which is a big hit all-around. I choose a salad with greens, avocado, some other stuff and a tasty dressing. Bob gets langoustine spring rolls which he raves about. There is a lovely little bite of fish for someone else and two beautiful truffle ravioli for another. I am past taking copious notes on other people's food for this trip, and the French menu is not helping me remember. So enjoy these photos.
Beautiful and tasty first courses at l’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.
For entrees, both Bob and I get tournedoes of beef with a potato puree which fell from heaven and I think a little salad on the side. It's been over a week, I don't quite remember and I can't quite tell, cut me a break! I have photos of everyone else's dishes, one of which is half eaten. I shall take a minute to talk about this potato puree. Made with the best potatoes, a little cream and a LOT of butter, whipped within an inch of its life and then put through a sieve of sorts to take any unwanted texture out, it is like warm potato-butter pudding. Show-stopper. The ultimate comfort food. Dip your spoon in sauce before taking a bite. I found this recipe for these potatoes, created by Anthony Bourdain himself. I can tell by the picture they are not as heavenly as they should be, he missed the sieve part.
A selection of main courses and the heavenly potatoes puree. I could probably eat that every day. It's the Irish in me.
Dessert time comes, and there is no question in my mind that I am having a chocolate soufflé, paired with a vanilla ice cream and decadent chocolate sauce. The design on the top is an edible topping designed to promote even cooking and look cool. This is the best way to end our last dinner in Paris. For this trip, anyway.
Decadent chocolate soufflé with vanilla bean ice cream and a Grand Marnier chocolate sauce. Might be my final dish before they execute me.
Time for us to go our separate ways. Bob and I leave for Boston tomorrow, but have the morning to explore for a few hours. Dean and Jens go to Munich for the day, then home the next. We walk back to the hotel and sit on the terrace for a bit. Here are a few pictures of the Penninsula. Lovely spot and well-situated.
The lobby, bar and restaurant, patio and public spaces of the Peninsula Hotel, Paris.
We wake the next morning with about 4 hours to pack and see the sights before heading to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Packing comes first, then a light breakfast on the terrace at the hotel before we head out. The plan is to climb the Arc de Triomphe, then stroll the Champs and maybe hit a store or two. But we arrive at all of these things too early (except for breakfast). So change of plans. We walk around the Arc and then stroll the Avenue to the Grand Palais.
Our "light" continental breakfast at the Peninsula. Lattes, juice, an apple cake, some pastries and the ever-present baguette.
The Grand Palais was designed as a public/exhibition space well after the French Revolution. It is huge. And magnificent, surrounded by gardens and a public park. It opens at 10:00am and as we continue to be early for everything, we stroll around the gardens, park and exterior until it opens. Click along the right to advance the photos.
Scenes from the Champs-Élysées, park and gardens around the Grand Palais, twin statues of Cartier and Champlain, exterior of the Grand Palais, and the Petit Palais across the street, built almost as an overflow to the Grand Palais.
It is finally 10:00am. The museum opens and we go in, because I need to use the bathroom. After looking at the clock and weighing our options, we decide that walking back to the Arc de Triomphe and climbing to the top is a better use of time. So we do. You need to pass through a tunnel under the street to get to the Arc. There is a 6-lane rotary/roundabout through which all Parisien traffic flows, and it sits betweeen you and the Arc. In any other scenario besides the tunnel you would be dead by vehicular homicide. The traffic is vicious.
The Arc de Triomphe stands as a tribute to those who perished in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
There are 194 steps to the top of the Arc, and I know, because I counted them myself. There is a level with a mini-museum about 3/4 of the way up. This thing is bigger than it looks! Going up was not that hard. Maybe a little quad burn, but ok. Mild dizziness, but ok. Everyone is bitching and moaning, but that ends when you get to the top. The views are amazing (no Sacré-Cœur Basilica, but hey). The trip down, however, is another story. Vertigo stikes. I did make it without barfing or falling but there may have been a minor back-up behind me. Just a tad dizzy. I know a lot of the shots look alike, but Paris was designed by a wizard, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commissioned by Napoleon himself, and it all makes sense and it is symmetrical. By the way, yes, that is smog.
Views of Paris from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. That is me in the last photo going down the 194 step spiral staircase, trying to keep my shit together. Photo courtesy of Robert Wilkins.
We make our way down and head back to the hotel to grab our bags and get to the airport. There are two Rolls Royce vehicles in front of the entrance, one old and one new, and they blend perfeclty. Kind of like Paris. If you go to the Louvre, you see a 500 year old palace turned museum with a modern glass pyramid in front of it and it works. The ultra-modern Centre Pompidou blends within its neighborhood along the Seine, with its historic buidings, and it works. The cusine is a blend of traditional and new, and it works. Paris is an amazing city and I never tire of coming here. I look forward to the next visit. Come here if you have the chance, you will fall in love with it.
A vintage Rolls Royce and a newer Roll Royce in front of our hotel. Old and new live in harmony in Paris, but old is king. Or queen. Come here before you die.