Paris Day VI

Playing: Long Hair-The Drowners
Reading: The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde

First stop on our sixth day was the Musée d'Orsay. Out of all the museums, this museum proved to be the most manageable, meaning I was able to see everything in the museum within two or three hours. The collection was amazing and they had lots of Van Gogh there. I enjoyed looking at the interior design of the museum and the giant clock inside made me feel like Hugo. However, we had to leave a tad sooner than we would have liked to for our lunch reservations.

A patient of my dad has many relatives in Paris, so they told us all of their favorite restaurants including Les Bouquinistes. Guy Savoy, a world renown chef, teamed up with this restaurant to make the menu. For starters, I had the Accras de Caubillaud avec Tartare Sauce. They were little, fluffy pieces of fried fish served with caper tartare sauce. It was definitely some of the best fried fish I've had in awhile.

For the main course, I ordered the Onglet de Veau Rôti, which came with a glass of red wine. The veal was tender, while the mushrooms had a rich earthy flavor to them that soaked up the au jus very well. The addition of mashed taro was nice too, since it was denser and quite filling. This was an exceptional dish and I really wish I could get it in the states.

If you wanted dessert, it only cost €3 more for the fixed price menu, so I figured why not? I'm glad I ordered the Glaces et Sorbets because each ice cream and sorbet were incredibly flavorful and fluffy. It felt almost like eating air and the flavors were interesting too. I'm guessing they were chai latte, speculoos, and apricot. I highly recommend Les Bouqinistes because it exceeded all my requirements for vacation eateries: non-touristy, good food, quick service, preferably surrounded by locals, and efficient service with no creepy waiters.

Afterwards, we visited Sainte-Chapelle and Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, which are both worth visiting. Saint-Chapelle was completely over the top with its painted walls and stained glass windows, while Notre-Dame is worth visiting because Van Helsing jumped off of it. (Just kidding, I know Notre-Dame is historically important.) There's a beautiful flower market around the area that was really quaint. It had aisles and aisles of these gorgeous flower shops and it's definitely worth looking at, if you're in the area.

Also located nearby is Berthillon, which Katrina and my tour book recommended. I didn't know the two that I ordered,  Rhubarbe and Fraise et Rhum, would be sorbets, so I was kind of disappointed. It was good for sorbet, but I was just expecting ice cream from a place known for their ice cream. However, if you go, you have to try the Lait d'Amande, which was amazing!

For dinner, we stopped off in Le Quartier Latin for a fairly inexpensive dinner at Le Village Ronsard, where I ordered the Magret de Canard au Miel avec Haricot Verts Frais et Pommes Sautées and some escargots. Even though the escargots (not pictured) had a texture disturbingly like mussels, I'm glad I tried it, since it's a famous French dish. However, the duck breast was very tender and the honey sauce was sweet without being overly so. Be warned, the service here was very brusque.

Oh, and here's the highlight of my trip. I got the chance to talk to Karl Lagerfeld, Grace Coddington, and Sylvia Venturini Fendi. I saw that a Karl Lagerfeld/Fendi party was going to take place by the Pont Alexandre, so every night I checked the location. I spotted so many models, bloggers, and other fashion people there on the night of the event, but I ditched as soon as Karl did. I walked with him over to the Petit Palais and this is the only time I'll ever be part of his entourage. I have some other photos of the people by themselves, but this is the only one of us together. It was drizzling all over my lens and my mum was being told to get out of the way by the paparazzi, so this is the best I have.

PS Sorry about this post being so food heavy, but I didn't take many photos of Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle, so I mainly have food and flower photos only from that day. Also, do you prefer the large photos or the smaller ones?