My wife and I just got back from a quick trip to Paris for her birthday. Booked a good special on AAVacations a few months ago and wanted to surprise her.

We set out last Thursday morning from Austin in the pouring rain; a little late as it turned out. I thought our tickets were for 11:00 departure and they turned out to be for 10:40. Even leaving the house at 9:30 with the rain and waiting for a shuttle, didn't arrive in the terminal until 10:12 (usually 30 minutes or less from house to the Admiral's Club), just a few minutes too late to checkin our luggage! I had originally routed AUS-DFW-ORD-CDG so that the DFW-ORD segment was on the 777; they ended up routing us on a direct AUS-ORD flight. Since we now had a few hours to spare, we sat around in the AC, talking with the Thai bartender for awhile about our recent trip to Thailand. I also decided to re-renew my AC membership for 2004 at EXP prices, since I didn't requalify for EXP last year. The flight to Chicago was uneventful and after a few hours boarded the flight to Paris. Our mileage upgrades didn't clear and as I was out of VIPOW's we were at the back of the bus for the first time in awhile! Oddly they didn't even check passports on boarding; the last time I had to show my ID was at security in Austin. Not much to say about the flight over, I slept most of the way and I'm just glad for MRTC!

We arrived at CDG a half hour early to a chilly 32 degree Friday morning; we pulled up outside the terminal 2E (still under construction) instead of the jetbridge and had to be bussed to the silver donut/satellite. Immigration was easy; they didn't even stamp the passports. We had less luck with the train getting into the city. First none of the ticket machines seemed to be working, then once we got on the train it kept breaking down, and it ended up taking us close to 2 hrs to get to the Gare du Nord, normally a 30-40 minute trip! Bought a carnet of 10 metro tickets for EUR9.20 at the station, which is a good deal as they are usually EUR1.30 apiece. Our hotel was the Trinite Plaza, between Pigalle and St. Georges metro stations, just a few blocks away from the Moulin Rouge and apparently in the redlight district. The hotel was nice enough (3 star), and we ended up with a triple room so the room was fairly large (though oddly shaped). The elevator sounded like a growling stomach which didn't help as we were plenty hungry by then (10:30 AM). Had trouble finding a place as it was too early for lunch. My wife wanted just something quick and hot, and was about to order a hamburger until I pointed out it was hamburger de cheval (horse!). She also wanted to make reservations at one of the best Zagat rated restaurants in town; she is in culinary school (Le Cordon Bleu) and has developed an expensive hobby of trying out restaurants. We got lucky as one on her list, Guy Savoy - 26/30 rating, had just had a cancellation for that evening. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around near Notre Dame and the Left Bank, before heading back to nap before dinner. On the way there the metro broke down and we were stuck in the dark for a few minutes!

We arrived at the Guy Savoy restaurant via taxi. The restaurant (www.guysavoy.com) is just north of the Arc de Triomphe on rue Troyon. We were a few minutes early and one of the first groups to arrive. The restaurant was small and intimate; with maybe 10 tables. The chef-owner constantly walks through the dining room and on learning that my wife was in cooking school, offered to show us the kitchen; which was bigger than the dining area! (usually quite the opposite). They had different stations for soups, fish, pastry, etc and a huge kitchen staff on hand (all male!). My wife is about to start her externship, and was really debating going to France for three months, but has heard stories about the kitchens there which are still by far very (exclusively) male dominated. The ratio of serving staff to patrons was almost 1-1. We had trouble choosing something from the menu; we decided to try their special tasting menu which had several different specialities. Only 235 euros each! But as it was her birthday decided to go all out as everyone should have one really good gastronomic experience in their life. We started off with canapes of foie gras and a glass of Domaine Ostertag Gewurztraminer Fronholz Vendanges Tardives 2000, which I have to say is one of the yummiest sweet wines I have ever tasted. The menu was as follows:

Amuse bouche de l'hiver
* Croquilles Saint-Jaques, pommes de terre et caviar Sevruga comme un millefeuille
* Grosse langoustine eclatee aux agrumes
* Bar en ecailles grilles aux epices douces
* Foie gras de canard et champignons rotis en cocotte, le jus
* Soupe d'artichaut a la truffe, brioche feuilletee aux champignons et beuure aux truffes
* Agneau de lait dans tous ses etats
* Fromages affines
* Saveur de poires
* Palet chocolat a la feve de tonka

We chose a 1997 Mersault Charmes as the wine to go with the meal, which turned out to be much more than was listed on the menu! I lost track of the number of dishes they brought out to us, all served and presented wonderfully. Service was impeccable (if only airline service could be this good!) The food was incredible as well, such a rich mix of flavors and tastes and smells. The portions were small of course but enough to be filling. Started off with pumpkin soup, lentil soup and an oyster as a course, then followed by the croquilles, which were excellent and served with a very generous portion of caviar. The langoustine was incredibly sweet and tender. The foie gras was actually a bit of a letdown; it was a huge piece but it was duck (canard) instead of goose, and there's definitely a different taste to the two. The most interesting dish was a sea urchin soup, served in the spiny shell. The artichoke soup had huge shavings of black & white truffle floating in it, yet the taste was very mild and not overpowering. Finally when all the entrees were finished they rolled in the cheese cart, which had nearly thirty different kinds of cheese on it. Hint to self: Avoid the stinky sheep cheese in the future! Then the dessert courses started to arrive; there were 6 different dessert courses in all. One of the best was fresh marshmallows, which were some of the most amazing things I have ever put in my mouth; they were super fluffy and soft, with a hint of lemon zest. Two different kinds of sorbet, and a super rich rice pudding finished off the dessert. As a surprise they brought out a chocolate torte with a candle in it for my wife's birthday (but no singing!) Finally as all good things must end our dinner drew to a close, and the bill arrived, a heart-stopping 710 euros, service included. Three and a half hours after we started and it was now nearly midnight! We took pictures of all the courses but unfortunately very few came out; either they were too dark (flash off), or all white. By far the best meal either of us have ever had, but not likely to repeat! Also I think the 26 Zagat rating is too low! We have eaten at several 26/28-rated restaurants in Houston and London yet they don't begin to compare.

Amazingly enough the next morning we were hungry and up bright and early to go visit Versailles. Our bad luch with French trains continued as we ended up on the long train to Versailles; apparently there are three train stations near the chateau, we took the one that took an hour and a half instead of the quicker 25 minute trip. But it gave us a chance to see a bit of the French countryside go past. The quicker train goes to Versailles Rive Gauche station, and we ended up at Versailles Chartiers. The stations are both fairly close to the chateau (RG is closest) and both are within walking distance. We spent a few hours wandering about a chilly chateau and the gardens (the fountains/ponds were frozen over, which probably explains why the gardens are free this time of year) before heading to a creperie listed in the Lonely Planet and were delighted to see that only locals were there. We both had a galette (savory crepe) and dessert crepe with a bowl of hard cider for lunch before heading back to Paris, this time on the quicker train! The fare is only about EUR2.50 each way. When we arrived back at the hotel, there was a basket of fresh fruit and a bottle of red wine, compliments of AAVacations.

The next day we headed off early to the airport; too early in fact as I forgot it was Sunday and there was zero traffic there; we arrived nearly three hours before our flight with nothing to do but sit in the Admiral's Club. And they don't even have computers there. Our upgrades didn't clear again, as business class and coach were completely full. Even worse; my wife and I had seats 37 E & F, way in the back and middle of the row. I was definitely loving MRTC on the way back... as we were delayed on the ground for nearly an hour before takeoff we were on the plane for over 11 hours stuck in the middle. Originally we had nearly two hours in Dallas before our flight back to Austin; with the delays we arrived at the gate at 2:45; 45 minutes before our flight to Austin was departing. I don't know how, but we managed to get off the plane, go through immigration, get our bags, go through customs, back through security, hijack a cart (the trAAin wasn't working, go figure) and get all the way down to C33 just in time to wait 20 minutes as the Austin flight was delayed.


[This message has been edited by hauteboy (edited 02-27-2003).]

What a fantastic meal you had! I envy you!

[This message has been edited by cruising (edited 02-27-2003).]

What a fabulous birthday and meal!

I've been dying to ask this for ages, I'm sure your wife will know from her studies. What lead to the word "entree" (French for entrance / appetizer / first course) finding common usage in the US for the main / principal course? I know about it and still manage to confuse myself and others both sides of the Atlantic! Starters / Appetizers followed by Entrees always sounds like too much of a good thing but not ending up full!

[This message has been edited by Marvin (edited 02-27-2003).]

My husband and I had a fabulous week of French restaurant indulgences in November. Guy Savoy was about the only top restaurant we missed. Pierre Gagnaire was absolutely incredible though and a bargain compared to yours - I think we paid about $500something for lunch. But considering we were there four hours, it wasn't so bad on an hourly rate. Anyway... your report makes me eager to return for some more grand meals.

great dinner report.
I would appreciate more dining experiences on FT!

Next time you can try Carton Lucas. An even finer meal (though you did well). You might have liked a heavier white wine with that meal, something like Corton-Charlemagne. As for the Zagat rating, it is against peer set, so 26/30 in Houston means it is better than a lower rated restaurant in Houston, but gives no hint where it would be rated in Paris ... it could be 30/30 or 1/30, in their rating system. The other extreme are the Michelin stars, which are pretty uniform world-wide (leading to much controversy as it is impossible for some cities to ever become 3 star as they just don't have access to the right resources).
If it makes you feel better, I remember spending USD1000 for dinner in Paris 20 years ago (a fine meal, but by no means close to the upper limit of what it could have cost). I still recall fondly the "fraises des bois" served at the end of that meal. Money well spent, in retrospect.

Flamboyant 1: Go to the top of the page and click on "FT Dining" you'll find a plethora of dining reports from around the world.

$780 for dinner and you couldn't buy I class tickets to Paris??

Great report.

Nice report. I was just in Paris. 4 Years ago I stayed at the Trinite and it is quite adequate. The area can scare ya at first. I will make note of your restaurant though..it has been some time since I have had a meal like that, sounded great.

I don't think the I-fares were out yet when I booked this... but yeah, that would have been better

$780 for dinner.

Wow, nice splurge.

To be honest that is more money than I spend in an entire year eating out. (Well, my company pays quite a bit.)

You're lucky to have had dinner at Guy Savoy. My girlfriend and I couldn't get dinner reservations when we visited several years ago and "settled" for a memorable, excellent, $350 lunch. We fondly recall that meal every december when we get our annual Guy Savoy christmas card! I'll be in Paris again next month and will try harder to get a dinner reservation. Thanks for the inspiration.