milesaddict

Damn, such a lovely report. I wonder how much weight did you take with all the meals !
Keep up the good work.

offerendum

Not one gram - that was the only good thing about the gastrointestinal problems

halfcape

I am sorry that you were stricken by a GI issue. I am impressed with how you keep going even while you must feel dreadful.
Thanks for taking the time to post your report and photos.

bitterproffit

I am scrolling down through the Musee d'Orsay pics and seeing the kitsch and then without warning my jaw drops and those wonderful pictures you took of the Impressionist masters pop up on my laptop. Poppy fields, parasol women, Van Gogh masterpieces. I wasn't prepared. I might have said wow out loud. Thanks for amazing pics.

offerendum

Thanks! Show must go on

offerendum

Yeah, they have some great stuff. Only a few samples are shown here. Thanks

offerendum

We took a taxi to visit Notre Dame:



Fortunately lines in front of Notre Dame were relative short and we were inside in a few minutes.





We also visited the treasury. Some of the artefacts are..... äh.... see yourself:



Finally we went to the archaeological crypt.

offerendum

A few steps from Notre Dame is the Palais de Justice. Inside the Palais is Saint-Chapelle, one of the most beautiful excamples of gothic stained glass.


The lower church:


The upper chapel:

offerendum

Connected to the Palias de Justice is Conciergerie. First residence of the king, it was later the state prison during French revolution and last „home“ of Marie Antoinette.
Hall of the guards:


Cells:


Prisoners church:


Kitchen:

offerendum

We went to Place de la Madeleine, Main reason was that girlfriend was hungry and I had good memories about Fauchon.
Main attraction of the place is La Madeleine:




View from the entrance:


My girlfriend had a romantic cafe in mind, in fact Fauchon only offers outdoor seating.

There was no possibility to see the patisserie offerings..... We sat down and they brought the menu. Significantly they had already opened the site with their Champagne, thatīs what the place is all about. The other guests are in accordance with this. I found the waiters snobby and not inviting. The only „sweet“ offering was the patisserie of the day which was 10 €. All people who had something like that had a strawberry tartlett. No thanks.... I convinced my girlfriend to stand up and leave.....

estnet

Fantastic pics - you must have a very fast connection to be able to upload them - or am I doing it wrong (takes about 1-2 min to upload a not very big pic)

offerendum

Thanks - no, Speed is OK. Donīt have a special connection. Personally I find it relative slow.

offerendum

As it was my girlfriends birthday the hotel provided a cake and a bottle of Champagner.



The cake was delicious, the Champagner a nice gift back home (looks generous but I mustnīt spend one Euro (extra))

offerendum

At evening was time for the birthday dinner, if really fit or not. We decided to try L'Abeille, the 2 star restaurant at the Shangri-La. Always convenient to eat at the hotel and especially in my state.
The restaurant is elegant as you can expect:


First they brought a tartelett with mushrooms and some bread.

While the tartelett was pretty good the bread was uneatable. Terrible, a toughly mass. I got a little bit afraid.

The normal bread was OK, with excemption of I kind we did knew all from breakfast.


We choosed the tasting menu with 3 dishes, cheese and desserts. Price was 230,00 € per person. Paris......

Amuse Bouche: Sea Urchin with caviar

Good.

First course: Marinated scallops - hay and Lapsang Souchong cooked beetroot, shizo / balsamic condiment

Something missing? Yeah....

They like the show.....

Second course: Line caught pollack and caviar - cauliflowers, gently pan-fried brioche in Le Ponclet’s butter

And? Yes, of course.....

Caviar? Yes, they also brought some but I forgot to take a picture. The dish was good.

Third course: Chausey Isle’s lobster - vanilla, pumpkin and chestnuts cooked in casserole
They presented it at the table:

The dish itself was harmonic and delicious.


Now the cheese:

Nothing too special, here our selections:



First dessert: Roasted Rocha pears, beer ice-cream and malted flour biscuit,bergamot condiment

One of my least favourite desserts this year. The pear was OK, the beer ice-cream for us uneatable and the rest so so.

Second dessert: Frosted corsican honey - perfumed with lemon and eucalyptus

The signature dessert of the restaurant. Pretty good but also nothing I will tell in years about.

Petit fours:


Overall a good meal, solid 2 star level with better main dishes than desserts.

Something funny for the end. After a while 2 guys arrived and 6 bottles of wine were placed on the table. They took pictures and we first thought they present some wine or so. But they sat down and several glasses were placed on the table. It were 12! When they ate a dish they drank from every wine. The heads got redder and redder, the atmosphere obvious more relaxed.

Guess they got a nice bill.....

an_asker

When we were there in 11/2014, photographing the artwork was prohibited at Orsay. They took off the ban in 2015, I believe...