Happy birthday to me! :) Today we slept in a bit - which was a lovely treat. I wanted breakfast out and we found this cool place featuring bread, pastries and their own line of amazing spreads (yes, it was a condiment buffet, and you who know me know how much I love'me some condiments!). It was tres yummy.Our first stop after that was the Pompidou since we didn't make it last night, and, seeing that it's my favorite museum on the planet, it seemed fitting to do it on my birthday. That said, I made a slight planning error and didn't realize both the Pomp and the l'Orangerie, the only other museum on the to-do list, were both closed Tuesday - meaning we had to cram two into one day (something we both were trying to avoid; it's easy to get 'arted-out'). But, we were troopers! The Pomp was amazing and featured a ton of really cool modern and contemporary art. Included are a load of Matisse, Picasso and Chagall works (seeing Chagall paintings on my birthday: Priceless!!), along with a lot of lesser-known but noteworthy artists who impacted art during their time. It's a fascinating place, and though by the end of our visit we'd had visual overload, it was fantastic!
From there, we bee-lined to the l'Orangerie which reopened a few weeks after my visit last year. It was stunning to see the giant, curved, multi-panel Monet's (waterlillies) - two oval rooms each featured 4 of his works, and it gave me a new appreciation for him. Downstairs housed a private collection with Modigliani, Picasso, and others. The nicest thing was, when we were in line, we met a couple whom Jill offered a few of our Metro tickets to - figuring we wouldn't get through them all before we left. It came out that it was my birthday, and the guy bought our way in as a little birthday present. Again, the kindness of strangers is an amazing thing. Even though it was a tad rushed, we were both glad we made the effort to fit the l'Orangerie in!
After a brief re-grouping at our apartment, and change of clothes, we were off for my birthday dinner/present: Dinner at Joel Robuchon's l'Atelier. I ate here last year alone, and had a great experience - but was really excited to share it with Jill. I called to confirm and asked for an English-speaking server (which, of course, they all speak English....oh well). We got a good seat at the 42-person bar and ordered up.
(Foodie warning...skip if you're not into details...but oh-my-God read on if you are!)
During our visit back to the room, we'd reviewed the menu online so we'd be somewhat organized and prepared to order - and not totally clueless. We also took some of our server's recommendations. To start, we had two small plates: Prawn ravioli with a mushroom cream sauce and the house cured ham with champagne...already, we could've left happy. Next up was a stunning course of seared foie gras and 1/2 of a fresh-put-in-the-pan-living-two-minutes-ago lobster...again, we were both in awe. It was amazing!
For our main course, I had fresh Turbot (you can only get frozen in the U.S. since it's from Greenland; but here it's fresh!) and Jill had lamb chops...actually, we swapped each course 1/2 way through, so we both had everything. Except, of course, for the cheese, which I took care of on my own (lactose-challenged Jill sat this one out). For dessert, I got "le chocolat" and they made up a little dessert for Jill with basil sorbet atop fresh raspberries. Finally, they honored by birthday by singing Happy Birthday (in French) and bringing us a little plate of "encore desserts" - a group of 5 little tarts, a pink birthday candle, and "Joyeux Anniversaire Jenn" scrawled in chocolate on the plate. I loved it, and Jill was quite pleased with it too! We finished off we coffee (oh, and we'd managed two glasses of wine each in the mix too...we were done!).
We left expected a nice long walk home, but then it started to pour rain! After a few blocks of walking in a warm summer rain, we called it and hopped the metro home. It was a great birthday - amazing museums, gorgeous food, and being in Paris with my awesome girlfriend! What more could I ask for!?!? :)
More art, more food...and a cat or two :)
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