I had to make a quick stop at the world’s best industrial kitchen supply store, E. Dehillerin.  Didn’t buy anything but definitely cool to look and dream.

And the ferris wheel was done, with a VIP booth. Incredible.

And of course, back to Les Papilles for my last dinner with my cousins and his roomies.  The meal was amazing, again.  The same soup to start off, still incredible.  Next, veal braised carrots and onions served with rice.  The cheese was new and the dessert was also the same.  Definitely the right place to end my Paris experience.

Activity 1: Gallery Lafayette to browse shoes.  Nothing found under 150 euro, not worth it.

Activity 2: Spent 3 hours in the Musée d’Orsay.  Definitely my favorite all-around museum.  I could spend a week there. In the train painting by Monet, the train station used to delay trains so he could finish his sketches and paintings. Some pieces I liked in particular:

Henri Edmond Cross - Les Isles d'Or - The Golden Isles

Monet - Le Fare Saint-Lazare

Hector Guimard - wild green chair - so Nouveau

Eugene Vallin - Mobilier de Chambra

And some things from the temporary, awesome Art Nouveau exhibit:

Art Nouveau at the Musee d'Orsay - giant fly and a green room

Art Nouveau at the Musee d'Orsa - Allen Jones chair

Art Nouveau at the Musee d'Orsa - Allen Jones table

Fantastic.  Then I met a friend, walked around and had a pâté sandwich. So heavy.

Later, the Paris Ballet in its last night. Box seats. It was actually quite good. Three acts, Ruby, Diamond, and something else.  The names don’t matter.  What matters was that I actually liked it! Wow, weird. Videos! Technology, wow. Also, the ceiling was painted by Marc Chagall. Really neat.

And after, we all watched France cheat Ireland out of a win.  Ahhh the Hand of God.

Next: Versailles for the rest of the day. Gigantic. Spectacular. Ridiculous. Gold. Complex. Cake.  I walked through the palace and gardens until the sun set.

And for dinner: Les Papilles.  This place was amazing.  The menu consisted of a zucchini puree soup with little bits of bacon or pancetta, delicious garlicky and crunchy croutons and a dollop of creme to served to the table in a big pot.  Main course, 11-hour braised beef served with onions, carrots and potatoes. Next, blue speckled cheese with a candied date followed by clementine and caramel pannacotta. For details (in French) refer to the pictures.

I think my favorite museum show ever is Monet’s Water Lilies in L’Orangerie.  Their intense and large size is balanced by their calming and euphoric subject.  Standing in each room surrounded by them feels like a dream.

I also enjoyed watching the construction of the ferris wheel progress while I was in Paris.  Here it is about halfway up:

Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped at the new Apple Store in the Carrousel du Louvre to pick up the limited edition Louvre iPhone case.  The store is pretty sweet as well, the first in Europe.

Later I had a pretty poor excuse for a crepe at a restaurant across from the Pantheon and on our hungry walk home we passed a packed little bar with a little crepe window and decided to give it another shot.  We ordered a crepe with nutella and while we were waiting we looked inside and saw them frying up some zucchini.  I made the executive decision to go in and order some of that also.  We ate our crepe, then the zucchini and couldn’t stop.  We ordered an artichoke and once we had eaten all of the leaves, we returned it to the chef and he prepared the heart for us.  And of course more wine.  The bar is called L’Avant Comptoir (3, Carrefour de l’Odéon 75006 Paris) and it’s definitely worth a visit.

On the way over we saw this sweet shop that sells ball lights in various sizes.  The idea is okay but the presentation of the product is what’s most interesting.

Next we went to the Renoir exhibit at the Grand Palais.  The show is temporary and includes an incredible amount of his work and pictures of him in his studio and elsewhere painting.  There’s also a great video of him painting with his son.  If you’re in Paris NOW, you should definitely not miss this.

Later, Le Marais for a light salad dinner…. Nothing is ever light in France:

Next stop, the Musée du Quai Branly to see the Teotihuacán exhibit.

The museum itself is exciting to look at, colorfully hovering above the ground on thick pilings and surrounded by overgrown, exotic grasses and gigantic-leafed trees.

Inside, it was equally as awesome: an inner column enclosed in glass containing the museum’s archives of masks, instruments, weapons, tools and other artifacts encircled by ramps and the exhibits.  The Teotihuacán exhibit was really interesting.  The tour took us through the ancient city and described its construction and many of the rituals that took place within it, including human sacrifice!  There was even an obsidian tool on display that was supposed to be the tool they would use to remove human hearts during sacrifice.  It also looked like it would make a great spatula.  Product idea?  We’ll talk.

The permanent shows were also very cool: lots of traditional garb, plenty of instruments, weapons and other stuff to satisfy my intense yearnings to see Asian and African cultural artifacts.

Later we went to explore the two Parisian “islands” Isle de la Cite and Isle Saint Louis.  We walked passed Notre Dame in drizzling rain to La Palette, a trendy, French celeb sighting Mecca in the 6^th, for drinks.  I introduced one of my cousins to the joy of mojitos as we waited for a break in the rain before moving on to Chez George, also in the 6^th.   Chez George is an ancient little bar with a great underground cave, dimly lit by red sconces and offering a glass of wine for two Euros.  Definitely fun, go early or wait in line for the downstairs.

Finally we made our way over to Braserie Lipp for dinner.  Lipp is a classic Paris establishment, serving rich Parisian basics.  I had duck confit and my cousin had ham with lentils.  Both delicious.  For dessert they made me eat a whole 1000 Feuilles which means a thousand leaves.  It’s basically heavy heavy cream and croissant outsides in layers.  Great but a recipe for disaster.

After quite a bit of wine the rest of the night seems like blur.  We went back to Chez George for another drink, a Mexican joint for something with tequila, and then met some friends my cousin and danced in a cave for a bit before walking what seemed miles home.

As usual, you can move your mouse over an image and let it hover for a second for more information about each picture.

We ate our little feast in Luxembourg Gardens, which after finding, was a wonderful place for a picnic. It was also sunny and nice and people were playing tennis and chess and relaxing in the sun. Or in my case, entering a food coma in the sun.

We took a short Rick Steves walking tour of the area and visited some pretty interesting stores and museums.  We had lunch at a falafel place dubbed the best in France by many people including Rick Steves and our local travel guru, Toto.  L’as du Fallafel on Rue des Rosiers lived up to its rep.  I got the falafel platter: lots of falafel, pickled cabbage salad, regular cabbage salad, cucumber and tomatoes, tahini, humus, fries and eggplant.  It was a little too much food but my silly stomach knows no limits.  My stomach is obsessed with shattering glass ceilings.  Anyways, it was good and I’m adding myself to the list of recommenders.

We took a little walk around the rest of the tiny Jewish neighborhood and found a guy that reminded me of my childhood piano teacher playing piano in an intersection.  He was having a great time improvising and entertaining the people seated at the bars and restaurants around him.  He really was exactly like my piano teacher, Hurricane Sam.  Eerie.

Next we went to the Holocaust Museum and I’m glad we did it after eating because I would not have been hungry afterwards.  It was one of the most personal Holocaust museums I’ve been to, showing individual cases of thousands of children with pictures and timelines ending with death.  Disturbing, infuriating and motivating.  Definitely worth a visit, especially if you’re a Holocaust denier and need a good factual slap in the face.

After we went to the Pompidou and walked through the feminism exhibit and their permanent collection.  I’m not sure it was actually a feminism exhibit but it sure felt like one – I was uncomfortable.  There was also a weird breathing exhibit…. check it out below.  One woman expressed herself by wearing a crotchless leather jumpsuit and photographed herself with an Uzi in public.  Awesome work, dude.  My favorite parts of the Pompidou are the exposed escalators from where there is a spectacular view of the whole city, specifically, the sparkling Tour de Eiffel for the first five minutes of every hour after dark.

I went out with my family friends for dinner and had my first soufflé: spinach during dinner and chocolate and caramel for dessert.  So good.  Those are going on my list of things to learn to cook.  After I went out in the Bastille with a bunch of crazy Americans.

Our desires were met by La Courniche, a family style couscous restaurant near Park Marceau where we were greeted with Korean BBQ style appetizers like potatoes, tuna fish, nuts, pickled carrots, and other assorted cold salads.  Next we filled our churning bellies with couscous and the typical toppings: tomatoes, sausage, chicken, cabbage, a bunch of other vegetables and broth.  Perfect.

Next we went to meet some friends and then walked over to the Arc de Triomphe to be patriotic (French patriotic – although it was also Veterans Day in the US, so I said my own prayers in my own language).

We went up to the top and looked at the city for a while and then ventured down and met some more friends and got coffee on the Champs Elysees.  The Champs is a trip; there are so many ridiculous stores and way too many people per square meter.  It reminds me of the Times Square area and Hollywood by the Chinese.

For dinner I went to a steak and fries place called Le Relais de L’Entrecote.  Apparently it’s a chain, which I found out afterwards, so it’s okay.  It also happens to be all-you-can eat, which I’m trying to stay away from because I have zero self-control when it comes to things like that.  I regulated myself and only had three helpings.  It was pretty good, it’s a typical kind of French place and the waitresses dress like maids, which is funny to see.