For a change, we had a very leisurely flight out of Dublin, departing at 11:00 a.m. Normally most flights are early morning which involves getting a redeye bus or staying overnight in one of the over-priced airport hotels. The advantage of this late departure meant we drove to the airport, which was handy.
The flight departed on time and before we knew it, we had arrived into a quiet Charles de Gaulle airport and made our way to the train to bring us into the city centre. We are staying in the central Saint-Germain-des-prés area in the 5tharrondissement and for this trip, we booked a boutique hotel called Jardin de Cluny, which is less than a 10 minute walk from Notre Dame Cathedral.
Check-in was a breeze and we dropped the bags in the room before heading out for some lunch. The room was mid-sized but spotlessly clean and well appointed. One of the great pleasures of visiting Paris is the huge amount of choice when it comes to eating out. Right around the corner from our hotel, we spotted a small café where we popped in for some lunch. We kept it light – bread with butter and jam with decent coffee – in part due to knowing we’d be having a much larger meal in the evening.
After our light lunch, we hit the streets and headed in the direction of the Panthéon, which was a short walk from where we grabbed coffee. It’s an impressive building and after checking out the architecture, we headed for a look inside. There is some really nice art work, along with a central ‘clock’ of sorts right in the middle of the building. All in all, less than an hour will cover most of what’s to see but it was interesting nonetheless.
Once done, we headed out for a bit more walking and stopped to grab some more coffee in a local bakery, which was pretty decent. As the evening was drawing in, we made our way towards Notre Dame for a quick look and checked out the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Once done with the bookstore, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.
Before dinner, we stopped in a local watering hole for a pre-dinner drink, which was nice. I had booked a restaurant called La Table De Colette which according to the online views, was considered one of the better places to eat in the area plus it had a Bib Gourmand so that was good enough for us.
We arrived bang on time and were promptly shown to our seats. The staff were very friendly and they spoke perfect English – always a plus and saves us struggling with our limited French. The menu read really well and there were two choices, the six course taster or the eight course – if you’ve read our previous blog posts, well, it goes without saying, which ‘choice’ we went for. I’ll let the photos do the talking…..
So how was it? Well, it was just ‘ok’. We were a tad disappointed with the food overall, it seemed to be trying too hard to impress with presentation and use of ingredients, but overall most of the courses lacked real flavour – you win some and you lose some I guess. After our meal, all that was left to do was head back to our hotel for a good night’s rest as the next day was going to be a busy one.
The following morning, we grabbed breakfast in a local bakery, we both went for the ‘Parisian’ tartine breakfast which consisted of some baguette with jam and butter, OJ and coffee which were all pretty good. We had time to kill before our first plan of action for the day, a private food tour. We arrived at the meeting place and right on time, our guide, the very friendly Gelsomina showed up and after a quick talk about what we’d be getting up to, we were on our way.
The tour lasted just shy of three hours and covered many of the French classics. By the time we finished up, we were full as there was plenty of food and some of it, especially the chocolate, was very rich. Overall, we enjoyed the tour as it incorporated not just food elements but also visited some of the minor sites around the area. However, it was not exactly the food experience we were expecting so perhaps next time a little more investigation will be required if we decide on another food tour.
After our tour, we made our way to the Musée de Cluny to pass a few hours. They have great examples of Roman ruins, art works and sculptures. The museum on the grand scheme of things is pretty small but it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. After visiting the museum, we headed towards the Eiffel tower area for a walk around and while there, we decided to take one of the many cruises that ply the Seine. As it was a reasonably mild evening, it was nice to be on the outside of the boat as it traversed the river with commentary on all of the attractions.
Once back on dry land, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Earlier that day and given the disappointment of the previous night’s dinner, we took a notion and I booked the La Galerie restaurant, which just happens to be in the lounge of the Four Seasons hotel. We have found that most of the fancier hotels usually have really good restaurants so it made sense to book. Thankfully, the food did not disappoint. The service as you would expect was exceptional – add to that, they had light entertainment with a three piece band who did covers of both pop and rock songs, it was very entertaining. We left very happy and grabbed a late drink before calling it a night.
The following morning, we grabbed breakfast in the same local bakery and our plan for the day was to visit the always fantastic Musée d’Orsay. We had not booked a ticket so we joined the long line of people queuing up. Despite the crowds, we were through the ticket booths in less than an hour and enjoying the sites of this fantastic museum. Of course, we have visited before, but like all good museums, there are always new exhibits and always something new to see.
We grabbed lunch in the opulent on-site restaurant. We had eaten here before and while the food is nothing outstanding, it is still decent.
After lunch, we headed to the Musée de l’Orangerie to view the Claude Monet works. Once done with the museums, we hit the streets to do some window-shopping and soaked up the atmosphere of the city. For dinner that evening, we kept it casual and returned to the L’Atelier Artisan Crêpier where we had a crêpe on the food tour.
We ordered a Caesar salad to start which we shared and it was a good thing we did as it was huge, C had the salmon crepe and I went with the potato and meat all washed down with a tasty pineapple margrita. Both were really tasty and we left satisfied and full. All that was left to do was return to our hotel for a good night’s rest. The following morning we packed up and headed to Orly airport for the flight home.
It was nice to be back in the French capital and it’s a city you can return to time and time again. While some of the food we had on this trip was a tad disappointing, overall we had a fantastic time and always look forward to a return visit. The Jardin de Cluny hotel was a really good choice, great location, friendly staff and good value for money so we will certainly consider staying here again.
As always hope you enjoyed reading along,
Until next time,
Bye for now,
C&J
cjfoodandtravel 