One night in Paris

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Maybe this thread title will take some hits away from Rick Solomons porn of the same name starring Paris Hilton...unlikely. I was up at 5am (lovely) to get my flight from Reykjavik to Paris. For some reason Iceland Air only runs flights very early in the morning or very late at night and they are pretty much the only option when flying to or from Iceland. On a somewhat related note apparently Iceland had a semi-centrally planned state government until the 1980's, as they gained their independence in 1944 and shortly thereafter the government consolidated power. The people, who had largely been near slaves to the Danish prior to 1944 didn't notice and this is how things went along until the 80's. Even though hard liquor was allowed, beer was illegal until 1989. The governments thought process was that Icelandic people drink with the intention to get drunk, not just to have a few so beer would cause more problems. I fail to see how drinking 20 beers is worse than 20 vodka drinks but then again the government also currently bans Red Bull in Iceland claiming it contains too many bull hormones (it contains none). Whatever, go with the flow. I passed out for most of the flight and part of the ride from Charles De Gaulle to the hotel. For my one night in town I'm at Hotel Le Bristol Hotel Le Bristol which in my opinion is criminally underrated and one of if not the best hotels in Paris. The marble lobby and english gardens certainly make it much more aesthetically appealing than the Crillon, Ritz and many others (from the interior at least). I spent the afternoon wandering around the rive gauche for 3 or so hours then came back to shower up. Dinner was at Jules Verne which as of 2007 is under the direction of Alain Ducasse which means he is banking on the cache of his name, slightly larger portions and the restaurants location in the 2eme etage of La Tour Eiffel to allow him to charge absolutely ridiculous prices (50-70 euro per appetizer!?) for mediocre food. Ducasse has some great restaurants (Especially Louis XV) but this one was a clunker, not as bad as Spoon in St. Tropez, but much much more expensive. On the plus side, I hadn't been back to the Eiffel Tower in years since it's one of those things you do once then never again, so that was semi-interesting (also no line, private elevator to the top for the restaurant). The breakdown on dinner was: An appetizer that was a so-so but at best slightly above average garden green pea soup with spider crab meat and caviar followed by tournedos of beef which was basically a hefty filet accompanied by a thin slice of pan seared foie gras (mediocre foie gras) on top of a small piece of bread. I will say, this dish also came with a puffed yet crunchy potato side that was sadly the highlight of the meal. When a churched up version of the french fry is your best dish at a haute cuisine restaurant, you're doing something wrong. Or more likely in the case of Jules Verne he is doing exactly what he planned to do. Serving horrifically overpriced cuisine in larger than normal portions (for restaurants of this type) while banking on stupid tourists to either not care or be too distracted by the amazing views to complain. This would tend to be supported by the table of Americans next to us who were talking about the River "Sane" and staring out the window without a peep as to the quality of the food. The formula makes sense, but I couldn't figure out why so many of the diners appeared to be Parisian or at least French (based on what they were speaking). At any rate, had dinner, took a few mediocre snaps of the tower (my camera while compact and great does not have a powerful enough flash to penetrate actual darkness) and now i'm back in the hotel. I am going to conserve my strength tonight. Tomorrow at 12:30 Air France will carry me to Nice, then a car will bring me to the Byblos in St. Tropez and I will bring to my liver a reign of terror the likes of which it shall not soon forget

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Photos

La Tour Eiffel
post-din

From the middle
looking up

Outside
On the landing

the bathroom
YES! A big bath tub!

Balcony
and my foot

Failure
attempted shot of the gardens from the balcony but too many trees in my way

Comments

[Hugo Jameson Houndstooth]

Good show!
My Dear Sir! It is quite refreshing to hear another gentleman badmouth the culinary skills of one Mr. Alain Ducasse. He has become so infatuated with his own image, his prep and execution have suffered tremendously! Quite a shame you hadn't notified me of your solitary night in Paris. I would have been happy to send a motorcoach to fetch you from the terminal and bring you to my penthouse in the 8th district that we keep for just such an occasion. Our staff would have seen to your every need! Perhaps I'll take a few days and meet you at the Byblos. I'll have our slave fuel up the helicopter, see you there! -HJH

[Willy Wonka]

poor show, chef
How does Mr. Alain Cucasse compare to Ramone at Applebees? my Jalapeno Poppers were sub-par. i eat white trash therefore i am whitetrash, Willy Shakespeare