There are countless reasons for visiting Paris-walking, people-watching, shopping, searching out romance-but first on most travelers’ To-Do lists are check out the museums and enjoy the food. Probably the last thing that occurs to them is to link museums and food.
Yet the two together are a natural. Is there a vacationer alive who doesn’t need a breather somewhere between the sculpture garden and the Impressionists? The restaurants within museums offer respite and refreshments.
What may be surprising is that some even offer good food in delightful surroundings; indeed, two restaurants within great museums are worthy of being destinations rather than merely rest stations.
Le Grand Louvre, the main restaurant in one of the world’s best-known museums, astonishes some visitors because it is such a contrast to the Louvre’s centuries-old architecture. The mood is sleek and contemporary, with wood-paneled walls hung with dramatic black-and-white photographs of I.M. Pei’s Pyramide, which is appropriate, as the restaurant is below ground level and is reached by entering the pyramid itself. The food is gourmet level; the mood is upscale.
The other standout restaurant within a museum is rather wonderful because it is unexpectedly grandiose. Le Restaurant du Palais d’Orsay is in the Musee d’Orsay, formerly a train station that Italian architect Gae Aulenti magically transformed into a breathtaking showcase for 19th Century art and culture.
The museum’s postmodern interiors are striking and dramatic, but the restaurant brings to mind visions of the grand salons of Versailles.
The restaurant, with a soaring ceiling delicately painted with deities, ornately gilded columns and a wall of windows overlooking a terrace, is a period piece that also manages to feel welcoming because of its surprisingly casual green wicker furniture and an undercurrent of bustle rather than stiff formality. It is especially delightful on Thursday evenings and at teatime on Sundays, when a string ensemble entertains.
Facilities at other museums pale by comparison, though they do have redeeming qualities (all have chairs, coffee, colas and wine)-some more than others.
Here are particulars about the food at some of the more popular museums in Paris. Prices are approximate.
Travelers may want to check on outdoor facilities, which become available at some museums only during the summer (such as the Rodin Museum, which ordinarily does not serve food), and specific hours of food services. Also, before entering, check on the possibility of in-and-out privileges and whether tickets are needed to visit only the restaurants.
THE LOUVRE
Le Grand Louvre not only attracts tourists in search of a leisurely-and somewhat luxurious-luncheon but also is frequently a favorite midday venue of nearby French business men and women. The restaurant is unusual in that it is open at some times when the museum on the Quai du Louvre (main entrance: Pyramide) is closed, making it a favorite spot for festive, celebratory dinners on weekend nights.
It also is a rarity among museum restaurants in that it is under the direction of a noted restaurateur, Andre Daguin, owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant in southwestern France. It emphasizes the cuisine from Gascony, so the food is rich-duck, goose, foie gras-and the tabs are not for the budget-conscious.
Luncheon offerings include appetizers ($8) such as duck meat and wild mushroom terrine or cold salmon on curly lettuce; among main courses ($18) are sliced rack of lamb or sea ray in orange butter.
Dinner appetizers are fairly exotic, from clear goose soup at $8 to foie gras at $23; main courses are big on duck, numerous sauced fishes and items such as rabbit stuffed with sweetbreads ($18 to $23). Naturally there’s an array of wines, Champagnes, aperitifs and desserts. (Not to be missed: prune ice cream with Armagnac.)
Warning: Luncheon service can be slow (the French tend to linger over lunch). Although not readily offered, menus with English translations are available (and sometimes a delight: A dessert described in French as “made of three chocolates” is interpreted as “death by chocolate”).
The Louvre has two other areas for eating-a cafeteria and a snack shop/sandwich bar-that are a far cry from the main restaurant, although only a short distance away.
If you’ve been to the cafeteria within a dorm of a Big 10 university you’re ready for the cafeteria of the Louvre; both are big and noisy, with long, gray tables, indifferent servers dishing up-yep-hot dogs, lasagne and hamburgers (“chopped beefsteak”). The plat du jour on one particular day was chili con carne, but because it was something in a steaming cauldron not recognizable by this patron, it got a pass. Like college dorm food, veggies are overcooked; food is mediocre but substantial.
Actually, the cafeteria is clean, almost antiseptic, and has the typically French salad plates that would appeal to American tastes (smoked salmon, $11); individual chopped fresh vegetables (2 for $2.25); charcuterie (cold meats; $4.50). Hot foods include lasagne or chicken (around $7).
For packaged sandwiches, ice cream, coffee and wine, you can sit at little tables on the mezzanine just outside the Cafe Richelieu, terrific for watching visitors drift down the escalators or walk down the curving marble staircase with the sun streaming in from the Pyramide above.
Prices are typical for snacks: Ham sandwich is about $3.20; a tiny coffee is 90 cents; ice cream cones are $1.80 to $2.70. Sandwiches are not refrigerated, so you take your chances with gooey mixes.
There is access for the handicapped.
Le Grand Louvre is open for lunch, late afternoon tea and dinner (last seating at 10 p.m.). Reservations are recommended for lunch and dinner: telephone 40-20-53-41. Cafeteria and snack shop serve lunch through mid-afternoon. The museum and all restaurants are closed on Tuesdays.
