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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Favorite Paris Restaurant

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

My favorite restaurant in 
Paris, France 
is in the
Museé D'Orsay.

Source:Museé D'Orsay official site
The restaurant on the first floor
(second floor to Americans)
of the Museé D'Orsay
was renovated sometime after 2006.

The style is now a combination of the original restaurant in
the Hôtel D'Orsay and an industrial modern style.
The beautiful chandeliers, parquet flooring, gilding,
and mural-painted ceiling are all from the
original Hôtel D'Orsay restaurant.
The sleek white metal tables, chairs, and
service counters are new since 2006.

The Museé D'Orsay is across the Seine River
from the Jardin de Tuileries and the Louvre.

The Tuileries Garden is filled with statues, broad lawns,
flowers, and park chairs on gravel walkways.
Oh, to sit in the chairs and gaze above the blue flowers
to the roofline of the Museé D'Orsay is pure heaven.
Parisians as well as tourists fill the park
to soak up the sun and beauty.

Inside the museum one can look 
through the massive clocks across the Seine
and see the Tuileries Garden and Louvre.

Museé D'Orsay contains my favorite art style,
impressionism, in a renovated train station
that brought visitors downtown to
the 1900 World's Fair in Paris.

Seeing the structure of the magnificent train station 
is as much a part of the museum exhibits 
as the art housed therein.

The first floor Museé D'Orsay restaurant 
was originally the restaurant in the Hôtel D'Orsay
 attached to the train station. 
The two other restaurants in the 
museum are on the ground floor, 
but a true "I am in Paris" experience 
is to eat in the elegant restaurant on the first floor.

I first had lunch here in the 1980s while 
chaperoning high school students to France.
(Now, are you envious of a high school teacher 
for the first time?)

Fortunately, I was able to revisit the museum and
eat in the restaurant many times during the 80s and 90s.
At that time, there were always
huge fresh floral arrangements and
sculpture art throughout the dining area.
Such elegance truly made one feel the
experience of being in Paris.

Here I am, with a big smile, thrilled to be having lunch in the 
Museé D'Orsay restaurant in 2004,
without high school students.
The semi-circular topped windows on the left 
open onto a balcony that overlooks the 
Seine River.
See the large potted plants?
The light green wicker chairs? 
Those along with the fresh floral arrangements 
are sadly no longer part of the restaurant ambience.
When I was there in 2011, 
those fabulous wicker chairs were 
in one of the two other lighter-fare restaurants,  
and this restaurant had the 
white metal industrial-style chairs. 
I missed the wicker chairs, potted plants, 
and fresh flowers.

The ornately painted ceiling and 
the glass chandeliers still exude luxury.
The menu is still a French meal for a (relatively) small price. 
All this is located in my favorite museum. 
Yes, this is my favorite Parisian restaurant.
Having lunch here makes me feel like 
I really am in Paris, France.

Even the online menu is elegant.


There is still a choice of just the Plate or a two-course Menu.
The dessert selection is to-die-for!
The Today's Menu is a great price 
for a meal in Paris.

Oh, yes, the Museé D'Orsay Restaurant 
is my favorite restaurant in Paris.
I forgive them for not having fresh flowers 
or the green wicker chairs.
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