Our time in Paris was nearing end. But we had one last busy afternoon and evening set. First up, a late afternoon visit to the largest art museum in the world; The Louvre. If you've never visited Paris; do yourself a favor, get yourself Rick Steve's Paris Guidebook. While I'm not a big fan of the restaurant choices in his books; he has a whopping 20+ pages on the Louvre….more than I'll ever need to know. In order to really enjoy and not burn out during our trips, we always act like we'll return one day. In other words, we have the places and things we "need to see" and the rest, well, if we get there, it's gravy. Anyway, if you plan on visiting the Louvre, get your tickets online, strategize on beating the crowds, unless you enjoy the crowds. We used the Carrousel du Louvre, the underground shopping mall entrance and getting in was a breeze.
Once in, there are still crowds of course…..some folks seem to have a look of desperation on their faces.
We had kind of planned things out, the best we could, just as we did when we visited the Vatican.
We headed straight for the one thing the Missus wanted to see……you know, right?
Well, the view is actually more like this…..
And if you don't already know, the dimensions of the Mona Lisa is 2′ 6″ x 1′ 9″.
And then we were off; sort of as we took time to enjoy some of the many, many masterpieces in the museum.
Like La Liberté guidant le people (Liberty Leading the People) painted by Delacroix.
Hmmm….where was Venus de Milo? Looks like Bacchus is pointing the way.
Well, there she is!
Such beautiful balance, eternally standing in "contrapposto"
Passing thru the museum, you could peer out the windows and see folks trying to capture their "forever moments".
We enjoyed spending a few hours at the Louvre.
And then taking some time to people (and canine) watch outside.
The Seine makes quite a, well, scene at dusk.
And night seemed to fall very quickly.
We returned to our room and freshened up. We still gad some time to kill before dinner. What to do? Well, hit a café of course. The Missus and I had a nice cup of coffee and relaxed before dinner. When I went downstairs to the restroom, this sign cracked me up.
Our dinner destination was just a few blocks away. The second reservation I made for this trip was at a one Michelin Starred restaurant named Sola. I was especially intrigued by the "Franco – Japanese" cuisine put out by Chef Hiroki Yoshitake. The restaurant is quite discreet.
Only a tasting menu is offered, for a very reasonable 95 Euros. Funny, we both took the drink pairing, which ended up being way too much for us…..which also cost 95 Euros!
Half the customers were actually Japanese and many of the Servers were also Japanese. It was an interesting crowd.
The Amuse was a wonderful, savory-mildly sweet crab in dashi aspic over a thin, light, chawan mushi like egg custard.
Along with an amazing Foie Gras and Miso filled Wafer, touched with the light sweetness of Sake and Maple Syrup.
The Missus really loved the Sparkling Sake that was served with the foie gras.
There was olive oil and bread…..but I really don't remember much about it.
I totally failed on the next dish, as I forgot to take a photo of the Beef Tartare, Beet, and Stratatelli cheese. An amazing range of bright flavors. There was a hint of wasabi detected.
The next item might have been our favorite. Amazingly tender sea beam, topped with thinly sliced, slight pungent and sweet onion, on thin slices of daikon and smoky eggplant.
Let's not disregard the light drizzle of buttery-grassy olive oil. Such a wonderful dish.
The squid in the next dish was so amazingly tender and the baby leek was almost sweet.
I was told that the slightly tangy and eggy sauce was based on kimizu, the Japanese egg and rice vinegar dressing, which did well in this dish.
For me; the star of the Parmesan Crusted Shrimp dish was the Chanterelle Risotto, which was just perfect. The earthy flavors went amazingly well with the shrimp emulsion.
By now we'd had Sparkling Sake, Champagne, and two different sake served in wine glasses. The second of which was matched with shrimp.
Next up was a Chardonnay from Muersault paired with Sea bass and scallop with cabbage and cabbage cream with shiso-celery cream.
Complex, but very clear flavors all around.
We were brought a granite to clear our palates.
We could tell that the last main course was something a bit more robust as a red from Beaune was poured.
This was matched with Wild duck breast with jus and sansho pepper sauce and endive and carrot.
Amazing. That duck was cooked perfectly and was so very tender! The bitterness of the endive helped to balance out the flavors.
And then the desserts which the Missus loved.
There was a sensibility and a certain combination of flavors that just hit all the right buttons for us. A combination of Japanese and French technique and flavors just seemed to work in harmony.
This is a place we'll return to; though we'll share a single beverage tasting the next time.
Sola is currently closed because of a fire, but we're hoping they reopen soon.
Sola
12 Rue de l'Hôtel Colbert
75005 Paris, France
After such a meal (and all the drinks) , we slept soundly thru the night. We awoke for breakfast and then our transfer to Orly. We were flying Business, so we were able to relax in the rather uncrowded lounge.
Soon enough, we heard the call for our flight.
Next stop; Reykjavik!
Thanks for reading!