POUILLY FUISSE from your Paris Restaurant ANYONE?

The first time I went to Paris, I was terribly disappointed!  Not in the tourist attractions, the Eiffel Tower was great, the Louvre was amazing, and the Cathedrale Notre Dame was Fantastic.  Not in the people, although I had heard that the French could be rude to Americans, I was there with my daughter on one of our many Father/Daughter Trips to  Europe.  My daughter had an undergraduate degree in French and spent a year there to study.  And even though, in most cases, I had no idea what they were talking about, everyone loved to talk to her and engage her in conversation. As a result everyone there treated us amazingly well.  However, I could not find a good place to eat!

First of all, I had this romantic view that I had to go to one of those sidewalk cafes to have a meal.  So I was really looking forward to that.  We tried several of those, but boy was I disappointed.  First of all, the tables were so close together, you were almost sitting in the lap of your neighbor.  Additionally, American restaurants had already gotten to the point that they disallowed smoking.  Not so in Paris.  I came out of those feeling like I had a cigarette myself!

Next, we tried a fairly expensive sit down restaurant.  The ambiance was OK, but the food made me physically sick.  To my daughters dismay, I made her stop at McDonald’s on the way back to the hotel. Can’t remember the last time a bit of American tradition tasted so good.

So I went back home with a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak.

The second time we went to Paris, we came in on a European train.  We were both a bit hungry when we arrived so we looked for a place to eat in the train station.  On the second floor of the train station, overlooking the first, we found a restaurant called Le Train Bleu.  The first thing you notice once inside the restaurant is the unbelievable artwork on the ceiling.  It looks like something you would expect to find at the Louvre!  The service was impeccable.  Although they surely enjoyed speaking to my daughter in French, they actually tried to work with me and my very limited high school French!  Additionally, they brought out a bottle of my very favorite French wine, Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuisse.  Everything from the meal, to the wine and then dessert was totally perfect!

So needless to say, every time I go to Paris now, I always make time for a stop at Le Train Bleu!

Have a look above at some pictures of my favorite Paris Restaurant!