24 - Pierre Gagnaire's Restaurant

24 is the second Michelin 3 star we went to eat at in Paris.  It is on a side street close to the Arc D'Triomphe, which we visit first.

Arc D'Triomphe

Arc D'Triomphe

The restaurant is completely hidden off of an entranceway going to a small hotel.  There is no sign for it and the door is concealed.  

Hotel housing 24

The restaurant is extremely elegant and the staff is superbly trained.  As in LeDoyen we ordered the tasting menu, though this one comes without an associated wine per entree.

For many of the dishes, the food is more interesting in flavor and texture than delicious.  This is not necessarily a bad thing. We expected something more molecular gastronomy-based than what we received. The menu was provided to us but without an english translation.

Pierre Gagnaires 24 - End Of Summer Menu

Know what this is?

Yeah, neither did we.  It's called a saucier spoon and is used to pour sauce over items on your plate.

Tuileries Garden

Today we decide to visit Tuileries Garden, which is a huge park next to the Louvre.  It was the original spot of the Tuileries Palace which was destroyed in the uprising in the 1870's.

Tuileries Garden

Tuileries Garden

Tuileries Garden

Morning

    Saw Claude and family off, after walking all the way to the Nestlé store so we could get pods for our Nespresso machine (apparently this is the only place to get them). Claude is a serious coffee aficionado so it was nice of them to take care of our caffeine needs.

    At the flagship Nestlé store, George Clooney is playing on continuous loop in an ad. He has a piano fall on him; he goes to heaven and meets god, aka John Malkovich. George says it's all a mistake, it's not his time. God can be convinced if he can have George's Nespresso machine. Three different versions of the ad are out and it's worth seeing them on youtube; or, just because Malkovich is an under-used actor.

·    Ran out of Money. Since Sunday we have not been able to use an ATM (the message was that the bank refused the transaction). So we ended up at an HSBC "Premiere" branch where a nice English guy tried to contact the bank for us. While he was on hold, we discussed the requirements for a Premiere membership level (a minimum asset level and annual income). Sad to say, we are not qualified. Also learned that bank tellers are non-existent in France because of regulations- this was a little unclear to us.

       

     We had just enough money left for a take-away sandwich, which we ate at the apartment. Probably our cheapest meal to date. Finally it was time to contact the bank and the fraud department was persuaded to free our dough. Apparently it would be best to contact them before your trip and issue a travel letter so your money doesn't get frozen. It has been a while since either of us traveled so it is nice to know that in one instance, our bailed out banking system is actually looking out for us.

Some random images from the day or two around this morning:

Cupola of Printemps department store on Boulevard Haussman

Palais Royal courtyard- an example of art populating the city where you least expect it (by Daniel Buren)