Monday, 1/12/09

The inside of the restaurant, decorated columns, and a view of the striking ceiling:

We had lunch in La Coupole, a fancy historical brasserie in Montparnasse. Artists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir would dine there frequently. Unlike the other restaurants we had eaten in, this brasserie was very spacious and ornately decorated. For our aperitif this time we had warm drinks – coffee and tea – because we had just spent a few finger-numbing hours outside. For the first course I had oysters, which was an interesting but surprising experience because I had expected them to be cooked and warm, but they were cold and pretty raw. I ordered steak cooked to medium, “à point”. I soon found out that French standards for “medium” are not the same as American standards. The steak was rare and very red, which I wasn’t used to, but it was delicious. For dessert I ate a macaron with mango ice cream, also very tasty. We were all impressed by the bathrooms at La Coupole: they were made of dark wood and marble and looked quite stylish.

A.G.

Oysters and escargot:

Dessert: