Paris and Provence, Day 13: Picasso, a Five-Course Dinner, and the Eiffel Tower

Breakfast from a boulangerie again: croissants, éclairs, and apple juice. Two mornings in a row, breakfast for both of us cost less than one breakfast at the hotel.

We finally made it to the Picasso Museum after ten years of waiting. Half the floors were closed, and the tickets were still full price. The half we saw was good, but that was disappointing. We walked through the Marais afterward and found plenty of very expensive boutiques. Ksenia found two shirts. At the museum shop, the cashier switched from English to French when talking with her.

Lunch was at Mariage Frères. I had a soba salad and King Chai; Ksenia had a salmon plate and smoky Earl Grey.

For dinner we went to Qui Plume la Lune, Jacky Ribault’s restaurant, for a five-course dinner with wine pairing. The amuse-bouches included a soft-boiled egg, a marinated cherry tomato in cucumber sauce with a little cuttlefish on top, and focaccia with sugar, thyme, and olive oil. The first course brought mussels with oyster sauce, cuttlefish, octopus, and a crisp kale leaf. Dessert seemed to go on forever: figs with vanilla mousse, meringue and blackberry sauce; a roasted whole fig with black-currant sauce; and chocolate with chestnut, which I loved. Then came little post-dessert sweets, including a passion-fruit pastry, chocolate square, and apricot jelly cube. Overall, the meal was great. We just wished we didn’t end with sweetbreads.

After dinner, we took the Métro to the Eiffel Tower. I was sad to see the whole area fenced off; we had to pass through security just to get close. Then we went over to the Louvre courtyard. Ksenia got yelled at by security when she started to cut through the empty security-rope area. They calmed down once I explained that we were just walking through, not trying to enter the museum.

Part of our August–September 2019 trip through Provence and Paris. Trip summary.