Monday, November 29: It's My Birthday!

Today is my birthday. Or is it? I was born at 3:27AM at the Kaiser Hospital on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. So we've got a 9 hour time difference....so 12:27PM Paris time should be the beginning of my day. Okay the hospital is really in Hollywood, but that sounds so weird to be born in Hollywood.

We got up a bit early today and dashed off to the Louvre. Before heading out, I called up Le Bistrot de Breteuil and made a 7:30PM reservation for dinner. Amazingly, they understood my meager French and our rendezvouz was arranged. We picked up croissants and coffee in the Menilmontant area and then took the Saint Maur metro to the Louvre.

I have had "ideas" about how large the Lourve is, but let me tell you that it is gargantuan. When people say that you need a few DAYS to really see the Louvre, they aren't kidding. We started off at a slower pace, checking out the lower levels where the original foundation of the Louvre is exposed. This was at about 10:00AM. by 3:00PM we were literally marching down halls, glancing at the displays on either side. By 4:30PM we'd hit complete exhaustion and collapsed in the French or Italian sculpture garden. That was it. I couldn't bear to see another display.

We left the Louvre through the opening under the pyramid and headed out onto Rue de Rivoli. Heading south we made our way to the Pont de Neuf cafe, which looks out over the Seine. Not a direct water view, but it's pointed at Ile la Cite and the Latin Quarter beyond.

We checked email, had some wine, and then headed off on a bus to the other side of the Seine, the 7th arrondisement, for dinner at Le Bistrot de Breteuil (Place de Bruteuil, 01-45-67-07-27). This restaurant came recommended highly to me from my friend, Len, as the most romantic restaurant that he ate in in all of Paris. Len said that they served a 3 course meal with 1/2 boutille of wine for 25€ a person. Considering that taxes and tips are included in prices in Paris, this was an excellent deal.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were asked if we wanted "smoking" or "not smoking". This was the first restaurant in all of Paris where we were literally not inhaling second hand smoke throughout our meal. What a relief. The price for the prix fixe meal had gone up since Len had eaten there. It was now 33€ a person, a bit pricier, but heck, it's my birthday!

So here's the rundown on the courses:

Green and black olives drenched in olive oil
Rose Champagne
Basket of bread & butter

2001 Bordeaux
Cote du Blaye
Chapelle de Tutiac
Gironde

Dozen Escargot (bit salty) Linda
Mushroom ravioli with a chanterelle cream sauce John
*John thought both items were too salty. I agree about the escargot, but thought that his appetizer was superb.

3 Pieces of Lamb (D'Agneau) with potatoes Linda
Scallops with pasta (St. Jacques...) John

Profiteroles with Hot Chocolate Sauce (Sauce de Chocolat Chaud) Linda
Thin Apple Tart with Calvados (Served aflame!) John

Coffee

Damages? 33€ per person. Not bad considering how completely stuffed we were at the end of this meal!

We sauntered outside into the cold and decided to make our way to the Eiffel tower before ending the evening. It seems that the tower lights up with tiny little lights every hour on the hour for a few minutes. We actually shot a short movie of this which we'll post. We walked to the tower, but it was so COLD that I didn't want to go up the tower. It was that cold. We made our way to the bus but was told by a passing woman that we'd missed the last bus. So we took a footbridge over the Seine. There was a bridge, right on the other side of the Seine that we needed to traverse before descending into the metro station. It wasn't really a bridge so much as it was the top of a tunnel. I said aloud "I wonder if this is where Princess Diana died" and no sooner than I had said that, I noticed that the entire bridge was covered with grafitti written to Diana. It was really moving to read how many people had covered the bridge with messages. It was also interesting that the French govenment hadn't taken the time to clean up the grafitti. Instead, they left it where it was for people to see and remember.

We hopped on the metro at the Concorde (?) metro and made our way back to the studio. So I celebrated my 40th birthday in the Louvre, at a fabulous restaurant, and then under the Eiffel tower.

Can it possibly get anymore romantic than that?