Despite our great lunch at the Cristal room, we treated ourselves with another dinner out, as we could eat my lapin with calvados, apple cider and apples any night on the barge!
La Coupole is one of the great Parisian brasseries of la belle époque’ and is the favourite of Celebrity English Chef, Rick Stein, and our dear friends Louis and Walter Mc Vitty, who dine there every time they are in Paris. For a long time, it has also been on my list of brasseries to visit in Paris; finally Michael and I had lunch there on our last visit in June and again in August, we decided to go with John and Margaret, who had never been. It is a little out of the way over in Montparnasse, just near the Tour Montparnasse, and well worth the trip.
It is one of the most famous Parisian brasseries in the world! It is definitely a symbol of the history of Montparnasse. The Art Deco, décor is fabulous, frivolous and colourful, contributing to making your visit a memorable experience. It has a front bar as gracious as any sitting room where you wait until your table is ready; the restaurant itself is one huge room, broken up with mirrored columns decorated by famous artists over the last hundred years or so. As is their custom for birthdays we were entertained by the parade of singing waiters accompanying an enormous birthday cake, massed with a blaze of candles, presented to the birthday person, where they finished their Happy Birthday with great flourish. I love the fact that it is frequented by Parisians and many little old ladies, nestled in at lunch time accompanied by their dogs, as well as others such as us. The food is excellent, as is the service, all accompanied with very gracious Parisian style.
In June, I ordered the sole meuniere and the waiter filleted it at the table! I have never seen that done before and I loved the theatre of it! Just as Julia Child loved her sole meuniere when she arrived in France and she and her husband waxed lyrical, umming and ahhing over it; immediately Julia fell in love with the food of France!
I have loved French food forever, and was so very impressed that this old art was still practised in some restaurants in France.
This time, after our special lunch at the Cristal Room, we all had just one course for dinner. I loved my juicy, rare duck with orange infused apricots, an orange jus, with seasonal vegetables; lamb curry with a twist for Michael and John and chicken for Margaret – all delicious; plus another great bottle of pinot noir!
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- Art Deco of la belle époque’
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- Ceilings are exquisite
It had been raining all day and it was still raining as left La Coupole. As we waited for a taxi to take us back to the Betty B in the port, John saw a bus to the Bastille – we all jumped on and bussed home! A very funny end to our day.
