Paris perfection: Musee d'Orsay and Restaurant Guy Savoy

I'm sleeping a lot here, incredible amounts, ten or eleven hours a night, and still I'm tired, still I'm processing stress dreams over and over and over.  I figure this is all to the good, but I'm rather tired of it and ready for my psyche to get over itself.  Of course, the fact that I'm impatient with myself about the speed at which I'm destressing probably says a great deal about me.

On the walk to the museum today, I couldn't help but notice this woman striding speedily in front of me.

As always, click on the image for a larger version.

Note the shoes:  Yes, she walking at high speed on the uneven sidewalks of Paris in turquoise suede Louboutin boots with stiletto heels.  An amazing--and amazingly expensive--feat.

The Musee d'Orsay is my favorite museum, so going to it again was like visiting with an old, dear friend you haven't seen in entirely too long.  I should hasten to add that I know it's not the best overall museum, nor the one with the largest collection of anything, nor the grandest; it is simply the one I fell in love with when I first visited it and have fallen in love with again on each and every visit.

As I did today.  A snack in the stunning restaurant, a slow wander through the amazing Impressionist collection, and then my traditional pilgrimage to the small but stirring set of Van Gogh pieces.  Its Starry Night is not the one most people think of when they visualize the Van Gogh painting of that name, but it is a version that I love, one that up close vividly makes clear the passion with which Van Gogh was painting, the thick strokes and layers of paint, the simplicity of the brilliant image construction, and the power of his art. 

Dinner was at the Michelin three-star Restaurant Guy Savoy. I'd eaten some years ago at the Las Vegas restaurant of the same name, and though the meal was excellent, it was not quite up to that of its down-the-strip competitor, Joel Robuchon.  I'd heard from many people, however, that the Paris restaurant was another thing entirely.

Wow, were they right.

The tasting menu this evening was exceptional, the kitchen executed it flawlessly, and the service, led by Hubert, was superb.  This was a world-class dinner.  The food blended classical French techniques, with amazing sauces on almost every course, with a playful inventiveness that always kept in mind the spring season to which the menu was a tribute. For example, this lobster dish

evoked mist rolling off the sea in the morning, and then was utterly delicious.  

I could go on and on, but it's rather late here, so I'll leave it at this:  If you're willing to pop for the price, which is considerable, visit Restaurant Guy Savoy, choose the largest tasting menu you can afford, and prepare to enjoy one of the great meals available anywhere.