Cafe des Musees

We had reservations at Glou but after walking by it earlier in the day I decided it probably wasn’t the right option yet there aren’t a lot of places open on Sunday night.  I would have chosen Severo, an incredible beef/steak restaurant where nobody speaks English but they aren’t open on Sunday.  The other place that Josh wanted to return to was Itineraires but they aren’t open on Sunday either. I opted for Café des Musees which is just a small brasserie in the Marais, nothing fancy, a good value and a simple menu.  The food isn’t going to rock your world but it is very Parisian and quaint. 

The first time we went there was for lunch with Doni Belau who is the brilliant entrepreneur behind Girls Guide to Paris.  A must read for anyone going and always worth checking in to see what is happening in the city. 

Mushrooms salad
Fred had the salad with mushrooms.  Tiny button mushrooms sautéed with ample butter over a nice green salad.

Mushroomssnails
Josh went with the escargot stuffed in mushrooms.  He loved it.  Max had sliced salmon with crème fraiche, salmon is definitely Max's absolute favorite.

Artichoke
I went with the artichoke which is so large that I could have been done with dinner after that.  I believe these artichokes come from Africa.

Steak
Josh had osso buco but the rest of us had steak.  The steak is fine but the French fries are amazing. 

Fritte
Super crispy.  Just perfect.  Don't you just want to lean in and grab one?

Berthmillon
After dinner we walked over to Il St. Louis.  Someone I know emailed me and said not to forget Berthillon for ice cream/gelato.  The funniest thing about Berthillon which is an old family ice cream shop on the island is that every other store on the island carries their products.  If you didn’t know better you could easily go to another spot and think you were at the original.  Unfortunately the original is closed on Sunday but of course there was a small window open around the corner which sold all of their flavors.  We each got something.  I went with the chocolate nougat which was just perfect.

Chocolate icecream
We continued to walk back to our hotel.  Probably a good hour and a half walk from dinner when we were all done.  My legs were literally shaking by the end of the night.  My shoes should be orthopedic but I think I am in the mode, particularly in Paris, or particularly all the time, which is fashion first.  Now that I am sitting in an airport waiting to go to Berlin and my feet are still throbbing, I might have to think a little more intelligently next time around.  Perhaps a good pair of boots?

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Comments (Archived):

  1. Jen Bekman

    Cowboy boots are my go to for lots of city walking — amazingly comfortable. If you can’t find a style of those that you like (although I think they’re classic + there’s a style for everyone!) see if you can find a pair of Frye’s that’ll work for you. They have an almost overwhelming array of styles, many of which you wouldn’t recognize as being Frye, but almost all are designed with comfort + durability in mind.

    1. Gotham Gal

      will check it out. my last pair of fryes was in high school, lol!

  2. ellen

    The escargot stuffed mushrooms look like heaven.  That would be my favorite.  Did you investigate the recipe?

    1. Gotham Gal

      can’t say i did but i should…right?

  3. Sunchowder

    Finn Comfort or Naot are the best for an open sandal and walking in the city.

    1. Gotham Gal

      will look them up.

  4. William Mougayar

    Ah since you were near Ile St-Louis, I would have suggested Mon veil ami http://www.mon-vieil-ami.com/, Antoine Westerman’s amazing little bistro. Did you have the ice cream where they carve a flower/rose on it? I think it was somewhere near St-Germain des Pres. Ice cream art. They literally carve it as they serve it to you.

    1. Gotham Gal

      didn’t do the carved ice cream…btw, they now have one of those onuniversity in nyc.

      1. William Mougayar

        I’ll check out the NY ice cream carving and compare…I thought it was afrench thing 😉 Thanks.