Looking for a budget yet tasty meal temptation? Try the museum cafes and restaurants in Paris - you should be pleasantly surprised.
Centre Georges Pompidou
France’s wonderfully exciting-to-look-at national modern art museum hosts the top-floor Le Georges restaurant, decorated in a futuristic and modern style, which also has fabulous views of Paris. For classic French brasserie-style food with an Asian flavour, visit:
www.centrepompidou.fr
Le Georges,19, rue Beaubourg 75004 Paris Tel: 33 (0)1 44 78 47 99
Prehistoric art at the Quai-Branly Museum
Relatively new, and controversial for the tribal arts, this museum opened in 2006. The 5th-floor terrace of the restaurant Les Ombres (the shadows) is under an intricately woven canopy of beams, with shadows popping up and floating before you ... wherein lies the reason for the cafe's name. Another great place for views all the way to western Paris.
While you are there, you simply MUST have a look at the 15,000 plants growing vertically up one of the exterior walls facing the Seine ... it like a lush tropical rain forest which coexists in an otherwise grey urban location.
http://www.quaibranly.fr/
Jacquemart-André Museum
On the Boulevard Haussman you will find a wonderful place to partake of an excellent breakfast, brunch, or morning- or afternoon-tea. Picture yourself surrounded by gilded décor and tapestries from Brussels while you enjoy delicious pastries, or boiled eggs with fine herbs, potato salad with salmon or one of the many fabulous desserts.
http://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com
Café du Musée Jacquemart-André 158, Boulevard Haussman 75008 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 45 62 11 59
Saut du Loup
107, Rue Rivoli 75001 Paris, France 01 42 25 49 55
The newly renovated Museum of Decorative Arts has a fabulous minimalist bar/restaurant which serves original French cuisine (chef Pascal Bernier is the star here).
At the fabulous Grand Palais Museum, this newly opened restaurant has terrific chef Gilles Choukroun at the helm.
Deliciously light soups and sandwiches from 10am -- 1am. Decor in this cube-like location includes Baccarat lights, and has a comfy casual feel to it.
5 Avenue Albert de Mun 75116 Paris, France
As part of Paris's largest aquarium and right next to the Trocadero, this Japanese restaurant has a beautiful smaller aquarium -- furnished with a marvellous old samurai coat of arms and light-wood paneling; you'll also find a lounge downstairs called the Aqualounge (for obvious reasons) :-)
Have a favourite you'd like to share?
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