« Until now, the nude had been represented in poses which presupposed an audience. But my women are simple people.  »

For over twenty years, we expected an exhibition of Edgar Degas in Paris after the 1988 major retrospective at the Grand Palais.

This time, the Orsay Museum presents dozens of works by the artist on the theme of the nude.
Degas, born in1834 and died in 1917, is forever, in the public mind, the painter of dancers and horse races. The depictions of naked women is yet a common thread in his career and can appreciate the evolution of his art, rather academic in its beginning but singularly modern thereafter.

While it is described as impressionist in art magazines, it is far from the known canons of the XIXth century movement, always preferring the chiaroscuro of  bedrooms and operas to the typical sunlight of Monet, Cezanne or Renoir .
The works gathered here by the Orsay Museum in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston come from the greatest museums: the National Gallery in London, the Metropolitan of New York, the Getty in Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Museum of Art , The Art Institute of Chicago or the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Paintings, drawings, prints and many pastels demonstrate the originality of the creative process of Degas.

The women are captured in a realistic way in their daily lives, while having a bath, brushing their hair…

Lighting effects are expressive and extremely bright colors are intensified gradually as  the eye problems Degas was suffering from were accentuated.

The staging of his paintings are amazingly modern: tight framing, high and low angle …

They show the love of photography of this   multidisciplinary artist who will also devote himself to sculpture.

From the 13^th of march to the 1^st of july 2012

Orsay Museum

1 rue de la Légion d’Honneur

75007 Paris

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/events/exhibitions/in-the-musee-dorsay/exhibitions-in-the-musee-dorsay/article/degas-et-le-nu-30632.html?cHash=d435f7be2b

Closed on Monday

From Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:30am to 6pm and to 9:45pm on Thursday

Price: 12€

Reduced price : 9,50€ (From 18 to 25 years old, from 4:30pm and on Thursday from 6pm)

Free : Younger than 18 years old, every first Sunday of the month

Hotel de la Motte Picquet "SALVADOR DALI"

In 2012, the Centre Pompidou creates the event with an extraordinary exhibition of over 150 masterpieces of the great Salvador Dali.

Born in 1904 and died in 1989, the exuberant Spanish is the author of a considerable body of work in all fields of artistic creation: painting, sculpture, photography, cinema, but also, and it is less known, literature and fashion.

The public recognizes him as one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century.

It is one of the pioneers of Surrealism. His paintings reflect his quest inside dreams and his passion for Freudian psychoanalysis with which he developed his famous method called « paranoiac-critical ».
While since 1991, the Espace Dalí of Montmartre, Paris, offers 300 sculptures and engravings made by the artist, only a few paintings are visible here and there.
Therefore, the Centre Pompidou gathers from the 21 November 2012 to March 25 2013 the most iconic paintings of Dalí: some early works, cubist attempts, soft melting watches, trompe l’oeil, incredible Madonnas and stereoscopic portraits trace the evolution of his art.
Museums around the world share their treasures from the house-museum in Figueras in Spain to the MOMA in New York through the Reina Sofia in Madrid.
The staging is as abundant as its subject and is heavily loaded with multimedia: video archives, exclusive audio immerse us into the heart of Dali’s delirium.

Centre Pompidou-Beaubourg

Place Georges Pompidou, 4è

M° Rambuteau

http://www.centrepompidou.fr/

Everyday but Tuesday from 11 am to 9 pm

Prices     

Reduced ticket : 10€

Ticket : 13€

Espace Dalí

11 rue Poulbot, 18è

01.42.64.40.10

http://www.daliparis.com

Everyday from 10am to 6pm

Prices     

Children under 8 : free

Under 26 : 6€

Adults : 11€

Senior : 7€

A stunning 3D sound and light show: 11 to 18 April 2012

Do not miss this unique event in the world!
During just one week, the Hotel des Invalides reveals all its secrets in a fabulous scenography designed by Bruno Sellier. This historian has specialized in the design and staging for the most beautiful monuments to create wonderful performances.

After Versailles, Notre Dame or the Millau Bridge, he offers us centuries of history in a profusion of color, music and animations.
The voice of two great french comedians, Jean Piat and Andre Dussolier, invite us to a journey through time that begins with the birth of the Invalides, then a charitable institution for the disabled of the armies, whose construction was commissioned in 1677 by the Sun King Louis XIV.

Later, in 1789, the revolutionaries seized the  32 000 guns and 27 cannons kept in the Invalides.

With the Empire, it is the prestige of its military aspect that prevails.

Napoleon Bonaparte organized lavish ceremonies to honor his best militaries with the medal Legions of Honor.

On the death of Napoleon, it is natural that it becomes a pantheon and welcomes his tomb in 1841.

It was not until 1896 that it became the Army Museum.

The last page of this glorious destiny is written with Charles De Gaulle who chooses the Invalides to install the Order of the Liberation.
The Hotel de la Motte-Picquet highly recommends this fantastic experience that will dazzle the whole family!

From the 11th to the 18th of April 2012

Three shows every night: 9:15, 10:15 and 11:15pm

Opening at 8pm

Prices :

11 €

From 10 to 26 years old, big groups: 8€

Free for the children under 10

Prices for show+visit of the dôme:

20€

10 to 26, big groups: 17€

More informations by email RENSEIGNEMENTS@LANUITAUXINVALIDES.FR

At the gateway to Normandy, 75 km from Paris, the village of Giverny is located on the right bank of the River Seine. This is were Claude Monet lived for almost 43 years from 1883 to 1926. Monet discovered the village whilst looking out of the train window (the line has since closed down) and he was enthusiastic about the spot. He found a large house to rent and moved in with Alice Hoschedé, his lady-friend, his two sons and her six children.

Originally the house was a farmhouse with a vegetable garden and on orchard of over one hectare. In 1890 he became the owner of the house and gardens and transformed them completely. In front of the house lies the « Clos normand », full of flowers (100, 000 plants replaced each year and 100, 000 perennials) on the other side of the road he had the waterlily pond dug. To achieve his aim he didn’t hesitate and diverted a branch of the Epte River, the « Ru ».

Claude Monet had a real passion for gardening as well as for colours and he conceived both his flower garden and water garden as true works of art. Visitors can still feel the atmosphere which reigned at the home of the Master of Impressionnism and marvel at the floral compositions and nymphéas which were his greatest sources of inspiration.

Another passion of Claude Monet was Japan. This passion led him to introduce, in an unexpected way, various Japanese touches into the completely original universe he had created in Giverny. The inspiration he drew from the Japanese art of gardens is clearly visible in the planning of the pond which he transformed into a spectacular « water garden »

 Monet’s house

The visit begins with the « reading room », also called the « little blue sitting room » which communicates with the pantry where tea, olive oil, spices etc. were stored. One then enters the artist’s first studio, in which he worked until 1899. This room later became a cosy sitting room, where coffee was served, while being surrounded by familiar objects, photographs and the Master’s paintings.

Also on the first floor are the dining room and kitchen. The dining room has been restored with precision. Visitors can admire the collection of Japanese « estampes » on the yellow walls. The furniture, also painted yellow, was considered very modern at the time. In the kitchen, with its blue Rouen tiles, the impressive cooker with multiple ovens and the copper utensils seem to be waiting for the return of their owners.

A first flight of stairs leads to the floor on which the private rooms are situated. First, Monet’s bedroom where his desk and 18th century chest of drawers still remain. Numerous paintings by the Great Masters used to hang on these walls. They have now been replaced by period paintings. Through his bedroom windows, the artist could admire the « Clos Normand » and his favourite climbing rose « Rosa Mermaid ».

The visit continues through their dressing rooms and on to Alice’s bedroom, leading to a tiny sewing room.

« The Garden » (Le Clos Normand)

When Monet settles in Giverny, the long, pink stucco house has a one hectare garden comprising an apple orchard and a kitchen garden. A wide path lined with cypress and spruce leads from the gate to the main door, the flowerbeds bordered by trimmed box trees. Enthralled by this garden, Monet immediately sets to work, never ceasing, thereafter, to improve the « Clos Normand » and to make it the garden of his colourful dreams.

Monet has the box trees uprooted and the spruces cut down and replaced by the metallic arches still visible today. The central path is lined with nasturtiums and fragrant roses, which continue to enchant visitors. The apple trees are replaced by cherry and Japanese apricot trees, the ground becoming a carpet of thousands of flowers: daffodils, tulips, narcissus, iris, oriental poppies etc.

Passionate about gardening, Monet applies his pictorial knowledge to creating perspectives, highlighting the house and intensifying areas of shade. On the left side of the garden, he creates rectangular beds of single colours, resssembling so many colours set out on an artist’s palette…….

« It’s maybe because of flowers that I’ve become a painter » – Claude Monet

The Water garden

Monet has always been fascinated by the play of light and reflections of clouds on water. In 1893, he acquires a piece of land situated at the end of the « Clos Normand », on the other side of the railway line, and diverts the narrow arm of the river Epte. The thus created pond will become the « Water garden », today present on the walls of the world’s greatest museums.

In line with the central path of the « Clos Normand », he has a Japanese bridge constructed, certainly inspired by one of his « Estampes » : he has it painted green, to distinguish it from the red traditionally used in Japan. The oriental atmosphere is recreated with the choice of plants such as bamboos, maple trees, Japanese peonies, white lillies and the weeping willows which so marvellously  frame the pond. Lastly Monet plants « nymphéas » in the pond itself.

Monet was so proud of his water garden that he liked to receive his guests there, and spent hours contemplating it. A full time gardener, in charge of its maintenance, removed each dead leaf to ensure the perfect beauty of the pond.

In 1897, he starts to paint the « Nymphéas ». In seeking to capture the atmosphere of this surface of sky, on which touches of colour float, Monet is to achieve one of his greatest masterpieces and push his painting to the limits of Abstract Art, in which the vibration of colour is sufficient to evoke a world of feelings and emotions.

Opening times and rates

The Claude Monet Fondation is open every day from April 1st to November 1st 2012 included from 9.30 am to 6 pm – last entrance possible at 5.30 pm

Rates 2012 (House and Gardens)

Adults and Seniors: 9 Euros

Children under 12 years and students: 5 Euros

Children under 7 years: free of charge

Disabled: 4 Euros

Are you tired of waiting in line for hours to get access to a museum in Paris? Don’t wait anymore, buy the museums pass and get access to over 60 museums and monuments in and around Paris without queuing and as many times as you want. The more you visit, the more you save!

The pass is available for 2, 4 or 6 days. Each pass includes a flyer with all the information you need to know about the museums and monuments.

Prices:

Please note:

-        The passes are neither taken back nor exchanged.

-         Most monuments and museums are free for teenagers under 18 years and EU residents under 26 years.

-         Most of the museums and monuments are closed Mondays and Tuesdays, January 1^st and May 1^st.

-         The pass does not include access to temporary exhibitions or conference visits.

The museums pass is available at the following points of sale:

1. At the airports (tourist information desk)

• CDG Terminal 1, 2 C,  2 D,  2 E, 2 F
• Orly South (Door L), Orly West (Level “Arrivals”, door H)

2. Office of Tourism and the Paris Convention Centre (1st, 10th, 12th, 18th neighbourhood)
3. In the FNAC stores (1^st, 8^th, 9^th and 17^th neighbourhood)
4. In the Tobacco store across the street from our hotel and some other Tabac stores in Paris
5. Online
6. In the participating museums and monuments.

Museums and monuments accessible with the museums pass in Paris:

-          Aquarium Tropical de la Porte Dorée

-         Arc de Triomphe

-         Musée de l’Armée – Tomb of Napoléon 1st

-         Centre Pompidou –Musée national d’art moderne

-         Musée national des Arts asiatiques – Guimet

-         Musée des Arts décoratifs

-         Les Arts Décoratifs:

• Musée des Arts Décoratifs
• Espaces Mode et Textile
• Espaces Publicité
• Musée Nissim de Camondo 

-         Musée des Arts et Métiers

-         Musée de l’Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris

-         Musée du quai Branly

-         Chapelle expiatoire

-         La Cinémathéque française – Musée du Cinéma

-         Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie – La Villette

-         Conciergerie

-         Musée national Eugène Delacroix

-         Musée des Egouts de Paris

-         Musée de l’Institut du Monde arabe

-         Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme

-         Musée du Louvre

-         Musée national de la Marine

-         Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine – Musée des Monuments français

-         Musée Gustave Moreau

-         Musée du Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Age

-         Cité de la Musique – Musée de la Musique

-         Crypte archéologique du parvis Notre-Dame

-         Tours de Notre-Dame

-         Musée d’Orsay

-         Panthéon

-         Musée des Plans-reliefs

-         L’Adresse Musée de la Poste

-         Musée Rodin

-         Sainte-Chapelle

Museums closed for renovation:

-         Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération (closed until June 2014)

-         Musée Galliera (closed until Spring 2013)

-         Musée Picasso (closed until Summer 2013)

-         Musée de la Monnaie  (closed until end of 2013)

-         Musée d’Ennery (closed until Spring 2012)

-         Musée Hébert  (date of re-opening unknown)

In the Paris region:

-  Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

-  Villa Savoye

-  Abbaye royale de Chaalis

-  Château de Champs-sur-Marne

-  Château de Vincennes

-  Musée Condé – Château de Chantilly

-  Musée Maurice Denis

-  Château de Fontainebleau

-  Château de Maisons-Laffitte

-  Château de Pierrefonds

-  Musée national de Port-Royal des Champs

-  Maison d’Auguste Rodin à Meudon

-  Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis

-  Musée national de la Renaissance – Château d’Ecouen

-  Musée national des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon

-  Sèvres, Cité de la céramique – Musée national de la céramique

 -  Musée et domaine nationaux du Palais impérial de Compiègne

-  Musée national des Châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau

-  Musée d’Archéologie nationale de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

-  Château de Rambouillet, Laiterie de la Reine et Chaumière aux Coquillages

-  Musée national de la Coopération franco-américaine – Château   de Blérancourt

Le Florimond

19 avenue de la Motte-Picquet.

Closed on Saturday for lunch, on the whole Sunday

and the 1st and the 3rd Saturday of the month.

 Lunch :12:00 a.m / 2:00 p.m

Dinner :7:00 p.m / 10:00 p.m

Very close to the Hotel La Motte Picquet. Florimond was the name of the gardener of the painter Claude Monet. Chef Pascal Guillaumin dreams his culinary creations like Impressionist paintings in the light of an harmony of colors. Products of the day are highlighted in traditional cuisine influenced by the roots of the Chief who is from French Corrèze.

Get Online Map or Website

L’Auberge Bressane

16 avenue de la Motte-Picquet.

Lunch :12:00 a.m / 2:30 p.m

Dinner :7:30 p.m / 10:45 p.m

Open Monday through Sunday. Closed on Saturday lunchtime.

The Family house.

Close to the Hotel La Motte Picquet, the last auberge of Paris offers a unique and warm regional cuisine of the capital city: the coq au vin and pike quenelles are exceptional, the cheese, the chocolate or Grand Marnier soufflés are just unforgettable and accompanied by the best Burgundy.

  Get Online Map,  Website or Menu               

Le Violon d’Ingres

135 rue Saint Dominique.

Open 7 Days a Week, 12pm-2:30pm and 7PM-10:30PM.

Booking recommended at 01.45.55.15.05

The inescapable. The pearl of the best Chef of the 7th district, Christian Constant, is famous throughout Paris. After working at the Crillon and at the Ritz, Christian Constant has opened for our pleasure this beautiful Michelin-starred restaurant. The dining room is entirely designed by the architect Luis Aleluia. The fantastic creations of Constant revisit, modernizing them, the best flavors of the South  West of France such as the foie gras. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet especially likes the lobster and the sweet soufflé with vanilla cream and salted butter. Very good wines. The menus are around € 45 for lunch and € 90 for dinner.

Get Online Map Or Website

Les Cocottes

135 rue Saint Dominique.

Open 7 Days a Week, 12pm-3pm and 7pm-10 :30pm.

All day long, without reservation, you can taste the best fresh produces from the daily market, transformed with talent by Christian Constant. The concept of this brasserie is to provide a wide selection of tasty dishes cooked in cocottes-casseroles “Staub” that allow quick-cooking and retains all the flavors. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet is a fan of the lamb stew with thyme. The desserts are also served in casseroles!

 Get Online Map Or Website

Café Constant

139 rue Saint Dominique.

Open 7 Days a Week, 12pm-5pm and 7pm-11pm.

No reservation.

Our favorite of the “Maison Constant”.

A simple and typical Parisian troquet where Christian Constant, who became a TV star thanks to his participation to the program « Top Chef » on TF1, is often sitting on the terrace in the afternoon.

But it’s in the kitchen, assisted by the Brazilian Eduardo Jacinto, that he sublimes traditional recipes from his grandmother for an unbeatable price: € 16 the main course for lunch.

Get Online Map or Website

La Fontaine de Mars

129 rue Saint Dominique.

Réservation conseillée au 01.47.05.46.44

Famous for its generous South West cuisine.

The wines of Bordeaux are the perfect association with the traditional menu: pot au feu, blanquette of veal, cassoulet … This brasserie, one of the oldest in Paris (opened since 1908), had been chosen by the Obama family in 2009. They certainly enjoyed the freshness of a meal to the sound of water from the fountain, an old trough for the horses of the guard of Napoleon. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet recommends the floating island!

 Get Online Map , Website or Menu

Le Petit Cler

29 rue Cler.

Sans réservation.

Juste à droite en sortant de l’Hôtel La Motte Picquet, cette petite guinguette adorable est une « annexe » de la Fontaine de Mars et offre des tas de gourmandises : tartines de pain Poilâne, œufs de mille façon, salades toutes fraîches, fromages à cœur, brochettes, magrets, bavettes. Idéale aussi pour son petit déjeûner ultra copieux en terrasse.

Get Online Map Or Website

Les Fables de La Fontaine

131 rue Saint Dominique.

Every day, 12 :30pm-2 :30pm and 7 :30pm-10 :30pm.

Reservation by phone at 01.44.18.37.55

This beautiful Michelin-starred restaurant is a place for lovers of fish and Southwestern cuisine.

Trained by Chef Christian Constant, the Chefs David Bottreau and Sébastien Gravé imagine a modern cuisine always faithful to their Basque origins. Together, they sublimate the products of extreme freshness: turbot, sole, mullet, thin, hake and cod are cooked with generosity and elegance. The lunch menu costs € 30.

Get Online Map Or Website

Pottoka

4 rue de l’Exposition.

12pm-2 :30pm and 7 :30-11pm, closed on Sunday.

The same duo that made ​​the success of the Fables de La Fontaine has opened a bistro where the specialties are found in the Basque Country. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet especially recommends the Ossau-Iraty cheese flan with tomato gazpacho and  its toasts with sardines, but we also like the cheeses, the Basque cake and the apricot almond cream with red berry coulis. The lunch menus cost € 17 and € 22.

Get Online Map Or Website

Chez Pierrot

9 rue Amélie.

Monday to Friday from 11am to 4pm and 7pm to 11pm.
Saturday and Sunday from 6pm to 11pm.

A lovely traditional bistro with its gingham tablecloths (in french, “gingham” is called “vichy”) where Hotel de La Motte Picquet suggests you enjoy a good beef Bourguignon with a typical french wine. This address unpretentious, cheap, is useful because without reservation or waiting at the entrance.

Get Online Map

Fl Restaurant

1 bis rue Augereau.

Open daily except Monday noon.

A simple and inexpensive restaurant that hides like a secret a cuisine as reffined as the talentedCchef Nicolas Valanchon.

The menu is short but well done for 16 or 22 €. The roasted chicken breast is unanimous in the Hotel de La Motte Picquet, but all dishes are tasty and elegantly presented.

Get Online Map Or Website

Le Petit Bordelais

22 rue Surcouf.

opening
From 12.00pm to 2.30pm and from 7.30pm to 10.30pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

Reservation at 01.45.51.46.93

In a decor coloured in shades of burgundy, the master Chef Philippe Pentecôte, son of viticulturalists, concocts traditional dishes such as ris de veau, monkfish and Bresse chicken. It accompanies the best wines of the Bordeaux region. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet loves above all the friendly atmosphere of this family restaurant in which you can linger enjoying one last small cannelé cake. The menus are not too pricy: € 19, € 27 and € 54.

Get Online Map Or Website

L’Ami Jean

27 rue Malar.

Reservation at 01.47.05.86.89

A typical Basque bistro: small, crowded, noisy but generous, decorated with hams and bunches of Espelette peppers. The carte of Chef Stéphane Jégo (another former student of Christian Constant) is rich: medley of meats, terrines, omelettes, hearty prime rib, duck filet, sea bream, and in season, game and truffles! Prices are moderate.

Get Online Map Or Website

Le Thoumieux

79 rue Saint-Dominique.

Open Monday to Friday lunch and dinner.

Reservation obligatory for the restaurant au 01.47.05.79.79 but not for the brasserie.

This name, “the Thoumieux”, refers to two places located at the same address in 2009 and directed by the same duo Thierry Costes and Jean-François Piège both talented and media-friendly.
On the street, the brasserie Thoumieux is open every day, without reservation. In a beautiful setting in a 1930’s style, a very affordable menu will delight you. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet loves the quasi of veal and almost falls for the desserts: the praline chocolate rock, the baba with rhum and the churros’n roll!
Upstairs, the restaurant, two stars in the Michelin guide, is called « Jean-François Piège”. It is almost hidden. The discrete entry is accessible by an almost secret staircase at the entrance of the brasserie. Prices are high but this is Haute Cuisine and moreover, conceptual. The menu is called « rules of the game ». It offers a daily selection of high quality products. Among these you select one (70 €), two (€ 90) or three (€ 110) products (like oyster, caviar…). They will be turned into unique creation according to the inspiration of Chef Piège. Booking is mandatory.

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Le Petit Niçois

10 rue Amélie.

The cinnamon-colored room is modernly decorated with steel and bronze. The atmosphere is perfect for relaxation and tasting. All the flavors of Provence and old town Nice are recreated by the Chef Alain Hacquard: pissaladière (onions pie), Cavaillon melon, stuffed vegetables and ratatouille. Fish lovers will love the grilled red mullet, the small sardines, sea bass in salt crust, filet of rockfish and sea bream. A perfume of anise drifts … and for a reasonable price because the menus costs 22 and € 31.

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Petrossian

144 rue de l’Université.

From Tuesday to Saturday.

The famous expert of the caviar offers a discovery of the most extraordinary flavors of the Russian cuisine: appetizers, beef kotlety, pelmenis … Who could forget the delicious sweet and savory lamb which exact title is already an invitation to travel: « Lamb Yagouline with the Caucasian original spices and pomegranate, with a fruit compote spiced in the manner of the Tsar Peter the Great”. The “black and white menu”, aesthetic, graphic, delights your eyes as well as your taste buds.

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L’Arpège

84 rue de Varenne.

From Monday to Friday.

Reservation obligatory by calling 01.47.05.09.06

The famous three-star restaurant of the great Chef Alain Passard is relatively expensive but the food lovers will not be disappointed. His specialty? Vegetables! His cuisine will make you rediscover them in pleasant and amazing forms: thin ravioli, carpaccio and delicate ribbons accompany meat, fish and impeccable seafood. The idea is to raise the vegetable to the rank of grand cru and it’s done thanks to the three personal gardens of Chef Passard (in three regions : Eure, Sarthe and Manche). There he selects the products that are the most powerful and transforms them with virtuosity and refinement. Menus for lunch cost € 120 and  € 360 in the evening.

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Les Ombres

27 quai Branly.

12pm-2 :30pm  and 7pm-11pm.

Reservation recommended at 01.47.53.68.00

 A fantastic address. On the top of the fifth floor of the Quai Branly museum, enjoy a « roasted lobster dressed in lace » or a « loin of veal with wild mushrooms » cooked up by Chef Oyon, while admiring the Eiffel Tower! The welcome is very warm but the most spectacular is the atmosphere: wooden decor, leather and glass everywhere dreamed up by the famous Jean Nouvel, the play of light and transparency, and this view …!

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L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

5 rue de Montalembert.

11 :30am-3 :30pm and 6 :30pm-12am.

Reservation highly recommended at 01.42.22.56.56

The Grand Chef Joël Robuchon who in his career had 18 stars in the Michelin guide, has invented this wonderful restaurant concept. Sitting around a huge Japanese bar, in a setting of black and pepper red lacquered wood, you discover the art of the great masters of the french gastronomie: Robuchon but also Eric Lecerf, Eric Bouchenoir and Philippe Braun. They cook before you the noblest products. A tasting menu costing € 150 provides a broad overview of the extent of the range of flavors developed by these great leaders: beef cheek, lamb, caviar, blue lobster, sole, foie gras in small tapas-like portions. You can try to go there with no reservation but the wait can be long. However, this education to gastronomy deserves its two stars.

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58 Tour Eiffel

1st floor of the Eiffel Tower. Reservation only for dinner by the restaurant website or by going to the restaurant booth under the Eiffel Tower.

You were dreaming of having a dinner on the Eiffel Tower? This lovely restaurant offers you this opportunity. You can have lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. a « picnic chic » for € 18 consisting in a main course and an entry or a dessert. In the evening, this beautiful restaurant turned into a stylish setting designed by the designer Patrick Jouin. The cuisine is the territory of the Chef Alain Soulard. The menu is classic but tasteful : salmon, snapper, veal. There are two services, at 6:30p.m. and 9p.m. The  menus cost from 67 to 150 €.

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Le Jules Verne

2d floor of the Eiffel Tower.

12:15pm-1:30pm and 7pm-9:30pm.

Reservation recommended on their website or at 01.45.55.61.44

The superb restaurant on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower is so elegant and unique that it gives you a festive atmosphere whatever day it is! The menu (€ 200) does not contradict this feeling: Golden Saint-Jacques, foie gras, grilled turbot, stuffed hare and the unforgettable chocolate screw nut. It must be said that it is the world famous Chef Alain Ducasse, who is the creator! Master of flavors, he creates a modern cuisine, elegant and light as a bubble of champagne or as the setting designed by Patrick Jouin with fluidity, honeycomb and lace of light.

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Al Dente

38 rue de Varenne.

From Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm-2 :30pm and 7 :45pm-10 :45pm.

Reservation at 01.45.48.79.64

A wonderful Italian trattoria recommended by the Hotel de La Motte Picquet. We like very much the tagliatelle with braised chicken and rosemary (€ 21.50). Created by the brother of a famous french actor (Vincent Lindon), this charming restaurant offers the greatest hits of Italian cuisine thanks to the generosity of the Chief Elio, a native of southern Italy. The pizza dough is incredibly thin.

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Romantica Caffe

96 boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg. Reserve at 01.44.18.36.37

A chic Italian restaurant, not expensive. The decor is simple and friendly, a wall of bottles invite you to taste the the most fragrant Alps wines. The Italian Chef Claudio Puglia modernizes our idea of Italian cuisine. The Hotel de La Motte Picquet particularly appreciates the risottos that changes every day (27 €). The menu offers a wide selection of pasta around € 20 including those that made ​​the success of the restaurant, the « linguine with light sage cream flambé in a wheel of Parmesan cheese. »

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Everything started in Germany or in the Alsace under the name “ Saint-Nikolas market”, where the first christmas markets took place in the XIV century. The first document that relates to a christmas market dates back to 1434 under the leadership of Friedrich II of Saxon. It makes mention of a “Striezelmarkt” that took place in Dresden. The name of that market comes from “Strüzel” or “Stroczel” which was the name of a cake with dried fruits that was sold on that market (nowadays called Stollen or Christstollen). 

A little bit later, in the XVI century, the christmas markets where renamed “Christkindlmarkt” (market of the child Jesus) and dispersed in the eastern part of France, notably in Strasburg in 1570. Since twenty years, the Christmas markets spread out in whole Europe and today you can even find them in Japan or the United States. 

On a christmas market you can discover a multitude of chalets and stands that offer regional and artisanal products, christmas decoration and, of course, hot wine, ginger bread, waffles, tartiflettes etc.

It is especially nice to go to those markets in the evening when it is already dark to admire the lights that illuminate the market and to feel the unique atmosphere.

There are a multitude of christmas markets in Paris, make your choice:

Christmas market at « La Défense » (350 chalets). Metro : La Défense

From november 23rd – december  27th 2011 (closed on december 25th)

Open every day

Christmas market on the « Champs-Elysées ».  Metro : Champs-Elysées Clemenceau

From november 19th – January 3rd 2012

Open every day

« The Santa Claus Village » Christmas market on the square « Saint-Germain-des- Près ».

Metro : Saint-Germain-des-Près

From december 2nd 2011 – january 2nd 2012

Open every day

Christmas market on the square  « Trocadéro » (with ice-skating rink) Metro : Trocadéro

From december 8th –  january 2nd 2012

Open every day

Christmas market in front of the main entrance of « Gare de l’Est”.  Metro : Gare de l’Est

From december 2nd 2011 – decembre 17th 2011

Open every day

Christmas market on the square « Place des Abbesses ».  Metro : Abbesses

From december 2nd – december 30th  2011

Open every day

Christmas market on the square « Place de la Nation ».  Metro : Nation

From december 1st – december 24th 2011

Open every day

Christmas market at the tower of “Montparnasse” (square Raoul Dautry).

Metro : Montparnasse-Bienvenue

From december 5th  – december 30th 2011

Open every day

Christmas market at « Gare Saint-Lazare ».  Metro : Gare Saint-Lazare

Open every day 

With 4 entries (one on each pillar), the three levels of the tower are accessible to visitors. Throughout the climb which is done by lifts, you will enjoy the view over the impressive architecture of the tower. If you are sporty, you can climb the stairs: 345 steps lead up to the first floor, and 359 more to the second… The ascent to the top is done only by elevator.

At all levels, you will have a most pleasant view across the city and its monuments. But the most extraordinary view is that we have at the top, where two levels (one open and one covered) will let you enjoy your visit at any time of the day, or whatever the season. On a clear day you will have a view over 60 km around Paris! To mark this special moment, you can enjoy a glass of champagne at the bar open from noon.

The history and construction of the tower are explained at each level. At the top you will find the restored office of Gustave Eiffel.

You can lunch or dine in the restaurants of the Eiffel Tower. From the simple snack to the finest French cuisine, the choice is yours!

Every night until 1a.m., thousands of lights illuminate the Eiffel Tower during the first 5 minutes of each hour, while its lighthouse shines on Paris. Superb!
Tour Eiffel:

Open every day of the year from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Purchase tickets:

- directly on-site

- or online : Official Eiffel Tower ticket office

Access:

- Metro: Line 6, Bir-Hakeim Station or Line 9, Trocadéro Station

- RER : Line C, Champs de Mars-Tour Eiffel Station

Further information: Eiffel Tower

Hotel Motte Picquet Paris, a 3 star hotel located just few steps from the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Designed and built at the request of Louis XIV, the Hotel des Invalides, since 1674, hosted disabled soldiers and war veterans without resources. Behind its majestic facade, the residents lived in companies and worked in various workshops. About 4000 people lived there in the late 18th century. Even today, the hospice and the hospital of the Hotel des Invalides continue to operate. In 1905, the Army Museum was housed in the Hôtel des Invalides. Its collection of objects of war shows the whole military history of France.

Church of SaintLouis andInvalides Dome

In 1677 a church was built to complement the existing infrastructure. Upon request, the architect Hardouin-Mansart designed a royal chapel called « the Invalides Dome » and, in its extension, the Church of Saint Louis for the soldiers. The church was later turned into national military pantheon at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte. The remains of many military leaders, but also those of Napoleon 1st, his son L’Aiglon, and his brothers are based under the nave of the church. Under the arch of the church, you will see the flags taken from the enemy from 1805 to the 20th century, according to tradition.

Courtyardof the Hoteldes Invalides

The main courtyard of the Hotel des Invalides has an exceptional collection of 60 bronze French classics cannons, gem of Artillery collections of the Army Museum.

Reach the Hôtel des Invalides

• North Access : Esplanade des Invalides
• South Access : Place Vauban
• Metro line 13, Varenne or St-François Xavier stations
• MetroLine 8, Latour-Maubourg station

More Information : Hôtel des Invalides >> www.invalides.org

Hotel Motte Picquet Paris, a 3 star hotel located just few steps from the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Permanent collections of the Quai Branly Museum

Dedicated to the arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, the Quai Branly Museum will show you the diversity and richness of numerous cultures and their relationship with our Western world.

The galleries display 3,500 objects originating from all four corners of the world. An extraordinary geographical journey awaits you. Highly detailed multimedia facilities throughout the galleries provide more than a hundred programmes and video features, which speak as much to the specialist as to the casual visitor. A tactile gallery lets the visitor understand how humans perceived and represented space. Aimed at all visitors, this unique journey is accessible to disabled people and has twenty sequences: feel free to look and touch.

Gourmet breaks at the Quai Branly Museum

It’s easily to spend a pleasant day at the Quai Branly Museum. If you would like to get something to eat before or after your visit, there are two possibilities.

Café Branly:
With large glass facades which open out onto a ground floor terrace, the Café Branly is open for tasty snacks from 9am onwards. Soak up the ambiance of a Parisian brasserie. Initially intended for museum visitors, the Café Branly has become a favourite spot for Parisians due to its exceptional setting.

Les Ombres restaurant:
Les Ombres restaurant is open for lunch or dinner. Enjoy the delicious traditional cuisine from the set menu or daily specials, together with the extensive wine list which includes many grand crus. The dining room opens out onto a terrace giving exceptional views over Paris. Les Ombres also doubles as a tea room in the afternoon, where the patisserie chef will delight you with his exquisite pastries, ice creams and other sweets. Booking only.

Hotel Motte Picquet Paris, a 3 star hotel located just few steps from the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.