Birthday in Paris

Ah, Paris in the springtime.  Oops, it’s winter!  We knew it would be cool but the reality was about 10 degrees cooler than expected, with a lovely “breeze” to boot.  But we had lots of layers and managed to walk miles and miles each day all bundled up.  I had been dreaming of a birthday lunch at Le Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon, a restaurant we have enjoyed several times over the years.  Our last visit was nearly 10 years ago so there was a bit of trepidation along the lines of “you can’t go home again” - would it be as good as we remembered?  A resounding OUI is the answer - everything about the experience was wonderful.  Well, except for the detours we managed to take on the cold walk there and back - but heck, maps are overrated.  

The restaurant itself is worth a visit with all the stunning murals on the walls and ceiling.  We had been told that it was recently sold to another family and we were thrilled to see that the old traditional trolleys, thick linens, heavy silver, and beautiful crystal glassware remain.  I wanted gigot d’agneau served from the trolley, and when the time came they rolled the classy cart over to our table and proceeded to carve a generous portion of rare delicious leg of lamb.  The scalloped potatoes on the side were fabulous too.  But I digress! - wait ‘til you read about the amuse-bouche and our first courses.  To get us started they brought us a tiny dish of smoked salmon purée with a bit of fresh fennel and a caper.  Cindy ordered the set menu and started with the ravioli with mushrooms, which was far fancier than it sounds - tiny little squares stuffed with cheese and served with whole porcini in a delicious cream broth.  

My first course looked like a stunning chocolate dessert but it was actually a delectable stack of duck liver, gizzards, gelée, and artichoke - words can’t quite describe it so please open the photo.  Afterwards I tucked into the lamb and Cindy had pike quenelles.  We finished with a cheese course and a small dessert selection called café gourmand which is rather normal (and better than wonderful) dessert in France that includes a cup of espresso with small rich desserts, in this case a chocolate pot de crême, a tiny lemon meringue tart, and a baby baba au rhum with more rum than you can imagine - it came in a little bitty plastic ball, to be squeezed onto the cake. And squeeze I did. 

The other diners seemed to be about half locals and half travelers on their way to catch a train.  The age range was interesting - families with very small children and older couples even older than us, with every age in between.  Everyone seemed to be having a very wonderful time, as were we.  Wow what a birthday!