Boy!  Am I glad I went to dinner!  Tonight's meal is better than most meals I have eaten in the U.S.; and at least as good as my top five (including Keller and Roubochon) for considerably less money.

I have come to realize that the French standard is so high that even the average brasserie takes great care to be the best they can be. The French take their food very seriously.  Even the French blue-collar workers are accustomed to a higher quality of food than most white collar Americans have ever tried.  

After detoxing for two days (having only consumed a plate of ice cream at lunch today and nothing yesterday), I ordered the tasting menu.

I began with an aperitif of strawberry liquor, mint leaves, and champagne and an Amuse Bouche of olive tapanade and smoked salmon mousse with langustine.

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Then I ordered two ½ bottles of wine to accompany my tasting menu: a Javillier Suvlgny-les Beaunes 2004 white burgundy and a 2001 Chateau Mont-Redon Chateauneuf De Pape.

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So please forgive me, as I am one very drunk narrator at the moment! 

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The waitstaff presented my first course as a small bowl of mussels suspended in a cream sauce made up of mayonnaise and cream with the tiniest cut vegetables.

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Next came the Fois Gras de Cunnard made with Fleur de Sel and chutney of seasonal fruits; followed by a morel ravioli in seafood sauce; a sautéed courgette fillet; and a veal sweetbread.

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Just when I thought I could eat no more, the cheese cart arrived.  Having finished all the white burgundy and two glasses of the Mont-Redon, I was bombed at this stage (see photo), so I ordered a lot more cheese than I intended to: Picodon, Brillat Savrillan; Livrot; Reblochon; Tomme de Savoie; Ossau Itraty; Banon and Gryere.

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After the cheese, they brought me a dish of tiny macaroons; one filled with ice cream; one with strawberry jam and one raspberry jelly.  I was totally full.

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Of couse, they then brought me dessert, which I could only taste.  I could physically no longer fit any food or liquid into my body. Dessert consisted of Crème Cassis, Citron, "La Mangue Pochee et Crystalline" and berry ice cream.

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I waddled back to my room, drunk as a sunk, to share my dinner with you before passing out.  Tomorrow, I have to wake up early to catch the train back to LACE w:st="on">ParisLACE>!

Goodnight folks!