Your Paris Perfect Sunday – Part One

Sundays can be a sleepy day in Paris, as most shops, department stores and restaurants are closed. Major museums are open, but can get very crowded. To help you plan your holiday time, we’ve put together some ideas to make a Paris Perfect Sunday during your visit.

One of the best Sunday brunches in Paris is in the glorious tea room of the Jacquemart-André Museum.  We’ve written about the Jacquemart-André before. It is the former private mansion of art collectors Edouard André and Nélie Jacquemart, and contains an extraordinary array of French, Dutch and Italian masterpieces including paintings, sculptures, tapestries and frescos.

Their café and tea room has been called the most beautiful salon in Paris and we have to agree. It’s not every day you can enjoy a delicious brunch surrounded by Belgian tapestries and Tiepolo frescos!

The Sunday brunch is offered from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, but we strongly suggest you arrive early, as the lines can be quite long, and reservations are NOT accepted. Plan to arrive around 10:45, purchase your museum tickets first, then head out the doors to your right, and around the grand carriage way to the dining room entrance.  You should be near the front of the line when the seating begins at 11:00.  And if the weather is warm, you can choose to be seated on the outdoor terrace, or in the sumptuous tea room.

While this is advertised as a “brunch,” it is a sit-down affair, and not a buffet as some may think of a typical Sunday brunch.  Ordering from the menu, you can choose the set brunch on offer or several plats du jour or from an a la cart selection of other egg dishes, salads, pastries, etc.

On the Sunday we visited, the brunch menu consisted of egg in cocotte with cream and fine herbs, smoked salmon with mixed salad and potato salad, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, tea, or chocolate, bread, jam, and a choice of dessert, for a very reasonable 28.50Euro.

The a la cart and plat du jour selections are equally yummy…

Our party selected the brunch menu, the plat du jour Vigee Le Brun (poached egg, ham with French lentils), and the Van Dyke from the ala carte menu (mixed salad with French green beans, foie gras with fig chutney, caramelized pears and apples).

 

Try the café Viennoise or chocolat Viennoise for the decadent cream!

Desserts included fresh raspberry tart, and large macaron scented with rose petal cream.

After your delicious brunch, make your way to the museum, and take in the masterpieces as you wander from room to room, including the private bedrooms of Edouard and Nélie.

If you arrived early at 11:00, you will probably be ready to leave the museum between 2:00 – 3:00 pm, depending on how long you want to linger to enjoy the rich art collection.

You could end your day here and be happy, but we have more great ideas for your afternoon!  Stay tuned for part 2 of your Paris Perfect Sunday coming soon!

 

Musee Jacquemart André
Open daily from 10:00 am – 6:00 PM, Admission – 11Euro per person
Separate hours for the cafe.
158, bd Haussmann
75008 Paris
Tél. : 01 45 62 11 59
Fax : 01 45 62 16 36

The Museum is located 400 m from Place de l’Etoile, 5 min from the Champs-Elysées and the department stores.

By Métro: Line 9 and 13 Stations Saint-Augustin, Miromesnil or Saint-Philippe du Roule
By RER: Line A station Charles de Gaulle-Étoile
By Bus: Lines 22, 43, 52, 54, 28, 80, 83, 84, 93
By voiture: Parking Haussmann-Berri, at feet of the museum, open 24h/24
 By Velib’: Station Rue de Berri

____________________

Thank you to Mary Ann Grisham for this post!

Image Credits: Jacquemart-André Museum by Guillaume Baviere, Jacquemart-André Museum marble staircase by Serapie, Jacquemart-André Museum interior by Serapie  

Posted on Saturday, August 24th, 2013 at 6:13 pm in See & Do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.