Dinner at the Jules Verne Restaurant

For years, we had said we would spend our 25th wedding anniversary in Paris.  Rich is a fan of Jules Verne.  When we discovered the name of the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, it was a forgone conclusion of where we would be spending the evening of October 3, 2017.

A year prior I looked online and found that the Jules Verne has something called a "gift box".  I misunderstood how the gift box works.  I had thought we needed a reservation first and then we purchase the gift box.  But rather, it is the other way around; you order the gift box and a voucher is sent to your home.  You then make arrangements and pick a date to use the voucher and the restaurant will make the reservations.   So, we did not get the gift box.  This time :)

Reservations can be made no more than 3 months prior, so I set a reminder for July 3.  Requests for seating next to a window are done on a first reserved basis so I wanted to ensure we got our reservation in at the first opportunity.  That strategy paid off.

We arrived in Paris on Monday 2nd of October and stayed at the Observatoire Luxembourg hotel near the Luxembourg Gardens. Our hotel was wonderful and the staff top notch.  They arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 7pm on Tuesday.  We were told it would be approximately a 20 min ride from our hotel.  We told the taxi driver our destination: the Eiffel Tower.  As he pulled up to the front of the iconic structure, our driver noted our attire and asked what we were going to do and we said we had reservations.  He said "Ah" and told us we needed to go around the back.  He drove us around and let us out.  There was a gentleman stationed there and when the taxi driver told him we were guests, he became our personal escort.  We followed him over to the security checkpoint where he ushered us past everyone standing in line to be the next through. Once past, he walked us straight to the South Pillar to the entrance of the restaurant.  We felt like VIPs.

Once inside the door, we had to go through a 2nd screening.  Unbeknownst to me, Rich had a box in his pocket that caused a slight ripple but I did not notice anything.  There was an elevator operator and 2 other couples with us on the way up, one of which were on their honeymoon.  In the lobby of the restaurant, I was divested of my jacket and we were whisked away to our table.  Most of the wait staff we passed greeted us as we were seated at a window seat.

The table was set with a "plate" and "silverware" that were removed shortly after we sat down.  We were each handed a menu, his with prices, mine without.  Probably should have been the other way around as I paid :) We had the tasting menu, which means that the chef would prepare a set meal.  The only choice we had was whether we wanted 5 or 6 courses.  We had 6; go big or go home.

We ordered drinks, a fruity champagne concoction for me, a vodka something for him.

There was a slight commotion behind me and Rich said that it looked like a couple just got engaged.  A few minutes later Rich pulled out a small blue Disney Dream collection box and asked me to spend another 25 years with him.  I said yes! It's a beautiful diamond ring in the familiar Mickey shape.
 

Suddenly the tower lights started flashing and went on for 2-3 minutes or so. It was 8pm and the light show would go off again at 9pm as we were still eating.

Our tasting menu:
Marinated sea bream, watercress

Preserved duck Foie Gras, walnut condiment, toasted brioche

Pan seared sea scallop, pumpkin and chestnuts

Oven-baked sea bass, Jerusalem artichokes and black figs

 Seared thick medallion of veal, wild mushrooms and crushed tops

Citrus tartlet and lemon ice cream

Crispy 'tower nut', chocolate from our manufacturer in Paris

After we had finished our meal and settled the bill, we went back to the lobby where we were shown an elevator to the observation deck right below us.  We spent as much time as we wanted to observe Paris at night.

We took a few more snaps and then went back to the restaurant lobby.  I got my jacket and we were handed a small packet of cookies, you know, in case we were still hungry.  We asked for a taxi back to the hotel and the restaurant was quick to arrange it.

A short elevator ride brought us back to earth.  Our escort from earlier was there to take us to our taxi.  Our ride back to the hotel was completed in no time as traffic was lighter than when we started the evening.

A most delightful evening.  Now on to figure out how to top it for our next milestone anniversary!