WHEN sightseeing in Paris it’s nice to know where to stop for a bite to eat or a cup of tea with a sticky bun, somewhere to watch the sugar cube on your spoon melt into a dark small espresso while Paris parades before you.
You could always take a seat on any number of cafes overlooking the Seine, Notre Dame Cathedral or one of the other major sights in the City of Light. These come at a hefty premium, however, which sours the taste for even the most generous-minded of tourists.
Café du Musée d’Orsay is one of Paris’s great unsung sights. It sits on the top floor of the Musée d’Orsay, a former train station that contains a superb collection covering all the main impressionists and more besides.
Because it’s in a public building, the prices are kept mercifully reasonable.
I stumbled across this place on a visit to Paris with my wife about 10 years ago. The initial impression is of accidentally having walked into the dining room of the Ritz, the George V or some other such palace of the wealthy circa 1900.
You half expect, in fact, to catch your reflection in the monocle of a chap in a top hat with a large moustache.
The cafe has beautiful views across the Seine, through a line of tall windows whose arches are echoed by mirrors on the other three walls.
The panels on the wall are gilded, as are the elegant frames of the paintings by Gabriel Ferrier and Benjamin Constant on the ornate ceiling. Rows of chandeliers complete the effect of true belle-epoque Paris.
** Restaurant du Musée d’Orsay, 1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, Paris, France, 00-33-1-45494703, www.musee-orsay.fr
** Do you know of a hidden gem? E-mail us at go@irishtimes.com