Cafe Marly

If you find yourself in Paris and suddenly are in need of something extraordinarily extravagant, go to Cafe Marly at the Louvre. It's open very late in the evening and can accommodate you with no problem. Having read about the restaurant, I was intrigued enough to want to go there, but had no idea what an expensive restaurant, according to my guidebook, would actually cost. I must preface this by saying that the dollar to euro was at an all time low exchange rate. We sat at one of the small tables outside the dining room, since we had only intended on eating dessert, something we had passed on earlier in the evening. Our view of the Pei pyramids and fountains was outstanding and I took many more photos than necessary just to make certain I had a good one. The setting was lovely and because it was early May, it was chilly outside, so being bundled up in our coats, mufflers and gloves made it a bit more romantic for me; I like cold weather, but even on a warm evening it would have been romantic.

Because the prices were so astronomical I didn't even bother ordering a drink. As it was we paid about $45 for these two desserts. The chocolate lava cake had a much more romantic description than "left uncooked in the center", so we didn't even realize it was a lava cake until my partner in crime took a fork full. All I can remember was, thinking to myself, for such an expensive piece of cake, they could at the very least put some frosting on it. He enjoyed it thoroughly. My macaroon was much more than I had expected with fresh raspberries, raspberry preserves, and whipped cream sandwiched in between 2 very large macaroons. If I could only translate the French language macaroon cookbook I purchased, I'd attempt to recreate this at home.

The macaroon itself was rather brittle as you can see in this photo, but I savored each and every bite. I wondered if Marie Antoinette had ever eaten anything this rich and delicious here.

93 Rue de Rivoli

75001 Paris, France

01 49 26 06 60