Good restaurant, expensive restaurant, Pompidou Center

A few random observations:

a) we had dinner last night at Le Petit Zinc. It is an excellent restaurant, near the St. Germain des Prés church (11, Rue St Benoît, http://www.petit-zinc.com/).

Wonderful food (I had the Menu Petit Zinc, with the poisson soup, saumon and profiteroles, http://www.petit-zinc.com/fr/carte.htm), great service, extraordinary ambience, great art deco decoration, not too expensive. We had a Riesling wine, 22 euros for the bottle, excellent as well. Overall, magnifique!

b) we had a small lunch at the Georges Restaurant at the Pompidou Center. The panoramic views are really incredible (sixth floor, you can see most of southern and western Paris). However, you can also see the views from the terrace, and the restaurant was trés cher (very expensive), and not that good. Service was dismally slow, even to collect payment!

c) the Pompidou Center itself is very uneven, at least if you are not entralled by modern/abstract painting. As an example, there are three very large (and presumably very expensive) canvases which are completely white! I swear I am not making this up:

http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Musee.nsf/Docs/ID18FC9B0C9A11338EC1257411002D755A?OpenDocument&salle=1N4S09=salle&Key=1N4&sessionM=3.2.1&L=1

That said, there are some extraordinary works by Picasso, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Matisse, Miro, Braque, Gris, etc., especially in salles 3-6.

The red rhinoceros is a favorite of mine:

http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Musee.nsf/Docs/1DFC99DD4166966EC1257411002D8D87?OpenDocument&salle=1N4R=salle&Key=1N4&L=1

There was a very long line to enter the building, and another very long line to purchase tickets (and the three automatic ticket vendors were "hors de service", that is out of service). If at all possible, buy the tickets online, or, better yet, buy a weekly pass for the major museums/attractions (and you will avoid all lines, and save money at the same time!):

Museum Tickets:

http://billetterie.cnac-gp.fr/recherche_resultats.asp

Paris Pass:

http://www.paris-pass.com/Find_Paris_Attractions

d) there is a less expensive cafeteria on the second floor, and a very expensive shop as well (t-shirts for 40 euros, that is US$63 as of today).

And, as most other museums, it is free the first Sunday of every month!

Bon chance!