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My Best Paris Restaurants:
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Le Ciel de Paris
Tour Montparnasse 33 Avenue du Maine, 75015 Paris
Metro: Montparnasse-Bienvenüe
Phone: 01 40 64 77 64
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily
Breathtaking 56th floor view of Paris from Europe’s highest restaurant…
I selected this restaurant for the obvious reason. It is located on the 56th floor of the Montparnasse Tower, the only skyscraper in Paris proper. The view here is nothing short of spectacular and often mentioned as rival to the Eiffel Tower’s. In fact, considering the added bonuses of seeing the Eiffel Tower from this view, and no tourists queues, you have to wonder who is the winner of that rivalry.
If your Paris visit calls for panoramic bird’s eye views, I say why not combine them with a nice lunch or dinner and enjoy the moment rather than run up and rush back down! The Restaurant Classique French menu variety of Le Ciel de Paris will certainly not impede the effort.
While the food is refined, the real adventure is admittedly not so much on the menu, but in the elegant setting 209 meters (some 600 ft) above the streets of Paris. Day or night, the breathtaking sights make Le Ciel de Paris (the sky of Paris) a noteworthy restaurant, which can double as a prime stop on your Paris tourism expedition.
It’s unfair that the culinary aspect is somewhat eclipsed by the physicality of the setting, but this is the second tallest skyscraper and the highest restaurant in Europe! In fact, like the Eiffel Tower a century earlier, the completion of the Montparnasse Tower was met with popular outcry because it “broke” the Paris skyline. All subsequent skyscrapers had to be built on the outskirts of Paris (La Défense). This history reinforces Le Ciel de Paris as a unique dining experience you won’t easily find elsewhere.
The menu starts around €30- €40. Dinner reservations are suggested; Lunch is easier. On a budget? Try the adjacent Café Belvedere and skimp on the menu, not the view.