La Coupole, Paris

This brasserie in Montaparnasse has been going since 1927 and was frequented by Picasso, Hemingway etc. It is also famous for its interior - murals painted by artists such as Marc Chagall. We secured a good corner table at the back of the restaurant where we could watch all the hustle and bustle as the brasserie filled up. People tend to eat late - we had no problem getting a table at 7pm but would probably not have been so lucky at 8.30pm or 9pm. The food was good although not outstandingly special. Our first taste of the outstanding French butter! I'm so annoyed with tasteless American butter and so one of the objectives of the vacation was to eat as much French butter as possible. Luckily, they gave us 2 large servings so we are off to a fine start. I had a salmon dish atop mashed potatoes swimming in butter which needed a little more acid. Paul was brave and went for the steak tartare with frites and salad. The steak tartare was good - mixed with capers and onions but the portion was far too big. Dessert included a floating island - very soft meringue floating in a vanilla cream topped with almonds.