FRANCE - Paris?

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Lucky you, Jikoni. Send me some pastry. My friend recently visited Paris and stayed with a friend near the Eiffel Tower. I will ask her & get some ideas. Have a fab trip, take lots of pics and share with us. I would probably be so busy running around looking at fashions, I wouldn't have time to eat LOL.
 
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Lucky you! If I had my chance, I'd go back and do the following all over again:

Have a meal at Cafe Vesuvius on the right side of the Champs Elysees when facing the Arc de Triomphe, just a stone's throw away. Choose outside seating to do people-watching. I'd order a delicious bowl of their Moules (mussels in white wine, shallots, parsley) or bifteck et pommes frites.

Have afternoon tea at either:

Angelina's (Audrey Hepburn's fave tea salon) on rue de Rivoli. Metro station: Concorde.

or

Laduree. Dining here is like being inside a Faberge egg. Pastel-colored macarons beautifully stacked in the shop windows. You can also buy pastries for take-away. Rue de Royale. Metro station: Concorde.

Sit outside while having a cold 'pression' or beer at Les Deux Magots. Famous ex-literati, intellectual cafe frequented by Hemingway et al. Place St-Germain-des-Pres. Metro: St-Germain-des-Pres. Might as well go to the street corner and visit the city's oldest standing church (dating to 11th C) where Rene Descartes' heart happens to be interred.

Hit the various specialty food shops on the streets and head off for a picnic on the bank of the Seine river:
Charcuterie - French deli and prepared meats
Fromagerie - Cheeses of all kinds and smells
Patisserie - Pastries
Boulangerie - Bakery

Go to one of the liveliest street markets in Paris -- Marche Mouffetard on rue Mouffetard. It's a snaking street of gourmet specialty shops, cafes, and beautifully arranged market produce. If you're lucky, a string quartet may be playing classical music too. Metro: Monge. Open every morning except Mondays.

If you can splurge even once in your life, it's worth dining at a 3-star Michelin-rated restaurant for your gastronomic high point in Paris. Like at Taillevent, Restaurant Plaza Athenee (Alan Ducasse), or Paul Bocuse. I've been to Taillevent. To this day, it is by far, the best dining experience I have ever had. I'll never forget it.

So Jikoni, if you need more detailed info about the above, just PM me and I can check my notes for you...

Have a great trip!
 
Hope these help. Get ready for the gastronomic experience of your life. Happy eating!

This place is excellent:

http://www.fourseasons.com/paris/dining_77.html

If you like truffles, then this place is like the Holy Grail:

http://www.maison-de-la-truffe.fr/

If you're going to break the bank, might as well do it at a Michelin 3-Star restaurant:

http://www.guysavoy.com/

A nice neighborhood bistro that serves classical French dishes such as steak au poivre, escargot bourgignon, etc.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/D41189.html

If you get to Avignon, check this place out:

http://www.lacompagniedescomptoirs.com/
 
Jikoni, I thought we were friends, but you keep torturing me........

first it's out with the girls in London and now this!!

sigh.........for your punishment you must again recite everything you did when you return

HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME!!!!!
 
Jikoni, wish I could give you some TNT advice, unfortunately, I have never been. I am really looking forward to hearing all about it! Have fun and be safe!
 
Jikoni, I always put my money on Frommers. We found the best out of the way places that even locals don't know about - nightlife, etc. (As you click on the name of each restaurant, he gives a full detailed description.)

All I can say is Ooo La La.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/62_inddin.html


http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/0062020003.html

http://www.frommers.com/search/search_results.cfm?searchstring=paris&sa=guides&start=1&pg=1

Tips on Dining

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Paris's Range of Restaurants
Paris boasts a surplus of restaurants and cafes. Ultraexpensive temples of gastronomy include Alain Ducasse, L'Astor, Taillevent, Pierre Gagnaire, Lasserre, Jacques Cagna, Le Grand Véfour, and La Tour d'Argent. Savvy diners confine their trips to luxe places for special occasions. An array of other choices awaits, including simpler restaurants dispensing cuisines from every province of France and from former colonies like Morocco and Algeria.

Paris has hundreds of restaurants serving exotic international fare, reflecting the changing complexion of Paris itself and the city's increasing appreciation for food from other cultures. Your most memorable meal in Paris may turn out to be Vietnamese or West African.

You'll also find hundreds of bistros, brasseries, and cafes. In modern times their designations and roles have become almost meaningless. Traditionally, a bistro was a small restaurant, often with Mom at the cash register and Pop in the kitchen. Menus are most often handwritten or mimeographed, and the selection of dishes tends to be small. They can be chic and elegant, sometimes heavily Mediterranean, and often dispensing gutsy fare, including the pot-au-feu (beef simmered with vegetables) the chef's grandmother prepared for him as a kid.

French for "brewery," most brasseries have an Alsatian connection, and that means lots of beer, although Alsatian wines are also featured. They are almost always brightly lit and open 24 hours. Both snacks and full meals are available. The Alsatian establishments serve sauerkraut with an array of pork products.

The cafe is a French institution. Not just places for an aperitif, a café au lait, or a croissant, many serve rib-sticking fare as well, certainly entrecôte with french fries but often classics like blanquette de veau (veal in white sauce).

More attention in the late 1990s focused on the wine bar, a host of which we recommend in chapter 11, "Paris After Dark." Originally, wine bars concentrated on their lists of wines, featuring many esoteric choices and ignoring the food except for some charcuterie (cold cuts) and cheeses. Today, you're likely to be offered various daily specials, from homemade foie gras to boeuf à la mode (marinated beef braised with red wine and served with vegetables).

Paris prices may seem extravagant to visitors from other parts of the world, particularly those who don't live in big cities, but there has been an emergence of moderately priced informal restaurants here, and we recommend several.

Although they're not as fashionable as they were, still around are baby bistros, reasonably priced spinoffs from deluxe restaurants where you can get a taste of a famous chef's cuisine without breaking the bank. We cover the best of them.

Dining Savoir-Faire
Three-star dining remains quite expensive, with appetizers sometimes priced at 50€ ($65) and dinners easily costing 175€ to 200€ ($228-$260) per person in the top dining rooms of celebrated chefs. But you can get around that high price tag in many places by dining at lunch (when prices are always cheaper) or ordering a prix fixe meal at lunch or dinner.

The prix fixe (fixed-price) menu or le menu is a set meal that the chef prepares that day. It is most often fresh and promptly served, and represents a greater bargain than dining a la carte. Of course, it's limited, so you'll have to like the choices provided. Sometimes there are one to three menus, beginning with the less expensive and going up for a more elaborate meal. A lot depends on your pocketbook and appetite.

In France, lunch (as well as dinner) tends to be a full-course meal with meat, vegetables, salad, bread, cheese, dessert, wine, and coffee. It may be difficult to find a restaurant that serves the type of light lunch North Americans usually eat. Cafes, however, offer sandwiches, soup, and salads in a relaxed setting.

Coffee in France is served after the meal and carries an extra charge. The French consider it barbaric to drink coffee during the meal and, unless you order it with milk (au lait), it'll be served black. In more conscientious places, it's prepared as the traditional café filtre, a slow but rewarding java draw.

In years gone by, no man would consider dining out, even at the neighborhood bistro, without a suit and tie, and no woman would be seen without a smart dress or suit. That dress code is more relaxed now, except in first-class and luxe establishments. Relaxed doesn't mean sloppy jeans and jogging attire, however. Parisians still value style, even when dressing informally.

Sometimes service is added to your tab -- usually 12% to 15%. If not, look for the words service non compris on your bill. That means that the cost of service was not added, and you'll be expected to leave a tip.

Don't Leave Home Without Them
No matter how long you stay in Paris, we suggest you indulge in at least one break-the-bank French meal at a fabulous restaurant. It will be a memory you'll treasure long after you've recovered from paying the tab. However, to get a table at one of these places, you must reserve far in advance -- at least a day or two ahead, sometimes even a few weeks or months ahead! We suggest you look over these listings and call for reservations before you leave or at least as soon as you get into town.

Can You Dine Badly in Paris?
The answer is an emphatic yes. Our mailbox fills with complaints from readers who've encountered haughty service and paid outrageous prices for swill. Often, these complaints are about restaurants catering to tourists. Avoid them by following our suggestions or looking in nontouristy areas for new discoveries. If you ask Parisians for recommendations, specify that you're looking for restaurants where they'd dine, not where they think you, as a tourist, would dine.
 
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Hey mudbug, we are friends, come along. I will keep you posted on next destination. Kenya in the summer? Mish Frommers sounds like a great idea.Thanks evryone, Michelemarie, Pm me with your address. Postcard?Anyone else?
 
Wow... I envy you!! Paris is one place I have been so close but never set my foot on... I really should have hopped on the Eurostar during one of my visits to London... kept thinking about it but I was always busy with too many things to do there, never got around to do that... if I were ever there, probably I would be just happy scarfing down on croissants and baguettes and other treats from the patisseries, though!! :-p

Bon Voyage ma amie!!
 
I had a great time in Paris. I decided to check out a seafood restaurant in Versailles(the former real capital of france before Paris was) the Palace of Versailles has been linked to the name Louis X1V and his desendants, but it actually existed before then. He started ruling or to be politically correct-ish his reign began in 1661.Anyway, I had a great meal at 'La Maree de Versailles' just near the chateau and highly recommend it for those who love fish.If you ever go there, the place is beautiful, food? Great. You need half a day to cover the grounds. There is a lovely restaurant there but you need to book in advance. wear your walking shoes. Its on 22 rue au pain.
 
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