Freckles

okay. Auberts. I'll see if I can find it. Thanks!

Thanks. The US is not my home. I currently live in France but will be returning to Canada at the end of the year. Ontario, where I was born and raised, has a socialist-monopoly-hell that makes wine buying both expensive and limited by bureaucrats. So, I'm interested in buying things not available there, or available there only at much higher prices.

This is a great thread and I hope it stays alive and well! I'm currently living in Paris, but will have to return to Ontario later this year (insert sound of suffocating woman here) Living in France has whet my appetite for a wide variety of wines (or, at least French wines; they are quite sure that only France produces good wine and most caves sell - at most - 2 or 3 bottles - TOTAL - of non-french wine) and I fear that I will find high prices and poor selection in Toronto. If this thread remains afloat, maybe I will have a chance of finding something decent in Ontario!? What is a wine consultant, please?

Hello, all: I posted this on the France focum and hope you dont mind me also asking here... I am driving to Paris from Azay-le-Rideau tomorrow and would like to pick up some cases of Vouvray. I have my Guide Hachette with me, but wondered if there are any producers you particularly recommend that I visit. Thanks. Freckles

Hi. Here in Paris my all-time favourite wine bar is Les Couleurs des Vignes. It has: a very limited but good-value and tasty menu... a charming owner (a retired bank director) who has made a point of not only chatting with his clients but getting to know people in the neighbourhood (people who live around there are alwys dropping by just to say hi)... very few tables, which makes it cozy and intimate... soft green walls which are very attractive and stylish... a wildly fabulous wine list at very good prices. Good luck in your ventures. Hope and come to patronize your establishment some day. Freckles

Hi, Tammy. What a great idea! I actually started a wine tasting group here in Paris last year and we've been going strong ever since. I can tell you what worked for us, knowing that you mightnt want to do the same thing at all. We have 5 women in our group. Each month, we meet at one person's apartment and she is responsible for teaching the rest of us one topic from a book. We started with Jancis Robinson's Learning to Taste and have now moved on to Andrea Immer's Great Wines made Simple. That month's host does everything for the meeting. She chooses and buys 5 wines (we have a minimum that we each have to spend, just to ensure that no one gives us only really cheap crap to drink. One member sticks close to that limit, and two consistently pay more, since they are interested in learning about higher end wines and have better paying jobs. So, we get to sample a great variety of lower and higher priced wines). She also gets a bit of snacky food for us, so we dont drink on an empty stomach. As the organizer, I picked the topics we were going to cover, because some chapters in the books are more interesting or useful than others. But besides that, the individual hosting does all the set up and clean up for that month; then she gets to sit back and relax for the next 4 months. Needless to say, we dont finish the 5 bottles! We spend about 2 hours learning about the topic, tasting the wines and generally trying to stick to our subject rather than veering off into gossip, etc. We evaluate each wine on a sheet that I got when doingwine classes at the Cordon Bleu: pretty standard. We have actually learned a surprising amount and are still going strong. Hope this helps give you some ideas! Good luck Freckles

Salut, tout le monde: Im spending a glorious weekend with friends in Azay-le-Rideau. Driving back to Paris tomorrow night but wanted to visit some producers and pick up some Vouvray on the way home. I have my Guide Hachette 2005 with me, but I do find that once mentioned in the Guide, producers do tend to "up" their prices. Also, sadly, all well-priced wines that receive mention tend to be long-sold out! Do you have any favourite producers that you recommend I visit? Price is not a concern, but value is Thanks so much. Freckles

Wow. Thank for all these terrific thoughts. My friend (and co-founder of the now-monthly wine bar outings club) has picked a place in the 2nd where we'll head on the 26th of April. Will be sure to get back to you with reviews then and also, bien sur, a request for thoughts about where in the 3rd I can go during the month of May.

thank you all for your help. We went to Juveniles tonight and had a terrific time. I got together a group of 10; we met at 8PM and stayed, chatted and laughed until 11. Good thing we made a reservation! Even on a Tuesday night, it was completely full by 9PM. Not the prettiest of places... a tiny spot but a wide selection of wines. The service wasn't particularly pleasant. A waiter gave a long, piercing whistle at one point in the evening because he thought our table was too loud. Well, we were laughing and talking, but not at an especially high volume (even by French standards). As my (Parisian) boyfriend stated, Parisian waiters just HATE to see foreigners having a good time. High ratings for its wine selection, poor ratings for the avaiability of street parking in the neighbourhood, and medium ratings for the space itself. April: Second Arrondissement. Any thoughts?

okay. Emailed my friends and the 8 of us are going to Juveniles. I would like to make a reservation, since I know these places can be packed. But they're not picking up the phone at the moment. Does anyone know if I need to make reservations here? Thanks!

We're going to do one arr. / month, not all 20 in one night, Silly!!!!! : ) Thanks so much for your suggestion! Keep 'em coming. Freckles

Hello! Some girlfriends and I are starting a group to try wine bars in different arrondissements in Paris. We're going in order, starting with the FIRST. Can any of you recommend a good wine bar somewhere, anywhere, in the 1st arrondissement? Many thanks in advance? Freckles!

Hello, all. Freckles here... I'm heading to Amsterdam for a long weekend this Friday. Staying at Seven One Seven; can't wait! Will let you know what I find re. dining and would love any additional input before I leave. Have any of you been to The Supperclub? Saw a photo and it looks very cool. Thanks.

Bonjour! I'll be attending the Salon Internationale de l'Agriculture a Paris on Tuesday. I've never gone in the past, or even considered going, but I've been told that it's a fabulous place to sample good wines and cheeses... Have any of you ever attended, or have any suggestions of what I should check out? Thanks.

May I please tag along on this question, since it is somewhat similar? I leave for a week in Athens tomorrow, and am eager to try lots of Greek wine while there. I currently live in Paris and it's hard enough to get ANY foreign wines (literally, a wine store here might carry ONE bottle of Australian wine and ONE Italian: shameful!!!!) and I want to make sure I sample some of the Good Greek Stuff. What would you recommend, please? THank you.

Hey, this is a terrific thread but I see the last post was 4 and a half months ago. I leave tomorrow for a week in Athens and surrounding areas. Any additional comments you want to mention? THANKS.

4 girlfriends and I went to dinner at La Table des Oliviers (38 rue Laugier, 17th) last night. I thought it was wonderful. Well off the beaten tourist-path, it had mostly French clients although there was a table of Spaniards in another room. I noted carefully the treatment we received; often I've found that a women-only group can get 2nd-rate service in Parisian restaurants. But, our wait staff was charming, attentive, welcoming. I started with an appetizer of small squid (chipirons). Light, drizzled in an olive-oil sauce... so tasty. Followed with a main course of risotto with langoustines. Mmmmm. We drank a bottle of red Sancerre which was a bit too young, so then switched to a 2003 Pouilly Fume which was much better. I didn't order dessert, but the bites I took of my friends' pear pastry and moeulleux did not disappoint. All of this (oh, plus a tangy apperatif made with almond liqueur) came to under 60 Euros/person. Add to this: warm yellow walls, the chef's adorable (and ginormous) dog frolicking between the tables as we were leaving, delicious toasted olive bread on the table... I recommend the place.

Hey, Vox. What restaurant in Toronto??? Friends and I went to La Table des Oliviers for dinner last night. Very fairly priced and wonderful food. In the 17th, too, so off the beaten tourist track.

Terrific! I'm embarrassed to say that I've done a very poor job of exploring these so far; I've been terrible busy with work, travel, guests, etc. But so many great suggestions; can't wait to check them out! Thanks for all your input. And, please do continue to add to the list...

Hi. I leave this week for 5 days in Rome with my boyfriend. Please tell me; what are some good mid-priced restaurants that you like? And, what are some items that we can bring home to our friends in France and Canada: either food-related (what brand of olive oil? if parmesan cheese, then where to find the best? etc?) or not. THANKS in advance! Freckles

Thanks!

Thank you all so much. After reading so many interesting discussions about Marc Singer's restaurant, I made the reservation there. A group of 6 women -- between the ages of 28 and 40 years old -- will be dining there this Wednesday night. I will get back to you with comments on the experience!

A friend says that in the Paris Pas Cher there is listed as a good place to eat a cooking school in the 19th. Do any of you know about this?

Parisians are slim, but they do not generally look in the least bit healthy. Not much muscle tone, smokers' skin, etc. Chain smoking definitely has something to do with the lower weight and with the wan, pale look they tend to have in this city. And, it's quite common to see slim parents with very heavy children here; there has been a real break between eating traditional French eating habits in the generation. Mums are working full-time which gives them less time to cook and more money to give their kids. Kids -- from any country -- with 20 euros in their pocket will spend some of it on junk food. The French are not so different from the rest of us. Their societal trends have just trailed ours by about 15 years.

No! I don't know ANY of these places! Please, keep 'em coming. I'm rarin' to go and can't wait for work to calm down so I can start sampling Les Wine Bars de Paris...