We have returned from our time in Paris, which was wonderful, despite the transportation strike the day we arrived. We took Airport Connection into town, which went very smoothly. Very little public transportation was running that day. Our dining was sucessful because of all the help from those of you on this board. Thank you. Lunch at L'Abadache 89, rue Lemercier 17th This was our most disappointing meal. We walked here from the 7th, quite a hike since taxi's were no where to be found and the strike prevented us from using the metro. The 18€ menu wasn't mentioned to us, although I did see the small blackboard with the menu after we ordered. The regular priced meals on a larger blackboard was brought to our table to order from. We decided to just order scallops and risotto, which were very disappointing. We also ordered the Fondant which was excellent. ]Bread wasn't offered to us, quite unusal for Paris. Every table was filled for lunch though. Dinner at Les Fables de la Fontaine 131 St.Dominque 7th Dinner here was just wonderful. Yes, it's a tiny room, but the fish is excellent. Everyone seemed to love their fish, and the French couple seated next to us were quite friendly. They have a son studying in New Orleans and shared their thoughts of the food here with us in English! The black board with the menu was a bit hard for me to understand, but the waiter helped explain some of the choices to me in English. We each ordered soupe d'Etrilles aux croutons dores (crab soup) and also ordered rouget en ecaille de pomme de terre and Croustillants de Langoustine au Basilic, both just excellent, 1 order of fromage de saison and a bottle of Sancerre Lucien Crochet 03. The bill came to 95 Euros. We wanted to lunch at Androuet but found that they no longer serve lunch at any location in Paris. Instead we bought some cheeses to go and enjoyed them on a bench! Dinner at Dominique Bouchet 11, rue Treilhard 8th This is a bit upscale and very attactive dining room. I loved it. Our bottle of wine was 34 € and the 1 Liter of Evian was 4.50€. We drank every drop! I ordered the soup of the day, I have forgotten what it was, chestnut maybe?? with a large slice of black truffle, and the gigot d Agneau. My husband had the foie gras de canard and aiguillette de canette. We also had tea. The bill was 120€. My gigot d Agneau was the highlight of the meal, although everything was excellent. Our one complaint here was the service. Our waiter wanted to pour our wine and water, but didn't attend our table often enough so we would get very low on both. Many people tried to walk in for a table on this Friday evening, but all were turned away. They were fully booked. We had a wine break at Cafe Constant one afternoon. We ordered no food, but the blackboard menu looked very inviting. The tables are so, so close together and very tiny, so it might be a bit uncomfortable eating here. We had lunch in Bercy on Sunday after we shopped at Clignancourt. Shopping here was so much fun! Lunch was galettes at a very busy, large dining room, but they were pretty good. We then did the Paris Walks Pere Lachaise Cemetery walk in the afternoon. It was excellent. Dinner at Cinq Mars 51, rue de Verneuil 7th This bistro is so attractive and inviting. We were the only ones speaking English here, but were warmly welcomed. We had our entrees of salade concombre and avocat crevettes when the table next to ours was seated. The French woman took a look at the avocat crevettes, then walked right up to the plate and stared and stared at it. It was so funny. She was delighted in it and promply ordered one for herself. It was the highlight of our meal here. We also ordered thon grille and espadon with 1 ananas for dessert and a bottle of Fleurie and 1/2 bottle of Evian. The bill was 90.50€ Dinner at Ateleir Maitre Albert 1,rue Maitre Albert 5th This is Guy Savoy bistro, but doesn't live up to his excellence in our opinion. The dining room is very attractive, but also very, very warm. The rotisserie was going at one end, and the fireplace at the other. First thing most of the men did was take off their sweaters or jackets. Service was to fast, and there were many American diners. We ordered 2 Creme de Champignons, a Filet de Bar, Volaille Rotie and a bottle of Chateau Ludeman. The bill came to 106,50 €. It is overpriced for the quality. Although good, it's a bit plain and nothing special. The service is very attentive, just to quick, with no time between courses. Also no artichoke soup was on the menu, which is listed on the menu on the internet. I loved this soup at Guy Savoy, so was disappointed in it not being offered here. Lunch at La Cigale Recamier 4, rue Recamier This is a very attractive, comfortable, somewhat upscale dining room. What a lovely place for lunch, with the sun streaming in the large windows in the front. Most diners were dressed up, enjoying a fancy lunch. We ordered the souflees which were about 16€ apiece for the mains and 8 or 9 € each for dessert souflees. Other items were also on the menu. We each ordered a glass of wine with our lunch. Dinner at Regalade 49, av. J. Moulin 14th We had never dined here before and depite the poor reviews lately, had a wonderful time, with good, although not excellent food. We had reservations at 8 p.m. everywhere we ate, and even though some tables turned, not all did, so having 2 seatings was never a problem for us. 3 tables were American diners, the rest French. The waiters were very rushed, but it didn't disturb us. They did bring me the wrong dessert. I thought it looked delightful, and the French woman next to me told us it was a very good choice. I was about to try it, when they rushed to my table and removed it, giving it to her! We got a good chuckle out of the situation, and my apple tart arrived. Her dessert was better than mine! The bistrot is attractive and comfortable and not expensive. We went to Rouen the next day. I was so looking forward to excellent galettes and cider here. We were disappointed. The galettes were not nearly as good as those we have had in Chartes in the past. Dinner at Le Clos Des Gourmets 16, Ave Rapp 7th Our dinner here was just excellent. The dining room is very charming and bright and inviting. They do have an English menu, and about 3 of the tables were filled with Americans. This did not distract from an excellent meal, and excellent service. It didn't feel touristy at all. The menu was 33€ each and we didn't order anything with a suppliment. My husband ordered pigs head and I ordered salmon. I thought I was settling, when I ordered salmon, but it was the best salmon I have ever had! The macaroon desert, a bit dressed up, was excellent also. Our check was 105 €, including a bottle of wine and 1 cafe, everything was excellent. We complimented the chef when we left. We went to Rambouillet for half a day. The Chateau is being worked on, but they still gave us a tour, for free! It was a private tour, in French, but was delightful. My husband understood most of it and translated for me. The gardens were lovely, we walked around the canals to the cottage, and the day was warming to about 60 degrees F! We wanted a quick pizza before taking the train back to Paris. We found a place that served them and tried to order just 1 to share and a pitcher of wine. They refused us. I couldn't believe it. We had to order 2 or they wouldn't serve us. We said no, we wanted only one, they were quite large. Finally we agreed to buy one to go and brought it to the local park, along with a screw top 1/2 bottle of wine and enjoyed it sitting by the lake. Dinner at L'Ourcine 92, rue Broca Menu here is 28€ with wine and water our bill was 88€. The menu was very, very hard for me to figure out here. Again on a blackboard, with so many words that I had no idea what they were. Usually I can do pretty good, but I was baffled here. Madame came over and helped me out in enough English to help. The writing was "curly" and some letters just didn't look like what they actually were. We both ordered the duck stew which was just excellent. The entree and dessert wasn't as good. The French table next to us ordered much better than we did. I think we were just to confused to order properly here. The bistrot is very, very plain, and the closest metro was closed so we had a longer walk than we had thought. That was no problem though. They were very kind to us here, and we were the only Americans. This was on Wednesday and the weather suddenly turned very warm. It was 22 degrees!! The whole city came outside on this day. The outside tables were filled, the sidewalks jammed, the parks overflowing. What a joy to have bright blue skies, and very warm weather. The week before it had snowed so the whole of Paris was in a joyful mood! We also went to Brasserie Lipp for hot chocolate one evening before dinner. We were frozen through and the break was good. The hot chocolate was nothing like that at Angelinas though! I went looking for the toliets here and wandered upstairs into the dinner hour for the staff. I had a laugh with them as I admired their cheese course! What a way to prepare for the dinner hour. Thanks again for everyone's help here. We had excellent dinners at reasonable prices. Hopefully the dollar will strengthen soon.
