tracyinfrance

We are coming upto Paris with my Dad who is a real gastronut and are eating at Lucas Carton and L'Ambroise on two nights and wondered if Sensing might be a good option for the middle night, something a bit lighter to give our paletes a break without compromising on quality perhaps? The other place I though was Benoit? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

We are arriving in Paris on Toussaints, will most restaurantsbe closed on this day? Does Paris close down for this holiday?

We are coming over from France and meeting some CA buddies in NY (good half way point, after all!) for a 40th birthday party. The girl whose birthday it is has never been to NY. Thought River Cafe would be a good spot - have looked for threads on this restaurant and couldn't find any - is it just unbelievably tourist tat living on its view or is the food any good. Our friend is not particularly adventerous when it comes to food so if RC is too naff where can anyone suggest that perhaps does offer great views?? Thanks in advance for your comments!

Being a fairly novice visitor to NYC I have to ask if River Cafe would fall into this category of once being heralded as being a top place, or has it always strictly been for tourists who want a view of Manhatten at night? We are meeting some friends and it is her 40th birthday and she has never been to NY -she is not the most adventerous of eaters so we need something classical but special and it would be even better if there was amazing views? I know this is getting off the subject a bit, but as the menu needs to be classic rather than avant gard perhaps it is the ol' dinasours which would come to mind?? Any suggestions would be really appreciated!

We are heading off to Seville for 5 days and have looked through all the links that have been posted for dining in the city, but all seem quite old. Can anyone please let me have a top 5 dining and top 10 tapas spots in town! I read somewhere that Egana Oriza was going off the boil, is this still the case? Thanks very much

Don't know the rules either. Your hotel looks wonderful; good luck with it. Since we're not a million miles away you'll probably see us for a weekend later in the year when your weather's a bit nicer than ours. Montpillier being one of our favorite places we come your way a few times a year. Where does one eat locally ? Best markets? Got to lure we foodies with good grub spots. ← Thanks for your kind words Dave! Pezenas used to be a dessert for good restaurants, but actually in the last 12 months we have seen some newcomers who do not rely on boil in the bag 'sous-vide' catering packs of food. In Pezenas itself there is Palmiers which is only open in summer months as it has no roof! Pre St Jean needs an interiour design overhaul but the food is excellent. Pannequet, run by a lovely Lyonniase couple, is a great bistro type place. Slightly further afield we have good spots in Beziers, Agde and of course Montpellier. Pezenas market is on a Saturday and has great cheeses and fruit and veg, there are coquillages stalls in town which are open every day except Monday where you can stand and eat oysters or have them shucked and take them away with you. Cleremont L'Herault has a fantastic market on a Wednesday and on a Friday Agde has an organic market. Oh and not forgetting the most amazing oysters can be sampled down at Bouzigues! Hope that gets your gastric juices flowing!!

Don't think you're crazy to try. After all most of the French don't stay in hotels during their vacations; they stay at family owned homes, campgrounds, gites & so forth. A good B&B guide would be a help & of course you'll have your Logis de France book. ← Sounds familiar, except chez nous my wife gets antsy about 3 PM and insists I start telephoning Gites/B&B's/posadas/agriturismo's/etc. In decades we've never slept in the car, have rarely not found a great place and except for trips when she thinks we need a "base" from which to operate, don't get reservations ahead. Now, we carry a library with us: in addition to food guides, the Michelin, Gites of France, Karen Brown, Logis de France, etc. The problem is not one of reality but comfort level with uncertainty. ← It all depends on when in August you are planning on doing the drive down to Spain. Sunday is a great day for travelling as there are a lot less trucks on the road. If you are planning to following the suggestion of going to Millau and then down to Barcelona can I suggest you look at our place as a potential night stop? (I hope this is okay for me to do as I am new to this forum, and don't know if I can mention our own establishment as a recommendation? I did not come to the forum to promote ourselves, but to actually discover hidden gems in the area we live.) We are in Pezenas which is 1.5 hours from the Millau bridge and then 3.5 hours to Barcelona. You can check us out on our web site. our place is called Hotel de Vigniamont. Another great guide book is Alistair Sawday Special Places to stay. There is a b&b guide and also a chateau/inns/special places. They have a web site with quite a lot of the properties listed.