Margaret Pilgrim

We have had many extraordinary and no bad recommendations from Le Derniere Goute. One on one discussion of your preferences is normal.

This chambre d'hote on the south coast was our alternate choice (the one we did not visit). It's owner is a retired chef from Lapérouse who serves an evening meal at 20€. Rooms are 60€.

We spent 2 nights there and more would have been lovely. From there we visited Mont St. Michel, Cancale harbor, St. Malo and St. Suliac, but didn't have time to visit equally close Dinan. I'd go back for 3 days in a heartbeat. I'd also reserve for at least 2 dinners and do the tourist thing at lunch.

Abra, we were delighted with the warm reception, lovely room and extraordinary evening meal at Chateau du Mont Dol a few km south of the bay between Cancale and Mont St. Michel. Our table for four was set before a cozy fire and the meal that ensued was perfect. I learned in the morning that our host had been head chef at the French Embassy in London before returning to Bretagne. A word of warning: if you plan to dine in, you must reserve in advance. (Rooms for 2 are 65 and 70€; the multi-course evening meal is 30€, aperitif and wine included.) On the same visit, we enjoyed a lovely night at Roellinger's Les Rimains guest house and fabulous lunch at the restaurant. You will love Britagne.

Never on a credit card. Anything left should be in cash on the table. We stay in the same hotel year after year, and tip one desk man (20€) every stay. For this, he makes phone calls (each of which would cost us .50€ were it made from our room), reservations, shuttle reservations, calls out of town hotels and restaurants, has 'left luggage' brought to our room on our return from out of town trips, etc. We tip other desk personnel perhaps every other or third trip for same but less frequent services. We give the housekeeper 2€ every morning when she brings breakfast to our room, and leave 2€ every day for the roomcleaner. This is in a small, intimate 2star hotel where we are assured of our favorite room and will always, unless the hotel is full booked, find it empty and waiting for us when we arrive at 8am from an early flight.

I can't believe they couldn't address the Apericubes.

Bistrot food is what I would remember eating at my grandmother's table in the '20s (or 50s) had I had a French grandmother and been lucky enough to have been alive then. I choose this decade because it would have allowed said imaginary grandmother access to product that would have been unavailable during the war.

Well done, Moby. There may well be updates, Pablo, but there is also very delicate seasonality, making something available today while not yesterday. Yes, a good place to return to.

Yes. In an effort to understand this question from the French perspective, we make special effort to watch our French friends when we dine together. Even our most fiscally conservative companions leave something (around 5%) when service has been generous, and nothing when the meal and service have given us no reason to return.

In these instances, there is often the additional consideration of your (or our) being comped champagne or digestives or extra desserts, etc. that influence the tip.

Rao's?

We've had little trouble booking a table at Rao's. They did require the same kind of attention to detail and perserverance that does snagging a table at French Laundry or Quince or L'Astrance or Gagnaire. At the time we used to do Rao's, Frankie orchestrated the dining room. And the food was right for what it claimed to be, straight-forward Italian American stuff: sparkling seafood salad, excellent marinara sauce, proper pasta, zesty lemon chicken and the Strega bottle left on the table during coffee service. These evenings are some of our favorite memories of NY.

How do we get an invite?

Coming full circle, Apericubes. After my husband became addicted to several flavors in France, we asked the dairyman at our corner store in San Francisco to order them...and he replied that he had indeed stocked them but had to toss them because no one understood them. Ergo, they're strictly a French thing.

All of the French I have encountered find cultural differences interesting and amusing, even my faxes which occasionally arrived on the next-to-bed telephone/fax combo at 3am.

True confessions time: we very often eat lunch at a Chinese traiteur where we can order exactly what and how much we want. Often I will have 200g steamed broccoli or salad or Vietnamese springrolls or dim sum. The one on Buci is centrally located and pretty good. This kind of lunch allows us to enjoy wine and cheese in our room later in the day and go on to a multicourse dinner (after a wee nap, perhaps). We also often choose a meal at one of these when we arrive late in Paris by train since they are often open until midnight. The typical plate is a choice of noodles or rice piled high with your choice of some dozen poultry, fish or meat dishes. This small dinner is very welcome after a week of big meals in the country.

With several current threads dealing with first/early visits to France, I can't help but think about the experiences/education of the young couple who are the central characters in this vintage novel by William Maxwell. Arriving in France shortly after the end of WWII when France was little prepared to receive guests, and with little cultural understanding of the French, the young Rhodes instruct us (or remind us of our own past mistakes) in the subtleties of French life as they learn the ropes. While almost 50 years old, their experiences at table are point on today. Tuck a copyin your carry- on and arrive ahead of the game.

More

The recent discussion on sommeliers caused me to reflect on retaurants where the wine lists read like a tutorial. Maybe we could share our favorites. I am not thinking of those whose lists are impressive because of expensive, hard to find older bottles, such as Le Villeret and Astier, but rather those who offer a wide range of moderately current bottles from top producers around the country. Two immediately come to my mind. In Paris, the entire back wall of Le Marsangy is a chalkboard that lists the best of the country's small producers. Name a region, think of a producer, he is there. And the prices make tasting affordable but choosing hard. Le Marsangy, 73, Avenue Parmentier, 11e, 01 47 00 94 25 And with John T in mind, I think of the incredible list at L'Auberge du Cedre , the hotel/restaurant connected to the Domaine de Cazeneuve in the Languedoc, which lists every fine producer in the area, again at very approachable prices.

I would add that there is much greater presence of a true wine specialist in the restaurants we frequent in France than in the United States. In France, I have no problem, even in the simplest restaurant, with asking the wine person to recommend something really interesting to coordinate with our menu choices. We are constantly impressed with the wonderful bottles that are brought to our attention. Perhaps it's the knowledge of the sommelier; perhaps it's the potential of the list. I should add that most often the bottle that is recommended is less expensive than the one/s I had in mind. Also, outside of Paris, we always try to drink local wines. There's a lot of good stuff out there!

Er, and I say this with a , one of our favorite things about Spring, besides Daniel's inspired plates, is that the customers are close to invisible, for the most part contained, sound level is moderate. One, verily, two or three can have a good conversation at table, something that is getting almost as rare in Paris as it is in the US.

The website indicates that this place is for sale therefore no longer operating as a chambre d'hote. A pity but understandable.

While the shops mentioned above are all excellent, we greatly enjoyed Ferme St. Hubert's Rochechouart, no. 36, location: magnificent old marble fixtures, fine assortment of cheeses and dairy and wonderful attention and instruction from the maitre. I will add that there is great food presence on this section of Rochechouart: the deliriously fanciful bakery/tea seller, Aurore-Capucine at no. 3; amazing Epicerie Gourmandes aux Pipalottes at no.49, which combines deli take-out choices, floor to ceiling shelves of fine food products and a few tables where you can choose from a short menu a light lunch or shopping respite. Edited to add this website that features restaurants, shops and events in this (9e) quartier.

Perhaps a dessert phenomenon? Rice pudding grandmere at Chez Michel was recently brought in a large (1.5-2L) serving dish to be served as you wish, and the baba at Astier was the size of half a batard, albeit dry as cardboard and accompanied by something that resembled hydromiel more than rum or rum syrup. Totally inedible. No calories wasted that night. Actually, I remember that Roellinger served an enormous dessert (a large serving of hot orange mousse and an equally large bowl of chocolate mousse). I couldn't dent either.

Although we have to stop and remind ourselves to do so, ordering several entrees (starters) is for us the way to go. We also find that many chef's best efforts are often found at the top of the menu. Even when the quality of the fish, poultry or meat is obvious, there is often a fall-off of creativity among the main plates. IMHO.