Restaurants open weekends

[shelly59]

I am the VERY thrilled winner of a weekend in Paris, in an apartment in the Marais quarter to be specific. While I have been to Ireland & Great Britain numerous times, this is my very first trip to the Continent.

I am taking my 3 sisters and my Mom. I would also love to take my 11 year old nephew, but as he has Cystic Fibrosis that is still a maybe .

Naturally, I have many questions ( I am reading through all the threads as fast as I can):

1) When is the best time to go?? We are open to suggestions and fairly flexible...

2) I tried to find info on the area in which we will be staying...couldn't find much. Any info greatly appreciated.

3) Does anyone here have experience in traveling to Europe with a chronic illness such as CF?? My nephew, but for the CF, is a very healthy, well-adjusted boy and I think this experience would be wonderful for him...

4) Suggestions for simple, cheap places to eat...the wonderful gourmet places are probably out of our reach, plus, and I know I am assuming here, I really would not like to be constantly rubbing elbows with other tourists...

I can find them here :-). Much rather eat where the locals eat...

Many thanks for letting me ramble...I cannot convey how excited I am at this opportunity as I thought I would NEVER, EVER get to Paris...

[bleudauvergne]

That's great, Shelley!

You get to choose when you go? I'd say go now. Now's the best time.

Here's a link to Margaret's favorite ice cream place to give you a start.

I wish I knew a lot of great places in Paris, let me ask around and see if anyone has any suggestions.

[tighe]

Others can probably make better recommendations on specific places to eat, but I think one of the biggest problems for your nephew in Paris is that very few places, especially the "where the locals eat" kind of places, are non-smoking. If the weather is good, there are many places you can eat outdoors, but there are still likely to be smokers around you.

The only time NOT to go to Paris would be August, the place is shut down and somewhat abandoned. Obviously summer will be more crowded in general.

The Marais is a great part of town. Here is a pretty good site with info about the neighborhood.

[picaman]

Congratulations!

Here's a relatively recent thread that may help with restaurants:

Paris restaurants with good value

Have a great time!

Jamie

[shelly59]

Others can probably make better recommendations on specific places to eat, but I think one of the biggest problems for your nephew in Paris is that very few places, especially the "where the locals eat" kind of places, are non-smoking.  If the weather is good, there are many places you can eat outdoors, but there are still likely to be smokers around you. 

Much thanks for the reminder of smokers smoking in restaurants..it is banned here in Delaware..still would like to take him, but your point in well taken. I just REALLY hate for him to miss out because of his illness, which will not get better, only worse...I wonder if there is/are CF support group(s) in France who could help with questions??

Going NOW would be fabulous..but $$$$ are not cooperating

This opportunity was so sudden and what with arranging everything with all the clan & the airline prices..need to save up a bit . We were leaning towards Oct. or Nov....or sometime next Spring....

Bookmarked that Marais site and noted the threads..still reading through them and taking copious notes!

I forgot to mention that I will be taking conversational French from a university student, so I hope to at least be able to be courteous in French

Thanks for all of your responses! I REALLY appreciate them.

Edited June 1, 2004 by shelly59 (log)

[Busboy]

I don't have a great deal of experience in Paris -- I'm working on it -- but a trip this spring seemed to confirm one thing I had heard: the weather in Paris in early spring is undelightful. You might want to consider October rather thanm, say, April (despite the song).

I recommend this so often that she ought to put me on the payroll, but Patricia Wells' "Food-lovers Guide to Paris is well worth the investment.

Finally, if the weather is warm enough, Paris offers some mighty fine picnicking, and the traiteurs offer excellent prepared food for al-fresco dining, in addition to the plentiful bread, cheese and fruit. It's a good way to save up a little extra cash for one top restautant. You can indulge your anti-tourist snobbery by eating along the banks of the Seine (while all the tourists past by in those topless tour boats) and stroll around to Maragret's ice cream place for dessert.

[ludja]

Congrats on winnning your trip.

We stayed in an apt. in the Marais a few years ago and found it to be an excellent location--close to many things and charming in its own right.

The people renting us the apt. recommended a local place to eat at which we enjoyed very much--it's french regional food from Auvergne. Special potato-cheese dish called "aligot". Great ambience in the restaurant as well.

I found a link that has its menu and other info; can read it in english or francais:

Ambassade d'Auvergne

[tighe]

As a general restaurant reference, I like the CityVox.com website for Paris. One of the reasons is the ability to specify many different kinds of criteria. Here are the results for 'non-smoking' restaurants in Paris. A whopping 9!, although I'm sure there are others and some of these look potentially good.

[naf]

Weather wise, it's pretty good in these recent days, sunny days, and not too hot....(I know, I know, the last two days, it has been raining, there were always exceptions) I think June is still an acceptable month, but then i wouldn't recommand July or August, these is the time when most locals leave Paris for vacation, so you will feel pretty touristry... And July or August can be really hot too. Last year, the heat wave has cause much lives.... I am not sure this year it will be this hot, anyway...

September and October is also nice, but starting from mid Sept, weather can starting to be cool...below 20ºC

naf

-live report from paris-

[GG Mora]

I'd second (third?) the rec for going in October. I've been there in August – don't bother: all tourists and (nearly) everything good is closed. Late April / early May: can be lovely but can just as easily be miserable. Twice I've been in Paris in the fall, once in early October and once in mid-November. Mid-November might just as well have been the crappy bits of spring. Early October might just as well have been early September – that year, anyway. It was sunny, warm and wonderful for an entire week. Fall seems to be less touristy, too.

If you decide not to take your nephew, I could probably fill the empty spot.

[Bux]

As a general restaurant reference, I like the CityVox.com website for Paris.  One of the reasons is the ability to specify many different kinds of criteria.  Here are the results for 'non-smoking' restaurants in Paris.  A whopping 9!, although I'm sure there are others and some of these look potentially good.

Délicabar has been well received in this forum, but it's a very untraditional place and it seems more fit for a light lunch or snack than dinner. Generally speaking, smoking is less noticeable in fine expensive restaurants than in inexpensive ones. Maybe because people are paying more attention to their food, or may just because tables are further apart. I'd also agree that the fewer the tourists, the greater the amount of smoke. The real French smoke a lot. If you go into a restaurant full of locals and there's no smoke, those are not real locals.

Much too much is made of eating where the locals eat. They eat where they can aford to eat and all too often they don't have much taste. Paris is an international city and the locals, to a great degree, are expats, and foreigners with good reasons to be in the city. One of those reasons is to eat well. Visitors spend more time searching out not only the best restaurants, but the best values as well. Too often I've seen tourists search out the little restaurant in a residential neighborhood in an out of the way part of Paris only to find themselves clueless about a menu they didn't understand and food they didn't want to eat as well as a staff unprepared to spend the evening at their disposal translating the menu and returning dishes to the kitchen while the regular diners waited patiently. Nevertheless, I am not without sympathy for your intentions. John Talbott's restaurant news digest is as good a place to find new restaurants which are less likely to have made the rounds of American publications. One of the problems with finding places known only to locals is that no city's restaurants are scrutinized by local and foreign press, as well as the restaurants of Paris. Paris is probably the number one travel destination and food is the number one topic in Paris. Every travel and food publication in the world is reporting on restaurants in Paris as soon as they open.

I could make an argument for visiting Paris at just about any time of the year but I think May and mid September to mid October are the best times for a first trip. One thing to understand is that Paris is pretty far north and the days are long in summer and short in winter.

[shelly59]

Thank you, everyone!

[Pan]

The people renting us the apt. recommended a local place to eat at which we enjoyed very much--it's french regional food from Auvergne. Special potato-cheese dish called "aligot". Great ambience in the restaurant as well.

I found a link that has its menu and other info; can read it in english or francais:

Ambassade d'Auvergne

Congratulations, Shelly!

You might want to read this eGullet thread on Ambassade d'Auvergne while you ponder whether the restaurant would be right for you. My family and I didn't think it was a very good value, though we didn't have the Aligot, and if I ever did go back (which is unlikely), that's definitely what I would get.

[tony h]

Breakfast on Sunday morning under the big clock (top floor) of Musee d'Orsay is quite hard to beat (although its not about the food).

[Mulcahy]

Shelly:

You need to get someone who speaks/reads french to help you, but here are the websites for the Cystic Fibrosis support groups in France:

http://www.sosmucoviscidose.asso.fr/

http://muconexion.free.fr/

And here is one from Great Britain that helps plan holidays for children with Cystic Fibrosis:

http://www.cfdreamholidays.com/

They might be able to help you with advice about travel.

Good luck!

[shelly59]

Much thanks, Mulcahy.

[raisab]

Go toJack_travel. He has a great list of restaurants, I have been to almost all of them and they are great. He also has his private list which he will e-mail to you. I don't know why he doesn't just include it in his website.

Their are so many wonderful resto's in Paris, my only advise is avoid the touristy places like the plague. You will get gouged for substandard food. Ex: Champs-Elysees, Sacre Cour, Latin Quarter (Touristy spots.) Go down the side streets away from the people, and look for restaurants that are busy. Unfortunately alot will be too busy (complet) if you don't have reservations.

Have Fun!

Edited June 4, 2004 by raisab (log)

[shelly59]

Thank you, Rasaib. That is a wonderful site

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who responded on-line and via email. My family and I are very grateful and your reponses have been an enormous help.

I would be remiss if I did not thank those of you who were kind enough to ask about my nephew and his Cystic Fibrosis..he is as well as one can be with this disease...fingers are always crossed though as it can turn very bad, very fast...

And he IS going to Paris

[Behemoth]

One way I used to save money on food when travelling was, rather than eat out at mediocre places for every meal, go grocery shopping for most meals (a great travel experience in and of itself, going to a foreign supermarkets, farmer's markets, bakeries, cheese shops etc) and then spend the money I saved on places that I was really really interested in going.

Another good bet is to try ethnic places, like Ethiopian, Indian, Vietnamese -- they tend to be less expensive, are usually quite good for the money, not the same as the ethnic renditions you would get in this country (odd, right?) and tend to be visited by local younger student types so have a lot of nice energy.

[Bux]

Behemoth's suggestion of going shopping is a good one. Rather than seeing it as a way to economize with the added benefit of getting a great travel experience of another sort, I'd characterize it as a great gastronomic travel opportunity with the side benefit of saving money on food. We tend to browse markets, food shops and supermarkets as we travel even when we're not actually shopping.

A picnic is unfortunately not as easy to have in Paris as it is in the country side, or maybe even in urban America. Places to picnic in Paris are rarer, but they are there if you look and especially if you're willing to accept less than a full blown picnic and take your dining in small portions that fit in your lap on a park bench. Paris is not a city where people tend to walk around in the streets eating as they do in NY, but there are stalls selling street foods. One habit I enjoyed a lot in my student days in Paris was to buy a luscious pastry and eat it while walking. That sort of thing was probably more frowned on then than it is now, but I didn't care. Eating well has always seemed more important than appearing as a native. The price of a really fine piece of pastry is probably not going to be that cheap, but it's going to be less than the price of a comparable dessert in a restaurant.

[shelly59]

I love the idea of going food shopping in Paris.

We have an apartment with what looks to be a nice little kitchen so I would be up for it...

[pmetz]

Will be in Paris for few weekends in September and wondered which of the top restaurants offer lunch menus on Saturdays and Sundays, if open at all.

I know that most of the restaurants have special sets during the week, I enjoyed Le Cinq and the Meurisse. But does that also apply for weekends?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

P

[John Talbott]

I'm sure you've already checked our compendium of weekend closings/openings in the Pinned thread above, if not you might want to.

[hshiau]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are headed to Paris to celebrate her 40th birthday. She was there once in high school and I've never been so we've got a lot to cram into 3 short days.

We're probably going to stay at the Westin for 1 night and the Hyatt Regency Madeleine for the other 2 nights. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I figure we have 3 breakfasts, 3-4 lunches, and 3 dinners to plan so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to do one high end meal and the rest low to middle. The main thing is to get a feel of Paris.

I've read through the forum as well as gotten some recommendations from friends and this is what I have....way too much!!! Where would YOU go if this was your first time to Paris?

Astier

Aux Lyonnais

Dominique Bouchet

Hier et Aujourd’hui

l’Accolade

La Cerisaie

La Ferrandaise

La Truffiere

L'Ami Jean

L'Assiette

L'Avenue

Le Comptoir

Le Coupe Chou

Le Dôme

Le Grand Colbert

Les Anges

Les Autodidactes

Les Magnolias

Les Ormes

Les Papilles

L'Orangerie

Maison du Jardin

Sensing

Spoon

Spring

Violon d'Ingres

Ze Kitchen Galerie

L'Astrance

Pierre Herme

Charlotte D’Lilse

Plus, it would be great to see what's good for breakfast vs lunch vs dinner. Since we will be there on Sunday and Monday, knowing what's closed or open would great as well. I know I'm asking a lot. Thanks so much in advance.

Howard

[Felice]

I've read through the forum as well as gotten some recommendations from friends and this is what I have....way too much!!!  Where would YOU go if this was your first time to Paris?

Howard

←

Places I would recommend for someone’s first visit to Paris are probably going to be different from places I would recommend to someone who has been to Paris a few times. That said, I would recommend L’Ami Jean to everyone and it’s probably one of my favourite places in Paris at the moment; it’s what every bistro should aspire to be.

I have taken visitors to Aux Lyonnais several times and think it’s a good choice as well. The décor is beautiful and the food has been very good to excellent each time I’ve been. You’ll probably be surrounded by a lot of other Americans, but in that sense it’s perfect for first timers, especially if you don’t speak any French.

For a splurge I would go to Astrance or even something more traditional like Taillevent which would probably be close in price.

Breakfast is normally croissants and a café or café crème, so I would just find a café near your hotel that you like and head there each morning.

I would try the Comptoir for Sunday lunch and then spend the day walking around Saint Germain.