My Paris Recommendations (food and stuff)
Charles Sumner
Here's a couple of recommendations for restaurants and other
misc. stuff to do, places to shop, and museums to see from my recent
trip to Paris. If this proves useful to you, let me know. I'll be
putting it up on my webpage shortly (http://world.std.com/~gideon).
Charles Sumner
gid...@world.std.com
Paris Recommendations -
Restaurants:
Villaret
44, rue de la Montagne Ste Genevieve
75005 Paris
46-34-26-46
Right near the Pantheon and the Sorbonne (just off rue des Ecoles),
Villaret is one of our favorite restaurants! Really excellent large
servings of traditional French food at very reasonable prices. The prix
fixe menu includes a very nice house aperitif, entree, plat, and dessert
for only 130 francs. The owner speaks English. Recommendations include
the amazing Puff Pastry with Roquefort cheese or the Escargot for an entree
and the fabulous Beef en Daube (tender beef stew) cooked in Armangac for a
Plat, truly the best version of this dish I've ever had. The Canard aux
Pommes (duck breast with apples) is also good. A wide variety of desserts
makes that choice difficult. The restaurant also takes the Transmedia
card. Closed Sundays.
Chez Pento
9, rue Cujas
75005 Paris
43-26-81-54
Also near the Pantheon, Chez Pento is a popular local restaurant with great
food and a friendly staff. The Prix Fixe does not include dessert, but the
prices are fairly reasonable. Recommendations include the onion soup, an
excellent foie gras served with onion jam, the duck in raspberry sauce and
the poule au pot (chicken soup/stew). For dessert, you cannot miss the
great triple chocolate mousse in creme anglaise. Chez Pento is on
Transmedia and closed Sundays. Amazingly, they also have a real
non-smoking section. English is limited unless you get the great waitress
we did. Reservation may be required for later meals but if you eat early
(7:30-8:30) you should be ok.
Le Souffle
36, rue de Mont-Thabor
75001 Paris
42-60-27-19
One block north of rue de Rivoli and right near Place de Concorde, Le
Souffle is a great place for a memorable big splurge meal (dinner for two
will cost around $85 - $100) and is well worth it. Though it's always
crowded, the restaurant still feels cozy and intimate and the waitstaff all
speak English. There are two different prix fixe menus, the excellent
regular menu and the all souffle menu. Recommendations include the cheese
souffle entree, the salmon souffle plat, and the chocolate or Grand Marnier
souffles for dessert (don't even think about a non-souffle dessert).
Reservations are essential if you want to be sure to get in, a couple of
days in advance if possible. Eating around 8:30 is a good turnover time as
more of the tourists are finishing their meals then. Closed Sundays.
L'Assiette aux Fromages
27, rue Mouffetard
75005 Paris
45-35-14-21
A great place to go for lunch (though the dinner menu is much more varied),
this garden restaurant is in the back of a cheese shop on rue Mouffetard,
near the Monge metro stop on the far side of the Pantheon. This place is a
cheese lovers dream, they have over 200 varieties of French cheeses and
will serve you variety plates of always different regional and specialty
cheeses of the chefs choice. You'll be amazed at the delicious tastes of a
sampling of fun cheese unavailable in the US. In addition to the cheese
plates they also serve raclettes, fondues, quiches, salads and other foods.
Closed Wednesdays.
Sightseeing:
Biggies:
Whatever you do, you can't miss San Chapelle on the Ile de le Cite. It's
the two floor chapel of King Louis IX (later Saint Louis) built in the
1240s. Hidden in the courtyard of the Palais de Justice across from Notre
Dame, it houses the largest expanse of stained glass in the world as well
as star-painted vaulted ceilings and pillars. Go on a sunny day and it
will blow you away. It's much more impressive than Notre Dame's rose
windows.
The Eiffel Tower. If you're up to it, take the stairs up to the second
level, you'll save yourself a lot of time waiting in line for the elevators
and can burn off some of the French food.
Notre Dame. Make sure to walk around to the back of the cathedral to view
the much prettier side with the flying buttresses.
Musee de Cluny (now the Musee National du Moyen Age). A great museum of
the middle ages housed in a beautiful fifteenth century mansion. There are
some neat roman ruins and an exceptional collection of medieval art,
including the beautiful Lady and the Unicorn tapestries (not the Unicorn
tapestries from the Cloisters). With it's great atmosphere and lack of
crowds, Cluny is a wonderful place to get away from the bustle for an hour
or two.
Centre Pompidou. The best modern art collection in the world and one of my
all-time favorite museums. Also very crowded (If you're going to other
museums on the same day, you may want to get the museum pass just to avoid
the long ticket lines). The Pompidou is also near les Halles which is
another under ground shopping center, but I recommend skipping this one as
it's pretty dull.
Musee d'Orsay. An excellent museum of 19th century art with a fantastic
collection of masterworks and some of the most amazing architecture ever to
be found in a museum anywhere. The Musee d'Orsay is hampered by the very
large crowds that pass through it almost non-stop. Bonus Tip: On the
Seine side of the bookstore, off behind the coat check is a hidden set of
bathrooms that are often empty. You don't need to enter the museum to get
to them either as the bookstore is open on that side. Also, if you have a
museum pass, you can enter the museum via the bookstore and avoid the
crowds at the main entrance.
The Louvre. More museum than man was meant to see at once, the trick with
the Louvre is to do it in stages. It's half-price after 3 pm and is open
until 9:45 pm on various weekdays. It's also discounted on Sundays, but
the crowds are huge. The Carrousel du Louvre is the new mall built
underground in the courtyard between the Tullieries and the Louvre. It has
some ok shops (and a huge Virgin Megastore) and, amazingly, are really good
and widely varied food court on the balcony level.
Versailles: If you have the time to spare, it's definitely worth the trip
as there's nothing else like it in the world. It's less than 30 minutes
from Paris by RER and it's like entering a whole other world.
Other Interesting Museums:
Musee des Arts Decoratifs: fun and weird collection of furniture and other
decorative arts from the renaissance, baroque, rococo, art nouveau, art
deco, and modern eras. Very neat collection (may still be closed for
renovations). located at 107 rue de Rivoli, it part of the north side of
the Louvre and also houses the Museum of Fashion.
The Palais de Tokyo: The museum of modern art of the city of Paris, the
Museum of fashion and costume, and the Musee Guilmet (Asian arts) are all
in this area across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
Musee National Picasso: a large, impressive, and fun collection of
Picasso's work arranged chronologically with text panels on his life so you
can see how his various styles developed and reflected what was going on in
his life. Right near the fun shopping area of the Marais.
Musee de l'Orangerie: a small, excellent 19th century art collection which
features eight gigantic panels of Monet's Water Lilies as well as works by
Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse and Picasso. More intimate than the Musee
d'Orsay, it's also much less crowded. It's in the Tulliries Garden by the
place de Concorde and the Seine.
Musee Rodin: a wonderful, quiet museum, this is one of my favorite places
in Paris. This beautiful house features a fantastic collection of Rodin's
sculpture (including the kiss, the thinker, the gates of hell and many
more) and a great eighteenth century rose garden. It's located between the
Eiffel Tower and the Musee d'Orsay
Musee de la Chasse et del la Nature: A very unusual but interesting place
in the Marais, the Museum of Chase and Nature is devoted to the art of
hunting. It has a great collection of weapons going back through the ages,
including ivory crossbows, ebony halberds, etched silver daggers and many
more items full of inlay and engraving. The museum also has a collection
of 18th century paintings of hunting scenes and large stuffed creatures
(which is kind of creepy but neat).
Shopping (general areas that are fun to wander):
In the 6th and 7th arrondissements: Boulevard Saint Germain is long but
interesting, and you should also go up and down rue du Bac and other side
streets.
The Champs-Elysee: famous and pretty as it is, it isn't that interesting
(it's mostly filled with car dealerships and other dull stuff).
In the Latin Quarter: Place Saint Michael, the area around rue Dante and
rue LaGrange, and rue des Ecoles are cool (and that end of Boulevard Saint
Germain is still fun as well).
In the 3rd and 4th arrondissements: the side streets off rue de Rivoli and
the Marais in the are a lot of fun, especially the rue des Francs-Bourgeois
which is a must for wandering and the end of rue du Pont-Louis-Philippe
near the Seine has a bunch of interesting paper / stationary stores.
Although Les Halles is fairly generic, the area around Ste. Eustace is fun,
and features La Droguerie at 9 & 11, rue du Jour (a great collection of
beads, buttons, yarn, and ribbons) and Mokuba at 18, rue Montmartre (the
best ribbon selection we've ever found). Towards the end of rue Montmartre
are some nice specialty food and cooking shops.
The area from Les Halles to the Bibliotech Nationale and then over towards
the Opera Garnier (where the big department stores are) is full of
interesting shops and little arcades.
On weekends, you can go the Marche aux Puces, a large antiques market at
the northern end of the city. Take the Metro to Porte de Clignancourt,
walk towards the overhead Peripherique road and past the junk merchandise
dealers (knock of jewelry and shirts) and you'll find some entrances to the
maze of twisty little passages filled with antiques.
Misc:
My favorite films set in Paris are "Charade" a great Audrey Hepburn / Cary
Grant mystery in the Hitchcock style; "How to Steal a Million" a great
Audrey Hepburn / Peter O'Toole comedy of art thieves and forgers; and
Marsy's favorite is "Diva" and action/mystery about stolen opera tapes and
mob hitmen.
Jaclyn Packer
Do you happen to know where the scene from Charade was filmed, where
they are by the pillars at the end? I thought I found it when I was in
Paris, but now that I've compared the photograph with the film, I think
I was mistaken.
Also, do you know the street where Breathless (the original) was
filmed, where she is handing out the Herald Tribune?
Philip & Karen Selwyn
Charles Sumner wrote:
>
> Le Souffle
> 36, rue de Mont-Thabor
> 75001 Paris
> 42-60-27-19
> One block north of rue de Rivoli and right near Place de Concorde, Le
> Souffle is a great place for a memorable big splurge meal (dinner for two will cost around $85 - $100) and is well worth it. Though it's
always crowded, the restaurant still feels cozy and intimate and the
waitstaff all speak English. There are two different prix fixe menus,
the excellent regular menu and the all souffle menu. Recommendations
include the cheese souffle entree, the salmon souffle plat, and the
chocolate or Grand Marnier souffles for dessert (don't even think about a
non-souffle dessert).
> Reservations are essential if you want to be sure to get in, a couple of days in advance if possible. Eating around 8:30 is a good turnover
time as more of the tourists are finishing their meals then. Closed
Sundays.
> We had a lovely meal at this restaurant on our last trip to Paris.
However, this was the only restaurant during the entire two-week trip to
France which began by treating us very badly.
The restaurant has a window-less back room where they attempt to seat
tourists. We were led back to this windowless purgatory (made even worse
by the tobacco brown glossy wallpaper). However, I took one look around
and asked in the best French I could muster (which isn't very good) if
there was a table available in the front room. The maitre d' answered in
French that he would go see. He came back and we were escorted to the
charming, airy front room. We proceeded to have a delicious souffle
dinner.
Was my question in French a determining factor? I have my doubts since I
realized almost immediately after the words had left my mouth that I had
gotten the word "before" for time mixed up the word "before" for
location. I clearly was no fluent linquist. But perhaps the effort was
sufficient since the service was gracious -- even friendly -- the
remainder of the evening.
Karen Selwyn
Thomas Harwood
I read your recommendations with great interest. My wife and I
and ten year old son are taking a trip to Paris next month. We
do not speak French. I would like to introduce my son to as
much culture as possible, such as visit a jazz club or play
chess. I know nothing about the groundrules for kids in cafes
or brasseries, etc. Can you give me any advice? Most
appreciated.