Help - Paris dining options

[ubob]

Just found out that I will be going on a last minute trip to Paris. Will be there for ~14/15 days - a mix of business and pleasure. While both my wife and I have traveled frequently in Europe going to Paris is a first for both of us (taking her along - even though this was not budgeted for). I typically spend weeks and months planning for a trip like this but have but a few days so I apologize in advance for my naivety. For reference - we will be staying in 6th at Hotel Le Senat and the 17th at Splendid Etoile - not that it should drive dining decisions as we typically are out and about.

I would like to choose 8 restaurants (about one a day) that we will plan on visiting during our stay - the balance of our meals we will leave to where our travels take us and leave open for some spontaneity. The number of options in Paris has me totally bewildered and would appreciate any comments, recommendations, those that should be eliminated, etc.

Not looking to break the bank :) but wanted to find a mixture of options (cafes/bistros/restaurants, etc).

So here is my list: La Regalade Saint Honore; La Rose de France; Les Bistrot des Compares; Les Papilles; Josephine/Ches Dumonet; Le Relais de l'Entrecote; Cafe Jade; Cafe de la Mairie; Le Florimond; La Petit Cler; Le Bouillon Chartier; Bistrot Paul Bert; Le Picquet and L'Ogre.

Thanks again for your comments - all will be greatly appreciated and taken in the spirit of making our stay more enjoyable - so fire away.

[Parnassien]

If you are going to be in Paris for a few weeks, your list sounds fine... not everything will give a foodie orgasm but that’s not all that bad. Getting the feel and flavour of a city is not just a matter of taste buds.

Although I love the style and quality of your listed l’Ogre in Auteuil, I’m not sure if it’s a good choice for tourists simply because the immediate area is redeveloped and you get a depressing view of ‘80s high-rises across the river in the 15th. On the plus side, there’s a lovely view of the Arc de Triomphe and the scaled-downed replica of the Statue of Liberty on the Allée des Cygnes in the middle of the river. If you still want to do l’Ogre, maybe an early evening stroll down the Allée des Cygnes from the Pont Bir-Hakeim to the Pont Grenelle on your way there might add to the enjoyment.

And by Café de la Mairie (in the 6th and recommendable only for its setting rather than its quality and service... a coffee on its terrace is fine but nothing else, pls!) I presume you meant the Café de la Nouvelle Mairie (in the 5th).

Staying around the Arc de Triomphe will give you lovely views but brings you a little too close to the worst of tourist Paris (i.e. the Champs Elysées). But just a few minutes walk north on the ave Carnot is quite charming. Caius or, if you are not too claustrophic, the cheaper sister Caius Zinc on the rue Armaillé are well worth the short walk from your hotel for lunch or dinner. I also like the La Terrasse on the top floor of the Warwick hotel on the rue de Berri. Amazingly cheap for a rooftop restaurant/ cafe, not great food but quite satisfying for the price. But you’d have to brave the tourist hordes on the stroll down the Champs Elysées to get there. For a Paris a world away from the tourist-infested Arc de Triomphe/ Champs Elysées, I suggest a stroll up the avenue Hoche to the Parc Monceau. It’s around 1k/ 15 minutes from your hotel but you can save your footsies by getting a Velibre bike. The avenue Hoche has lanes separated from the main traffic flow so it’s easily and safely bikable. A straight run so no chance of getting lost. And a Vélibre station for depositing the bikes on the rue Courcelles at avenue Hoche just in front of the park’s entrance. You can also catch the #30 bus from the avenue Wagram at l’Etoile for a 5-minute ride to the Monceau stop on the boulevard Courcelles. There is a small buvette/ snack bar by the Rotunda in the Parc Monceau. The streets around the park are way too posh to allow something so common as commerce so for a proper cafe or restaurant, you have to head to Café Le Vigny at the corner of blvd Courcelles/ rue Alfred de Vilmy or the little cluster of cafés near the Courcelles métro station, or on the rue Phalsbourg (just in front of the park’s “Rotunde” entrance) or, maybe too far, the blvd Malesherbes/ blvd Courcelles intersection.

Your second hotel in the 6th offers better opportunities for feeling the pulse of real life . The Café Au Petit Suisse just a few steps away is a lovely mix of students, publishers/ writers and politicos. And a superb setting overlooking the Luxembourg gardens. It has typical café food and good enough for a light meal when you get tired of eating at the more superior restaurants you’ve chosen. Quality can inspire such a certain reverential air that the occasional light note is refreshing. Since it has an oh-so-Paris setting and terrace, you might want to consider Le Mauzac on the rue de l’Abbé de l’Epée in the 5th if you can’t get in the nearby Les Papilles. The Café de la Nouvelle Mairie on the rue des Fosses Saint-Jacques in the same area is also exceptionally likable; the clientele is a little more diverse and fun-loving than at Le Mauzac or Papilles. For just a superior steak frites at lunch, I suggest the Vin Sobre on the rue Feuillantines at rue Saint-Jacques and then a digestional walk around the wonderfully undervisited high-baroque Eglise Val-de-Grace and cloisters (only open in the afternoons).