Au Caveau de la Bolée
Frommer's Recommended
Address 25 rue de l'Hirondelle, 6e
Transportation Métro: St-Michel
Phone 01-43-54-62-20
Prices Admission to show, including a prix fixe dinner, 50€ ($65). Admission to show only, including 1 drink, 25€ ($32.50)
To enter this bawdy boîte (small nightclub), you descend into the catacombs of the early-14th-century Abbaye de St-André, once a cafe that attracted Verlaine, who slowly snuffed out his life with absinthe here. The singing is loud and smutty, the way the predominantly student audience likes it. Occasionally, the audience sings along. You'll enjoy this place a lot more if you can follow the thread of the French-language jokes and satire, but even if you can't, there are enough visuals (magic acts and singers) to amuse. The prix fixe dinner is followed by a series of at least four entertainers, usually comedians. In lieu of paying admission for the cabaret, you can order dinner. If you've already had dinner, you can order just a drink. Open Monday through Saturday; dinners 8:30 to 10:30pm, shows 10:30pm to 1:30am.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Au Caveau de la Bolée
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Lucky Lake Hostel
Directions for "Lucky Lake Hostel"
BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
* Take metro number 54 or 50, direction Gein.
-If you arrive by train or bus you catch metro 54 from Central Station or Amstel station.
-If you arrive by plane, you first take a train (there is a trainstation under the airport) to Amsterdam-Duivendrecht. There you catch metro 50 or 54.
* Get out of the metro at 'Holendrecht'. Take the south('zuid')-exit. Go down the stairs and turn right. Now you will see bus-stops, a green public phone and an orange bar. From here you have 2 options:
*Option 1: Call us: the first pick-up with our shuttle is free. From a (foreign) mobile phone, dial 00-31-294-282814. From the green public phone outside (it uses dutch phonecards) or the public phone in the orange bar (it uses coins), dial 0294-282814.
*Option 2 (not on Sunday): Take bus 126, direction Mijdrecht. Get out at Molenkade (this is 2 stops after Abcoude Viaduct A2). Walk 50 meters back and follow the signs of Lucky Lake.
BY CAR:
Get on the A2 highway. Take exit number 3: Abcoude. At the end of the exit, follow direction 'Vinkeveense Plassen'. You are now driving on a road that is parallel to the Highway. At the first junction on this road, go straight, direction 'Vinkeveense Plassen'. You should now see small houses on your right side. At the next junction (immediately after these small houses), go right. You can park on the big parking-area on your left. Lucky Lake is in front of you.
BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
* Take metro number 54 or 50, direction Gein.
-If you arrive by train or bus you catch metro 54 from Central Station or Amstel station.
-If you arrive by plane, you first take a train (there is a trainstation under the airport) to Amsterdam-Duivendrecht. There you catch metro 50 or 54.
* Get out of the metro at 'Holendrecht'. Take the south('zuid')-exit. Go down the stairs and turn right. Now you will see bus-stops, a green public phone and an orange bar. From here you have 2 options:
*Option 1: Call us: the first pick-up with our shuttle is free. From a (foreign) mobile phone, dial 00-31-294-282814. From the green public phone outside (it uses dutch phonecards) or the public phone in the orange bar (it uses coins), dial 0294-282814.
*Option 2 (not on Sunday): Take bus 126, direction Mijdrecht. Get out at Molenkade (this is 2 stops after Abcoude Viaduct A2). Walk 50 meters back and follow the signs of Lucky Lake.
BY CAR:
Get on the A2 highway. Take exit number 3: Abcoude. At the end of the exit, follow direction 'Vinkeveense Plassen'. You are now driving on a road that is parallel to the Highway. At the first junction on this road, go straight, direction 'Vinkeveense Plassen'. You should now see small houses on your right side. At the next junction (immediately after these small houses), go right. You can park on the big parking-area on your left. Lucky Lake is in front of you.
Hote Prinsenhof
| PRINSENGRACHT 810 |
| 1017 JL AMSTERDAM |
| HOLLAND |
| Phone : +31-20-6231772 |
| Fax : +31-20-6383368 |
| Email: info@hotelprinsenhof.com |
http://www.hotelprinsenhof.com/hotel/info.html
Schwarenbach Inn
Familie
Peter Stoller-Wehrli
CH-3718 Kandersteg
Tel ++41(0)33 675 12 72 / Fax 675 22 87
info@schwarenbach.ch
Peter Stoller-Wehrli
CH-3718 Kandersteg
Tel ++41(0)33 675 12 72 / Fax 675 22 87
info@schwarenbach.ch
A. van Wees Distilleerderij De Ooievaar
A. van Wees Distilleerderij De Ooievaar
Driehoekstraat 10
1015 GL Amsterdam
Telephone: 020 - 626 77 52
Fax: 020 - 626 77 54
E-mail: contact@de-ooievaar.nl
Route description
1. A10 junction S103
2. Turn to the right: Haarlemmerweg
3. After 2 km you enter the Haarlemmerplein
4. At the second trafficlight you turn to the right: Korte Marnixstraat
5. And directly to the left: Brouwersgracht
6. Turn right at the bridge
7. Enter the Palmgracht
8. Turn right at the first street: Driehoekstraat
Driehoekstraat 10
1015 GL Amsterdam
Telephone: 020 - 626 77 52
Fax: 020 - 626 77 54
E-mail: contact@de-ooievaar.nl
Route description
1. A10 junction S103
2. Turn to the right: Haarlemmerweg
3. After 2 km you enter the Haarlemmerplein
4. At the second trafficlight you turn to the right: Korte Marnixstraat
5. And directly to the left: Brouwersgracht
6. Turn right at the bridge
7. Enter the Palmgracht
8. Turn right at the first street: Driehoekstraat
Open-Air Bargains: Amsterdam's Flea Markets
Whether hunting for treasures or trash (a busted Louis XVI ear trumpet was reportedly once spotted), you could get lucky at one of Amsterdam's flea markets. Even if you're not looking for anything in particular, you can unearth terrific finds, often at rock-bottom prices.
Few markets compare with Amsterdam's Waterlooplein flea market, which surrounds the perimeter of the Stopera (Muziektheater/Town Hall complex) building. It's a descendant of the haphazard pushcart trade that gave this part of the city its distinct and lively character in the early part of the century. It can be fun to visit, and if you think your own attic is a mess, you'll be gratified to see the piles of similar stuff dumped here. It's amusing to see the old telephones, typewriters, and other arcana all haphazardly displayed -- but it's even more amusing to see shoppers scrambling and vying with each other to buy it. Professional dealers set up here also, selling secondhand clothing, hats, and purses, often from the past 40 years. New fashions are mostly for the rock music set. The flea market is open Monday-Saturday 9:30-5.
The Bloemenmarkt, (along the Singel canal, between Koningsplein and Muntplein) is another of Amsterdam's must-see markets, where flowers and plants are sold from permanently moored barges. The market is open Monday-Sunday 8:30-6.
On Saturday 9-4, the Noordermarkt (which winds around Noorderkerk and along Lindengracht) hosts a fabric market; on Monday mornings, a flea market evocative of the old world takes over. It's a sprawling affair, mostly full of used clothing, books, and toys, but you can also find antique silverware and pottery as well as wartime and advertising memorabilia. Collectors browse here for old pearl buttons and sewing notions, dolls, used sewing machines, and books.
Nieuwmarkt (at northern end of Kloverniersburgwal) hosts an organic farmers' market, with specialist stalls selling essential oils and other New Age fare alongside the oats, legumes, and vegetables.
Sunday art markets are held in good weather from April to October in the Rembrandtplein area on Thorbeckeplein (10:30-6), and from April to November in the Dam area at Spui square (10-6), which also hosts a boeken market on Friday (10-6) that's a used and antiquarian book-browsing paradise.
The Postzegelmarkt stamp market is held twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday, 1-4) by the Spui on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.
A favorite with locals is the Albert Cuypmarkt, on Albert Cuypstraat between Ferdinand Bolstraat and Van Woustraat, in the heart of the De Pijp district, and considered the best open-air street market in Amsterdam. It's open Monday-Saturday 9-5. Among the colorful and noisy crowd, vendors sell food, clothing, fabrics, houseplants, and household goods from all over the world. Just about every ethnic culture is represented here (vendors, goods, and buyers), and if you take time out for people-watching, you'll hear a musical mélange of spoken languages. Be sure to try some of the exotic street food, or just order the Dutchman's favorite fast food -- frites met mayonnaise (fries with mayonnaise) served piping hot in a paper cone. Simply delicious. Look for Belgian frites, as these are the tastiest.
Fabric lovers will think they've gone to heaven when they visit the Monday Lapjesmarkt. Go early in the morning via the No. 3 or 10 tram to the stop for the Marnixbad. Follow the crowd -- most people on the tram will be headed for the market. All along the Westerstraat, you'll find stalls with every possible kind of fabric -- beautiful rainbow-colored Asian silks embedded with mirrors and embroidery, batiks from Indonesia, Suriname, and Africa, fabulous faux furs, lace curtains, velvet drapery materials, calicos, and vinyl coverings, all being admired and stroked by eager shoppers. Couturiers rub elbows with housewives, vendors measure out meters, and the crowds keep getting denser. The fabric market continues down the Westerstraat and then merges with a fruit, vegetable, and clothing market; then, at the end of the street, near the Noorderkerk (Northern Church), there is the large Noordermarkt flea market. The Lapjesmarket closes at noon.
Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli (Switzerland)
47°16'59.98"N
9°25'32.01"E
Familie Beny & Claudia Knechtle-Wyss
CH-9057 Weissbad AI •
T: 071 799 11 42 • F: 071 799 18 56
E-Mail: info@aescher-ai.ch
The aerial cableway takes you from Wasserauen into one of the most beautiful areas in Alpstein. From the extensive high plateau with rich alpine flora you get a magnificent round view over the Appenzell, Sankt Gall and Thurgau hill-landscape, the wide area of Lake Constance, as well as to the west and south the picturesque panorama of the Alpstein mountain chain is opened up before you.
A translation:
9°25'32.01"E
Familie Beny & Claudia Knechtle-Wyss
CH-9057 Weissbad AI •
T: 071 799 11 42 • F: 071 799 18 56
E-Mail: info@aescher-ai.ch
The aerial cableway takes you from Wasserauen into one of the most beautiful areas in Alpstein. From the extensive high plateau with rich alpine flora you get a magnificent round view over the Appenzell, Sankt Gall and Thurgau hill-landscape, the wide area of Lake Constance, as well as to the west and south the picturesque panorama of the Alpstein mountain chain is opened up before you.
A translation:
"Journey over Zurich St.Gallen or Gossau Herisau Appenzell Weissbad Schwende Wasserauen suggestion for 1 1/2 Std. Wasserauen - wire ropeway - Ebenalp - more easily descent by the Wildkirchli cave approx.. 15 min - Praehistori place of discovery in addition a small museum in Eremitenhaeu - altar cave - far Wildkirchli 2 min Ae to the mountain hotel. - to rock a cultivated, wildromatisches trip goal - on somewhat steeper however well removed mountain way over Seealpsee - back after Wasserauen approx.. 1 1/2 Std. Suggestion for 3 Std. Wasserauen 868 m.ue.M., last stop of the Appenzellerbahn - easy migration to the Seealpsee - after refreshment in two restaurants or in the lake - back to the Chobel - branching upward - on well removed mountain way to the mountain hotel Ae - a wonderful prospect and from kitchen and cellar signs as reward Appenzeller specialities - a excursion to the Wildkirchli - retour over meadows - and forest moving ways back after white bath - Schwende or Wasserauen. approx. 3 Std."
Louve #3
Tickets for the Permanent Collections€8.50This ticket provides full-day access to the Louvre, except for temporary exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon. It is also valid for the Musée Eugène Delacroix.Starting from July 1st, 2007, admission to the permanent collections will be €9.€6(from 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.)This ticket provides access to the Louvre, except for temporary exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon, on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Tickets for Exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon€9.50This ticket is valid for temporary exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon.Free admission to the museum on the first Sunday of every month does not include the exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon.
Combined Ticket€13The combined ticket provides access to the permanent collections, as well as all temporary exhibitions in both the Louvre and the Musée Eugène Delacroix.€11(from 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.)The evening combined ticket provides access to the permanent collections, as well as all temporary exhibitions in the Louvre on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Louve#1
Museum Opening Hours
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Tuesday and the following holidays: January 1st, May 1st, May 8 and December 25, 2007.It is open until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday evenings except on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 (open until 6 p.m.).Admission to the Louvre is free on the first Sunday of every month.
Due to renovation works, the rooms of Greek Classical and Hellenistic period are closed. (Sully Wing, ground floor, rooms 7, 14, 15, 16).The Pyramid and Carrousel arcade entrances are open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Tuesday.The Passage Richelieu is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Tuesday.The Porte des Lions entrance is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Tuesday and Friday.
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© Louvre / Deidi von Schaeven
Opening Hours for Exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon
The Hall Napoléon is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Tuesday.The permanent collections and temporary exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (and until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday).
Louve Hours
Opening Hours : Schedule of Room Closures
Schedule of Room Closures
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. It is closed on Tuesday. The museum does not have enough staff to keep the entire museum open every day. Each of the museum’s eight departments schedules which of its rooms will be open on which days.
Schedule of Room Closures
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. It is closed on Tuesday. The museum does not have enough staff to keep the entire museum open every day. Each of the museum’s eight departments schedules which of its rooms will be open on which days.
Getting to Gimmelwald (from http://www.mountainhostel.com/getthere.html)
RESERVATIONS
Petra and Walter Brunner
Phone & Fax:
In Europe: 0041 33 855 17 04
From United States: 011 41 33 855 17 04
E-mail: mountainhostel@tcnet.ch
No matter where you are coming from, you have to pass through Interlaken first. Though a relatively small town, Interlaken has two train stations--Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost. From the latter the fastest journey to Gimmelwald takes 55 minutes, and trains leave once an hour starting at 6:30am and then at 20 minutes past every hour (7:20am, 8:20am, 9:20am, etc. except 20:20) until 22:20. Round-trip ticket Interlaken Ost--Gimmelwald costs 32.00 Sfr. (26.00 Sfr. with Eurail and free with Swiss Pass).
Fastest way, step-by-step:
1) Take the Interlaken Ost--Lauterbrunnen train. Be careful. This train has two parts. The first half goes to Lauterbrunnen. The second half goes to Grindelwald. The cars are marked. Make sure you board the correct one. You will arrive in Lauterbrunnen 20 minutes later. 
2) Take the Lauterbrunnen--Stechelberg bus. Once you get out of the train, cross the tracks and walk about 50-100 meters to your right, where you will find a bus stop. It's the only bus and Stechelberg is the end of the line, so you can't go wrong. The ride is about 12 minutes long, and you will disembark right next to the gondola station. (Note: Try to avoid the 20:20 train out of Interlaken because you will get to Lauterbrunnen when the Lauterbrunnen--Stechelberg bus is not running. There is a bus at 19:50 and 21:50, but nothing in between.) OR
2) Walk from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg. It's about an hour and a half flat walk (longer with a photo camera) to the gondola station and is well worth it, even with a full backpack on one's shoulders. If the weather is nice and the sun is still out it's a good alternative to a bus.
3) Take the gondola to its first stop. 5 minutes ride. Welcome to Gimmelwald! (I should point out that it's possible to hike from Stechelberg to Gimmelwald, though I don't recommend doing it with your full backpack. It's a relatively steep climb up (500 feet gain in elevation), which will take you close to 1.5 hours.) There may be a reason to take another route. Gimmelwald has no food store, and this route, which passes through Mürren gives you a chance to buy your groceries on your way to Gimmelwald instead of taking a specific hike to Mürren later. The food co-op in Mürren is open until 6 p.m. on weekdays, until 5 p.m. on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. (Also closed between noon and 1:45 p.m. for lunch). The cost for this route from Interlaken Ost to Gimmelwald is 44 Sfr (33 Sfr. with Eurail and free with Swiss Pass).
Alternative route, step-by-step:
1) Take the Interlaken Ost--Lauterbrunnen train. Be careful. This train has two parts. The first half goes to Lauterbrunnen. The second half goes to Grindelwald. The cars are marked. Make sure you board the correct one. You will arrive in Lauterbrunnen 20 minutes later. 
2)Take the new Lauterbrunnen--Grütschalp cable car. In 2007, the new cableway replaced the old (built in 1891) funicular. The entrance is right across the Lauterbrunnen train station. You can't miss it. The ride is 4 minutes long, and the cable car runs every half hour for most of the day. The last ride is 19:47. 
3) Take the Grütschalp--Mürren train The cable car and the train are well connected. They basically share the same mini-station. The train departs 2 minutes after the cable car arrives. The ride to Mürren is 14 minutes long. Grab a seat on the left side for the breathtaking panorama of the Alps. 
4) Walk from Mürren to Gimmelwald. About 40 minutes. Downhill. The road is well marked. OR4) Take the Mürren-Gimmelwald gondola (5 minutes ride). It's about a 10-minute walk from the Mürren train station to the Mürren gondola station. Just follow the signs.
Swiss Federal Railways: timetable and fare information in Switzerland and beyond. Very useful detailed information. The following table (through December 12, 2007) shows what seems to be the most convenient travel to Gimmelwald from major European cities. As always, travel times are subject to change, and other trains may fit your schedule better. Please consult the Swiss Federal Railways website for details. The via column shows transfers up to Interlaken. Scroll up this page to see detailed directions from Interlaken to Gimmelwald.
| All Roads Lead To Gimmelwald | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | Departure | Arrival | Type | via | Duration |
| Amsterdam | 20:32 | 10:15 | Overnight | Basel | 13 hours 43 minutes |
| Barcelona | 20:15 | 11:15 | Overnight | Bern | 15 hours 00 minutes |
| Berlin | 21:25 | 12:15 | Overnight | Basel | 14 hours 50 minutes |
| Brussels | 7:24 | 18:15 | Day | Bern | 10 hours 51 minutes |
| Budapest | 17:50 | 10:15 | Overnight | Zurich, Bern | 16 hours 25 minutes |
| Cinque Terre (Monterosso) | 6:55 | 16:15 | Day | Milan, Spiez | 9 hours 20 minutes |
| Dresden | 20:54 | 11:15 | Overnight | Basel, Bern | 14 hours 21 minutes |
| Florence | 23:00 | 10:15 | Overnight | Spiez | 10 hours 55 minutes |
| Frankfurt | 10:05 | 16:15 | Day | Basel | 6 hours 10 minutes |
| Hamburg | 20:24 | 10:15 | Overnight | Basel | 13 hours 51 minutes |
| Innsbruck | 8:39 | 16:15 | Day | Zurich, Bern | 7 hours 36 minutes |
| Milan | 10:25 | 16:15 | Day | Spiez | 5 hours 50 minutes |
| Munich | 7:12 | 15:15 | Day | Zurich | 8 hours 03 minutes |
| Paris | 22:43 | 9:15 | Overnight | Basel | 10 hours 32 minutes |
| Rome | 20:40 | 10:15 | Overnight | Spiez | 13 hours 35 minutes |
| Salzburg | 0:45 | 10:15 | Overnight | Zurich, Bern | 9 hours 30 minutes |
| Venice | 6:51 | 16:15 | Day | Milan, Spiez | 9 hours 24 minutes |
| Vienna | 21:18 | 10:15 | Overnight | Zurich, Bern | 12 hours 57 minutes |
The following table shows train travel to Gimmelwald from major Swiss cities/towns. The via column shows transfers up to Interlaken. Scroll up this page to see detailed directions from Interlaken to Gimmelwald. Keep in mind, the last gondola to Gimmelwald is at 23:10 and there is no way to access the village until the first gondola at 6:20 in the morning.
| To Gimmelwald within Switzerland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | | | |
| Basel | Every hour | | |
| Bern | Every hour | Direct | |
| Geneva | Every hour | Bern | |
| Lausanne | Every hour | Bern | |
| Lucerne | Every hour | Direct | |
| Montreux | Every hour | Lausanne, Bern | |
| Zermatt | Every hour | Brig, Spiez | |
| Zurich | Every hour | | |
Hotel de Nevers
48°51'58.31"N2°22'2.55"E
Direction from AIRPORT Charles de Gaulle
Take RER line B and get off GARE du NORD and take METRO line N° 5 (direction place D'italie) and get off at REPUBLIQUE
Direction from ORLY
Take Val (Small train) and after the RER line B and get off GARE du NORD and take METRO line line N° 5 (direction place D'Italie) and get off at REPUBLIQUE
On the REPUBLIQUE PLACE take the REPUBLIQUE AVENUE , we are in the first street on the right.
A Bawdy Nightclub
Au Caveau de la Bolée Frommer's Recommended
Address 25 rue de l'Hirondelle, 6e
Transportation Métro: St-Michel
Phone 01-43-54-62-20
Prices Admission to show, including a prix fixe dinner, 50€ ($65). Admission to show only, including 1 drink, 25€ ($32.50)
To enter this bawdy boîte (small nightclub), you descend into the catacombs of the early-14th-century Abbaye de St-André, once a cafe that attracted Verlaine, who slowly snuffed out his life with absinthe here. The singing is loud and smutty, the way the predominantly student audience likes it. Occasionally, the audience sings along. You'll enjoy this place a lot more if you can follow the thread of the French-language jokes and satire, but even if you can't, there are enough visuals (magic acts and singers) to amuse. The prix fixe dinner is followed by a series of at least four entertainers, usually comedians. In lieu of paying admission for the cabaret, you can order dinner. If you've already had dinner, you can order just a drink. Open Monday through Saturday; dinners 8:30 to 10:30pm, shows 10:30pm to 1:30am.
Address 25 rue de l'Hirondelle, 6e
Transportation Métro: St-Michel
Phone 01-43-54-62-20
Prices Admission to show, including a prix fixe dinner, 50€ ($65). Admission to show only, including 1 drink, 25€ ($32.50)
To enter this bawdy boîte (small nightclub), you descend into the catacombs of the early-14th-century Abbaye de St-André, once a cafe that attracted Verlaine, who slowly snuffed out his life with absinthe here. The singing is loud and smutty, the way the predominantly student audience likes it. Occasionally, the audience sings along. You'll enjoy this place a lot more if you can follow the thread of the French-language jokes and satire, but even if you can't, there are enough visuals (magic acts and singers) to amuse. The prix fixe dinner is followed by a series of at least four entertainers, usually comedians. In lieu of paying admission for the cabaret, you can order dinner. If you've already had dinner, you can order just a drink. Open Monday through Saturday; dinners 8:30 to 10:30pm, shows 10:30pm to 1:30am.
The Catacombs of Paris
Les Catacombes Frommer's Highly Recommended
Hours Tues-Sun 2-4pm
Address 1 place Denfert-Rochereau, 14e
Transportation Métro: Denfert-Rochereau
Phone 01-43-22-47-63
Web site www.multimania.com/houze
Prices Admission 5€ ($6.50) adults, 3.30€ ($4.30) seniors, 2.50€ ($3.25) ages 14-25, free for children under 14
Frommer's Review
Every year an estimated 50,000 visitors explore some 910m (2,985 ft.) of tunnel in these dank catacombs to look at 6 million ghoulishly arranged skull-and-crossbones skeletons. First opened to the public in 1810, this "empire of the dead" is now illuminated with electric lights over its entire length. In the Middle Ages, the catacombs were quarries, but by the end of the 18th century, overcrowded cemeteries were becoming a menace to public health. City officials decided to use the catacombs as a burial ground, and the bones of several million persons were transferred here. In 1830, the prefect of Paris closed the catacombs, considering them obscene and indecent. During World War II, the catacombs were the headquarters of the French Resistance.
Hours Tues-Sun 2-4pm
Address 1 place Denfert-Rochereau, 14e
Transportation Métro: Denfert-Rochereau
Phone 01-43-22-47-63
Web site www.multimania.com/houze
Prices Admission 5€ ($6.50) adults, 3.30€ ($4.30) seniors, 2.50€ ($3.25) ages 14-25, free for children under 14
Frommer's Review
Every year an estimated 50,000 visitors explore some 910m (2,985 ft.) of tunnel in these dank catacombs to look at 6 million ghoulishly arranged skull-and-crossbones skeletons. First opened to the public in 1810, this "empire of the dead" is now illuminated with electric lights over its entire length. In the Middle Ages, the catacombs were quarries, but by the end of the 18th century, overcrowded cemeteries were becoming a menace to public health. City officials decided to use the catacombs as a burial ground, and the bones of several million persons were transferred here. In 1830, the prefect of Paris closed the catacombs, considering them obscene and indecent. During World War II, the catacombs were the headquarters of the French Resistance.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Frommer's Best Dining Bets in Paris
Le Grand Véfour (17 rue de Beaujolais, 1er; tel. 01-42-96-56-27). Seductively and appropriately time worn, this is where Napoleon sat at table wooing Joséphine. Its Louis XVI-Directoire interior is a protected historic monument. This haute cuisine dining room has been the haunt of celebrities since 1760. Its cuisine, mercifully, is even better than ever because it insists on hiring only the world's leading chefs. This monument to the past still tantalizes 21st-century palates.
Aux Lyonnais (32 rue St-Marc, 2e; tel. 01-42-96-65-04). Paris's bistro of bistros has been taken over by Alain Ducasse, the six-star Michelin chef and self-proclaimed "greatest in the world." In spite of that takeover, Aux Lyonnais remains the quintessential Parisian dining choice for Lyonnais specialties. And as any city dweller of Lyon will tell you, his or her city is the gastronomic capital of France. The market-fresh produce is as new as the 1890s bistro is old, with its backdrop of potted palms, etched glass, and globe lamps in the best of the Belle Epoque style.
Au Pied de Cochon (6 rue Coquillière, 1er; tel. 01-40-13-77-00). For years it's been a Paris tradition to stop off at this joint in Les Halles for the famous onion soup at three o'clock in the morning after a night of revelry. The true Parisian also orders the restaurant's namesake -- grilled pig's feet with béarnaise sauce. You can also do as your grandpa did and wash down a dozen different varieties of oysters at the time-mellowed bar -- along with champagne, but of course.
Taillevent (15 rue Lammennais, 8e; tel. 01-44-95-15-01). Forget about sending the kids to college, and have what may be one of the most memorable meals of your life at what is consistently hailed as Paris's temple of haute cuisine. Named after a 14th-century chef to the king and the author of the first French cookbook, this restaurant comes as close to perfection as perhaps any in the world. In all of our years of dining here, we've never found the chef experiencing a bad hair day. This is a true temple of grand cuisine with one of the world's top ten wine lists. Although we've enjoyed much of the innovative cuisine of Alain Solivères, we are also grateful that he's kept that airy, sausage-shaped lobster soufflé on the menu.
La Tour d'Argent (15-17 quai de la Tournelle, 5e; tel. 01-43-54-23-31). If there were a better view from a table at this swanky restaurant -- a national legend -- God would have to invent one. It's that special. From your table at night, you can see the floodlit flying buttresses of Notre-Dame at night and barges silently cruising the Seine. The Tour d'Argent legend lives on, even though it no longer serves the best cuisine in Paris (the competition today is too great for that honor). Skirt-chasing Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, escaped dear old mum (Queen Victoria) by fleeing to Paris. In 1890 he started the tradition of ordering pressed duck flambé, and the tradition continues today.
Closerie des Lilas (171 bd. Du Montparnasse, 6e; tel. 01-40-51-34-50). Paris is not just about haute cuisine, as served in some of the restaurants above. It is also about nostalgia. If things literary interest you, follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway to Montparnasse and the famous "Pleasure Garden of the Lilacs" (its name in English). At a table where Gertrude Stein might have sat, even Picasso or Lenin, enjoy the world's best champagne julep while looking at the menu and soaking up the evocative atmosphere. The food's not bad either, but essentially it's a place to add to your memory bank.
Cremerie-Restaurant Polidor (41 rue Monsieur-le-Prince, 6e; tel. 01-43-26-95-34). A longtime favorite of students, artists, and the literari such as James Joyce and Jack Kerouac, this bistro in St-Germain-des-Prés has been around since 1845. We've been such regulars that our favorite waitress used to store our linen napkins in a wooden drawer for use on another night. One habitué we met here claimed he'd been dining at Polidor two or three nights a week for half a century. The pumpkin soup, the boeuf bourguignon, the blanquette de veau -- yes, the same recipes that delighted Hemingway are still served here.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (5-7 rue de Montalembert, 7e; tel. 01-42-22-56-56). What a discovery. When Joël Robuchon retired in the mid-1990s, he was hailed as the greatest chef in France, which might as well mean the world. Bored with retirement, he made a more modest comeback with this 7th Arrondissement delight. His innovative dishes are far less elaborate than they were in days of yore, but he still makes the best mashed potatoes the world has ever known, along with other market-fresh concoctions that will win your heart. We're talking the likes of such dishes as caramelized quail glazed with a shallot-perfumed sauce.
La Petite Chaise (36 rue de Grenelle, 7e; tel. 01-42-22-13-35). Even on the most rushed of visits to Paris, we always drop in here for one of the best fixed-price menus among the more affordable restaurants of Paris. "The Little Chair" (its English name) first opened as an inn in 1680, when it was used for both food and for its bedrooms upstairs, where discretion for afternoon dalliances was virtually assured. The time-honored cuisine is as French as Charles de Gaulle -- and that is as it should be.
Best Chef: Proud owner of six Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse, at the Restaurant Plaza Athénée, 25 av Montaigne, 8e (tel. 01-53-67-66-65), has taken Paris by storm, dividing his time between his restaurant here and the one in Monte Carlo. He combines produce from every French region in a cuisine that's contemporary but not quite new, embracing the Mediterranean without abandoning France.
Best Modern French Cuisine: A temple of gastronomy is found at Carré des Feuillants, 14 rue de Castiglione, 1e (tel. 01-42-86-82-82), near place Vendôme and the Tuileries. Alain Dutournier is one of the leading chefs of France, and he restored this 17th-century convent, turning it into a citadel of refined cuisine and mouthwatering specialties.
Best Provençal Cuisine: With two of Michelin's coveted stars, Les Elysées du Vernet, 25 rue Vernet, 8e (tel. 01-44-31-98-98), hosts tout Paris (all of Paris) and the media. Montpellier-born chef Alain Solivérès has emerged as one of the greatest in Paris, challenging some big-name chefs. His Provençal cookery is the freshest and among the best in the whole country.
Best Old-Fashioned Bistro: Established in 1931 and bouncing back from a period of decline, Allard, 41 rue St-André-des-Arts, 6e (tel. 01-43-26-48-23), is better than ever, from its zinc bar to its repertoire of French classics -- escargots, frogs' legs, foie gras, boeuf à la mode (marinated beef), and cassoulet. This is a good bet for real Left Bank bistro ambience.
Best Provincial Restaurant: The cuisine of the Auvergne in central France is showcased at Bath's, 9 rue de la Trémoille, 8e (tel. 01-40-70-01-09). In a cozy, elegant setting, you can dine on the best dishes of this province, including ravioli stuffed with Cantal cheese and filet of beef with lentils.
Best for Stargazing: No, it's not Taillevent or even Alain Ducasse. On the see-and-be-seen circuit, the star is still the Buddha Bar, 8 rue Boissy d'Anglas, 8e (tel. 01-53-05-90-00). The crowd doesn't come for the cuisine, though its fusion of French and Pacific Rim is exceedingly well executed. If you don't want to eat, stop by the hip, lacquered bar across from the dining room.
Best Brasserie: Head for the Left Bank and the Brasserie Balzar, 49 rue des Ecoles, 5e (tel. 01-43-54-13-67), which opened in 1898. If you dine on the familiar French food here, you'll be following in the footsteps of Sartre and Camus and others. You can even have a complete dinner in the middle of the afternoon.
Best Seafood: The fattest lobsters and prawns in the Rungis market emerge on platters at Goumard, 9 rue Duphot, 1e (tel. 01-42-60-36-07), so chic that even the toilets are historic monuments. Nothing interferes with the taste of the sea: You'd have to fly to the Riviera to find a better bouillabaisse.
Best Kosher Food: If corned beef, pastrami, herring, and dill pickles thrill you, head to rue des Rosiers in the 4th Arrondissement (Métro: St-Paul). John Russel wrote that rue des Rosiers is the "last sanctuary of certain ways of life; what you see there in miniature is Warsaw before the ghetto was razed." North African overtones reflect the long-ago arrival of Jews from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. The best time to go is Sunday morning: You can wander the streets eating as you go -- apple strudel; Jewish rye bread; pickled lemons; smoked salmon; and merguez, a spicy smoked sausage from Algeria.
Best Vegetarian Cuisine: One of the best-known veggie restaurants in the Marais is Le Marais, 54 rue Ste-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, 4e (tel. 01-48-87-48-71). Choose from the array of soups and salads, or have a mushroom tart or a galette (a flat pastry) of wheat with raw vegetables. In this rustic 17th-century setting, you can expect flavorful, wholesome, and generous meals.
Best Wine Cellar: At the elegant Lasserre, 17 av Franklin D. Roosevelt, 8e (tel. 01-43-59-53-43), you'll find not only wonderful food, but also one of the great wine cellars of France, with some 160,000 bottles.
Aux Lyonnais (32 rue St-Marc, 2e; tel. 01-42-96-65-04). Paris's bistro of bistros has been taken over by Alain Ducasse, the six-star Michelin chef and self-proclaimed "greatest in the world." In spite of that takeover, Aux Lyonnais remains the quintessential Parisian dining choice for Lyonnais specialties. And as any city dweller of Lyon will tell you, his or her city is the gastronomic capital of France. The market-fresh produce is as new as the 1890s bistro is old, with its backdrop of potted palms, etched glass, and globe lamps in the best of the Belle Epoque style.
Au Pied de Cochon (6 rue Coquillière, 1er; tel. 01-40-13-77-00). For years it's been a Paris tradition to stop off at this joint in Les Halles for the famous onion soup at three o'clock in the morning after a night of revelry. The true Parisian also orders the restaurant's namesake -- grilled pig's feet with béarnaise sauce. You can also do as your grandpa did and wash down a dozen different varieties of oysters at the time-mellowed bar -- along with champagne, but of course.
Taillevent (15 rue Lammennais, 8e; tel. 01-44-95-15-01). Forget about sending the kids to college, and have what may be one of the most memorable meals of your life at what is consistently hailed as Paris's temple of haute cuisine. Named after a 14th-century chef to the king and the author of the first French cookbook, this restaurant comes as close to perfection as perhaps any in the world. In all of our years of dining here, we've never found the chef experiencing a bad hair day. This is a true temple of grand cuisine with one of the world's top ten wine lists. Although we've enjoyed much of the innovative cuisine of Alain Solivères, we are also grateful that he's kept that airy, sausage-shaped lobster soufflé on the menu.
La Tour d'Argent (15-17 quai de la Tournelle, 5e; tel. 01-43-54-23-31). If there were a better view from a table at this swanky restaurant -- a national legend -- God would have to invent one. It's that special. From your table at night, you can see the floodlit flying buttresses of Notre-Dame at night and barges silently cruising the Seine. The Tour d'Argent legend lives on, even though it no longer serves the best cuisine in Paris (the competition today is too great for that honor). Skirt-chasing Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, escaped dear old mum (Queen Victoria) by fleeing to Paris. In 1890 he started the tradition of ordering pressed duck flambé, and the tradition continues today.
Closerie des Lilas (171 bd. Du Montparnasse, 6e; tel. 01-40-51-34-50). Paris is not just about haute cuisine, as served in some of the restaurants above. It is also about nostalgia. If things literary interest you, follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway to Montparnasse and the famous "Pleasure Garden of the Lilacs" (its name in English). At a table where Gertrude Stein might have sat, even Picasso or Lenin, enjoy the world's best champagne julep while looking at the menu and soaking up the evocative atmosphere. The food's not bad either, but essentially it's a place to add to your memory bank.
Cremerie-Restaurant Polidor (41 rue Monsieur-le-Prince, 6e; tel. 01-43-26-95-34). A longtime favorite of students, artists, and the literari such as James Joyce and Jack Kerouac, this bistro in St-Germain-des-Prés has been around since 1845. We've been such regulars that our favorite waitress used to store our linen napkins in a wooden drawer for use on another night. One habitué we met here claimed he'd been dining at Polidor two or three nights a week for half a century. The pumpkin soup, the boeuf bourguignon, the blanquette de veau -- yes, the same recipes that delighted Hemingway are still served here.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (5-7 rue de Montalembert, 7e; tel. 01-42-22-56-56). What a discovery. When Joël Robuchon retired in the mid-1990s, he was hailed as the greatest chef in France, which might as well mean the world. Bored with retirement, he made a more modest comeback with this 7th Arrondissement delight. His innovative dishes are far less elaborate than they were in days of yore, but he still makes the best mashed potatoes the world has ever known, along with other market-fresh concoctions that will win your heart. We're talking the likes of such dishes as caramelized quail glazed with a shallot-perfumed sauce.
La Petite Chaise (36 rue de Grenelle, 7e; tel. 01-42-22-13-35). Even on the most rushed of visits to Paris, we always drop in here for one of the best fixed-price menus among the more affordable restaurants of Paris. "The Little Chair" (its English name) first opened as an inn in 1680, when it was used for both food and for its bedrooms upstairs, where discretion for afternoon dalliances was virtually assured. The time-honored cuisine is as French as Charles de Gaulle -- and that is as it should be.
Best Chef: Proud owner of six Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse, at the Restaurant Plaza Athénée, 25 av Montaigne, 8e (tel. 01-53-67-66-65), has taken Paris by storm, dividing his time between his restaurant here and the one in Monte Carlo. He combines produce from every French region in a cuisine that's contemporary but not quite new, embracing the Mediterranean without abandoning France.
Best Modern French Cuisine: A temple of gastronomy is found at Carré des Feuillants, 14 rue de Castiglione, 1e (tel. 01-42-86-82-82), near place Vendôme and the Tuileries. Alain Dutournier is one of the leading chefs of France, and he restored this 17th-century convent, turning it into a citadel of refined cuisine and mouthwatering specialties.
Best Provençal Cuisine: With two of Michelin's coveted stars, Les Elysées du Vernet, 25 rue Vernet, 8e (tel. 01-44-31-98-98), hosts tout Paris (all of Paris) and the media. Montpellier-born chef Alain Solivérès has emerged as one of the greatest in Paris, challenging some big-name chefs. His Provençal cookery is the freshest and among the best in the whole country.
Best Old-Fashioned Bistro: Established in 1931 and bouncing back from a period of decline, Allard, 41 rue St-André-des-Arts, 6e (tel. 01-43-26-48-23), is better than ever, from its zinc bar to its repertoire of French classics -- escargots, frogs' legs, foie gras, boeuf à la mode (marinated beef), and cassoulet. This is a good bet for real Left Bank bistro ambience.
Best Provincial Restaurant: The cuisine of the Auvergne in central France is showcased at Bath's, 9 rue de la Trémoille, 8e (tel. 01-40-70-01-09). In a cozy, elegant setting, you can dine on the best dishes of this province, including ravioli stuffed with Cantal cheese and filet of beef with lentils.
Best for Stargazing: No, it's not Taillevent or even Alain Ducasse. On the see-and-be-seen circuit, the star is still the Buddha Bar, 8 rue Boissy d'Anglas, 8e (tel. 01-53-05-90-00). The crowd doesn't come for the cuisine, though its fusion of French and Pacific Rim is exceedingly well executed. If you don't want to eat, stop by the hip, lacquered bar across from the dining room.
Best Brasserie: Head for the Left Bank and the Brasserie Balzar, 49 rue des Ecoles, 5e (tel. 01-43-54-13-67), which opened in 1898. If you dine on the familiar French food here, you'll be following in the footsteps of Sartre and Camus and others. You can even have a complete dinner in the middle of the afternoon.
Best Seafood: The fattest lobsters and prawns in the Rungis market emerge on platters at Goumard, 9 rue Duphot, 1e (tel. 01-42-60-36-07), so chic that even the toilets are historic monuments. Nothing interferes with the taste of the sea: You'd have to fly to the Riviera to find a better bouillabaisse.
Best Kosher Food: If corned beef, pastrami, herring, and dill pickles thrill you, head to rue des Rosiers in the 4th Arrondissement (Métro: St-Paul). John Russel wrote that rue des Rosiers is the "last sanctuary of certain ways of life; what you see there in miniature is Warsaw before the ghetto was razed." North African overtones reflect the long-ago arrival of Jews from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. The best time to go is Sunday morning: You can wander the streets eating as you go -- apple strudel; Jewish rye bread; pickled lemons; smoked salmon; and merguez, a spicy smoked sausage from Algeria.
Best Vegetarian Cuisine: One of the best-known veggie restaurants in the Marais is Le Marais, 54 rue Ste-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, 4e (tel. 01-48-87-48-71). Choose from the array of soups and salads, or have a mushroom tart or a galette (a flat pastry) of wheat with raw vegetables. In this rustic 17th-century setting, you can expect flavorful, wholesome, and generous meals.
Best Wine Cellar: At the elegant Lasserre, 17 av Franklin D. Roosevelt, 8e (tel. 01-43-59-53-43), you'll find not only wonderful food, but also one of the great wine cellars of France, with some 160,000 bottles.
Cafes of Paris
Here are some of our favorite patisseries:
Stohrer, 51 rue Montorgueil, 2e (tel. 01-42-33-38-20; Métro: Sentier or Les Halles), has been going strong ever since it was opened by Louis XV's pastry chef in 1730. A pastry always associated with this place is puits d'amour (well of love), which consists of caramelized puff pastry filled with vanilla ice cream. Available at any time is one of the most luscious desserts in Paris, baba au rhum, or its even richer cousin, un Ali Baba, which also incorporates cream-based rum-and-raisin filling. Stohrer boasts an interior decor classified as a national historic treasure, with frescoes of damsels in 18th-century costume bearing flowers and (what else?) pastries.
Opened in 1862, a few steps from La Madeleine, Ladurée Royale, 16 rue Royale, 8e (tel. 01-42-60-21-79; Métro: Concorde or Madeleine), is Paris's dowager tearoom. Its pastry chefs are known for the macaron, a pastry for which this place is celebrated. Karl Lagerfeld comes here and raves about them, as did the late ambassador Pamela Harriman. This isn't the sticky coconut-version macaroon known to many, but two almond meringue cookies, flavored with chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, coffee, or other flavor, stuck together with butter cream. You may also want to try Le Faubourg, a lusciously dense chocolate cake with layers of caramel and apricots.
In business since Napoleon was in power, Dalloyau, 101 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, 8e (tel. 01-42-99-90-00; Métro: St-Philippe du Roule), has a name instantly recognizable throughout Paris; it supplies pastries to the Elysée Palace (the French White House) and many Rothschild mansions nearby. Its specialties are Le Dalloyau, praline cake filled with almond meringue that's marvelously light-textured; and un Opéra, composed of an almond-flavored biscuit layered with butter cream, chocolate, coffee, and cashews. Unlike Stohrer, Dalloyau has a tearoom (open daily 8am-7:30pm) one floor above street level, where ladies who lunch can drop in for a slice of pastry that Dalloyau warns is "too fragile to transport, or to mail, over long distances."
Stohrer, 51 rue Montorgueil, 2e (tel. 01-42-33-38-20; Métro: Sentier or Les Halles), has been going strong ever since it was opened by Louis XV's pastry chef in 1730. A pastry always associated with this place is puits d'amour (well of love), which consists of caramelized puff pastry filled with vanilla ice cream. Available at any time is one of the most luscious desserts in Paris, baba au rhum, or its even richer cousin, un Ali Baba, which also incorporates cream-based rum-and-raisin filling. Stohrer boasts an interior decor classified as a national historic treasure, with frescoes of damsels in 18th-century costume bearing flowers and (what else?) pastries.
Opened in 1862, a few steps from La Madeleine, Ladurée Royale, 16 rue Royale, 8e (tel. 01-42-60-21-79; Métro: Concorde or Madeleine), is Paris's dowager tearoom. Its pastry chefs are known for the macaron, a pastry for which this place is celebrated. Karl Lagerfeld comes here and raves about them, as did the late ambassador Pamela Harriman. This isn't the sticky coconut-version macaroon known to many, but two almond meringue cookies, flavored with chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, coffee, or other flavor, stuck together with butter cream. You may also want to try Le Faubourg, a lusciously dense chocolate cake with layers of caramel and apricots.
In business since Napoleon was in power, Dalloyau, 101 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, 8e (tel. 01-42-99-90-00; Métro: St-Philippe du Roule), has a name instantly recognizable throughout Paris; it supplies pastries to the Elysée Palace (the French White House) and many Rothschild mansions nearby. Its specialties are Le Dalloyau, praline cake filled with almond meringue that's marvelously light-textured; and un Opéra, composed of an almond-flavored biscuit layered with butter cream, chocolate, coffee, and cashews. Unlike Stohrer, Dalloyau has a tearoom (open daily 8am-7:30pm) one floor above street level, where ladies who lunch can drop in for a slice of pastry that Dalloyau warns is "too fragile to transport, or to mail, over long distances."
Café Constant (Paris)
Cuisine FRENCH
Hours Tues-Sat noon-2:30pm and 7-10:30pm
Address 139 rue St-Dominique, 7e
Location 7th Arrondissement (Eiffel Tower/Musée D'orsay)
Transportation Métro: Invalides
Reservations Reservations accepted only for groups of five or more diners
Phone 01-47-53-75-34
Prices Main courses 12€ ($16) each
Credit Cards DC, MC, V
Frommer's Review
This is the least expensive of the trio of nearly adjacent restaurants established along the rue St-Dominique by mega-chef Christian Constant, whose mainstream, ultra-luxe restaurant (Le Violin d'Ingres) is also recommended. It prides itself on fast service, fast turnover, and well-prepared but not particularly complicated cuisine that's good value within this posh and expensive neighborhood. Within two separate dining rooms, one on the ground floor and a smaller one upstairs, you can order starters, each priced at 8€ ($10); main courses, each priced at 12€ ($16); and desserts, each priced at 7€ ($9.10). Examples include a terrine de kako, made with pork and foie gras and served with lentils and vinaigrette sauce; a tartare of oysters and salmon, flavored with ginger; veal scallops "Cordon Bleu," which are layered with ham and cheese, breaded, and fried; and quenelles of whitefish. Desserts are simple, including chocolate tart and rice pudding. Since reservations aren't accepted except for large groups, most potential diners are asked to wait at the wood-topped bar for a table to become available. Waits are usually not very long.
Hours Tues-Sat noon-2:30pm and 7-10:30pm
Address 139 rue St-Dominique, 7e
Location 7th Arrondissement (Eiffel Tower/Musée D'orsay)
Transportation Métro: Invalides
Reservations Reservations accepted only for groups of five or more diners
Phone 01-47-53-75-34
Prices Main courses 12€ ($16) each
Credit Cards DC, MC, V
Frommer's Review
This is the least expensive of the trio of nearly adjacent restaurants established along the rue St-Dominique by mega-chef Christian Constant, whose mainstream, ultra-luxe restaurant (Le Violin d'Ingres) is also recommended. It prides itself on fast service, fast turnover, and well-prepared but not particularly complicated cuisine that's good value within this posh and expensive neighborhood. Within two separate dining rooms, one on the ground floor and a smaller one upstairs, you can order starters, each priced at 8€ ($10); main courses, each priced at 12€ ($16); and desserts, each priced at 7€ ($9.10). Examples include a terrine de kako, made with pork and foie gras and served with lentils and vinaigrette sauce; a tartare of oysters and salmon, flavored with ginger; veal scallops "Cordon Bleu," which are layered with ham and cheese, breaded, and fried; and quenelles of whitefish. Desserts are simple, including chocolate tart and rice pudding. Since reservations aren't accepted except for large groups, most potential diners are asked to wait at the wood-topped bar for a table to become available. Waits are usually not very long.
Staying on a vineyard (a la http://www.frenchduck.com/2006/11/staying_on_a_vineyard.ht
Staying on a vineyard
For wine enthusiasts there can be few more attractive options for holidays than spending part of the time surrounded by vines on a vineyard, with some preferential access to the winemaker, cellars and maybe even a few bottles of wine - it always tastes so much better on site.
Several years ago, whilst still actively importing wine, I stayed at Chateau Gibalaux-Bonnet in the Minervois (near Laure-Minervois 11 Aude, Languedoc). Now in addition to some very good wines (especially their Cuvée Prieuré, an oaked red which rates as one of the most memorable bottles I have tasted) they also have a self-catering Gite and 3 B&B rooms (Chambres d'Hotes). The domain is wonderfully isolated in the scrubby moorland north of Trebes - ideal for walking and enjoying the scents of the "garrigue". For more info on the accommodation see www.gibalaux.com/ and for more on their wines see www.gibalaux.on-web.fr
Other options include:-
Clos Montels at Caux in the Languedoc (34 Herault)
In Cahors you could stay at one of our favourites - Chateau les Hauts d'Aglan at Soturac (near Fumel) - no website I can find but email Isabelle Rey-Auriat or phone 00 33 565365202
in Bergerac Chateau Les Miaudoux offers a fine looking Gite
In the Gers (32 Midi-Pyrenees) Domaine de Lauroux makes Cotes de Gascogne wines, Floc de Gascogne and Armagnac - and has both self-catering and B&B accommodation on offer
Paris Restaurants
Les Zygomates: 
7 rue de Capri, 12th, 0140 19 93 04. Metro: Daumesnil, Michel-Bizot.
In this former butcher's shop, which has its original hand painted ceiling tiles, an etched glass partition divides the 2 dining rooms which seat 18 each. The old custom of saying hello to the room at large when you arrive is alive and well here.
Recommended: Marinated duck liver shaved over mixed greens with pine nuts; mixed mushrooms in puff pastry; canneloni stuffed with chèvre. Roast lamb, grilled sea bass and stewed rabbit are each accompanied by potato gratin, grated sweet and sour beets and parsnip or rutabaga puree.
Lunch & Dinner: 3 courses, $36.40; 2 courses, $28.60 Wine: Burgundy, $19.50/half bottle.
Les Bouquinistes:
53, quai Grands Augustins, 6th, 0143 25 45 94. Metro: St. Michel.
This very modern restaurant, one of four of Guy Savoy's establishments, looks onto the book stalls by the Seine. Savoy plans the menu and Chef Caussimon supervises the kitchen.
Recommended: The tender Hereford steak with pureed pumpkin and chestnuts; fresh figs roasted with honey and served with black currant ice cream.
Lunch: 3 courses incl a glass of wine and a cup of coffee, $34.45 Lunch: 2 courses incl a glass of wine and a cup of coffee, $30.55 Dinner: à la carte from $65.
La Truffière:
4, rue Blainville, 5th, 0146 33 29 82, www.latruffiere.com. Metro: Place Monge.
The exterior of this 17th century stone house with potted plants trailing down wrought iron gates, is just as charming as the candle-lit interior with exposed beams.
Recommended: Salmon served with diced beets in vinaigrette and mashed potatoes; slow-cooked lamb shoulder; cod with fennel, leeks and mushrooms. Dishes from the southwest are a specialty; the more expensive items incl truffles and foie gras.
Weekday Lunch: 2 courses, $24.70 Dinner: Prix fixe $71.50 & $93.60; à la carte from $80 Wine: $5.20/glass at lunch.
Chez Maître Paul:
12, rue Monsieurle-Prince, 6th, 0143 54 74 59. Metro: Odéon.
Mirrors, fresh flowers and exposed old stone are signatures of this long-established bistro featuring cooking from the Franche-Comté region. Jean François Debert is an attentive host.
Recommended: Chicken dishes — with morels or in a creamy cheese sauce.
Lunch & Dinner: 2 course prix fixe, $37.70 Wine: House Bourgueil (red or white), $7.80/half bottle.
L'Os à Moëlle:
3, rue Vasco de Gama, 15th, 0145 57 27 27. Metro: Lourmel.
Yellow cloth runners on wooden tables and big windows give this small bistro an airy feeling. Tables are close together; the French clientele are friendly. Chalk board menu changes daily.
Recommended: Amuse-bouche (marrow bone topped with chopped parsley and coarse salt, accompanied by a small spoon and toast); one of Chef Thierry Foucher's soups, such as pumpkin cream poured over mini ravioli stuffed with Comté cheese or cold celery cream with morels and croûtons.
Lunch: 3 courses, $42.90 Lunch: 6 course tasting menu, $49.50 Dinner: 6 course tasting menu, $49.90 Wine: $6.50/glass.
Some French Restarants (Paris & Lyon)
Paris
Location of the Ile Saint Louis on the map of Paris Le Comptoir du Relais (Yves Camborde's)
Bistro Allard
41, rue Saint-André-des-Arts (6eme)
43-26-48-23
Mº Odéon
This famous Saint Germain bistro had been drifting
Cuisine TRADITIONAL FRENCH
Hours Mon-Sat noon-3pm and 7:30-11pm
Address 41 rue St-André-des-Arts, 6e
Location 6th Arrondissement (St-Germain/Luxembourg)
Transportation Métro: St-Michel or Odéon
Reservations Reservations required
Phone 01-43-26-48-23
Prices Main courses 19€-39€ ($25-$51); fixed-price menu 24€-32€ ($31-$42) lunch, 32€ ($42) dinner
Credit Cards AE, DC, MC, V
Mon Vieil Ami
http://www.mon-vieil-ami.com/
69 rue Saint Louis en l'Île 75004
Paris Tél : 01 40 46 01 35, Fax : 01 40 46 01 36
* The kitchen is open for lunch from noon to 2 pm, and for dinner from 6.30 pm to 11 pm.
* The dining room can accommodate 40 diners, including 14 at our host table.
* Mon Vieil Ami takes a break all day Monday and Tuesday.
* Mon Vieil Ami goes on holiday for 3 weeks in January and August.
* Our set menu (starter-main course-dessert) is 39 euros. We also have suggestions from the market and a dish of the day at 15 euros.
Access map
http://www.hotel-paris-relais-saint-germain.com/
5 carrefour de l’Odéon, 6 th
Tel: 01 43 29 12 05 Mº Odéon
9 Carrefour de l'Odéon
Sixth Arrondissement
Metro: Odéon
Tel: 33 1 44 27 07 97
La Régalade
Cuisine FRENCH TRADITIONAL
Hours Tues-Fri noon-2pm; Mon-Fri 7-11pm
Address 49 av. Jean-Moulin, 14e
Location 14th & 15th Arrondissements (Gare Montparnasse/Denfert-Rochereau)
Transportation Métro: Alésia
Reservations Reservations recommended
Phone 01-45-45-68-58
Prices Prix fixe menu 30€ ($39)
Credit Cards MC, V
Lyon
La Cour des Loges
http://www.courdesloges.com/cdlacceng.htm
2, 4, 6, 8, rue du Bœuf - 69005 Lyon - FRANCE
Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 77 44 44 - Fax: +33 (0)4 72 40 93 61
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