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I'm thinking of the supermarket and stores for eating.

I'm thinking of the supermarket and stores for eating.

Old Feb 17th, 2010, 03:21 PM
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I'm thinking of the supermarket and stores for eating.

Yes, I will eat at restaurants. I own one, so of course I'd love to eat and sit back and enjoy myself in Paris.

I'm doing hours of research on restaurants in the area of my hotel and it's surroundings. But I think for lunch or early dinners I'm gonna hit the supermarkets or big department stores for a decent meal.

Has anyone else done this? And I noticed that several of the markets deliver to your hotel. So what could possibly be easier than to order a meal or some snacks and have it delivered? Or better yet order the day before and do a little shopping and pick it up and take it back with you.

I'm going alone, so this may work out for me.

I do want to try Guy Savoy for Lunch. I'm going solo. Has anyone else gone alone? And I was thinking of a few other special places for lunch. Does anyone have any suggestions for a mamaw on her own?

I'd appreciate any advice. I'll be going in Oct. (unless something like the world ends happens) and so far I'm staying at the Hotel Foutaines du Luxembourg. Which BTW, looks amazing.

Thanks for your help in advance......Theresa/Mamaw in Detroit.

Now off for my Ash Wed. Meal....

PS this is my first time in Paris alone.
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Old Feb 17th, 2010, 03:46 PM
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I frequent outdoor mrkets, supermarkets, alimentaires, and charcuteries and boulangeries and every imaginable type of food store, from Asian takeout to Hediard and food halls when I'm in Paris, but it has never crossed my mind to have anything delivered to my hotel. Can't imagine doing that, when there's always so much good food nearby or easily brought home on the métro or bus.

I never, or hardly ever unless it's a special meeting or occasion, have a fancy lunch in Paris. I'll stop in a small bar or bistro or local café or museum café or just some place I know and am comfortable with for a small meal. At dinner I'm more likely to go a bit more upscale, and I don't mind dining alone. I have plenty of places I feel right at home at. You'll be in the 6ème, with a million places to choose from whether for lunch or dinner. Just wander around, look at the posted menus, size up whether it's a place you'll feel comfortable in or not, and choose. Have fun!
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Old Feb 17th, 2010, 04:14 PM
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I've been vacationing in Paris, almost annually since the mid 70s, and I have absolutely no problem eating alone or going alone. I do it 95% of the time.

I like to eat lunch out, but dinner in. I'll have an apartment again soon, so I'll cook. Even when I stayed at hotels, I ate in a lot due to the smoking situation in restaurants prior to 2008. The only times that I regularly ate out at dinner was when friends of mine owned a restaurant, for over a decade, in the 6th very near my hotel, and I could drop by at any time and they'd cook for me and I'd dine in the family room. But, they sold the restaurant and moved back to Japan in 2004 or 2005, so I'm back to my system of doing lunch out...it's cheaper and I can walk the calories off...and then eating a light dinner in.

I used to go to the delis and get food packed to-go and then go back to my hotel room and eat it. I always travel with a melamine plate,cup,bowl and some flatware and some small trash bags. LOL! Happy Travels!
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Old Feb 17th, 2010, 05:11 PM
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One of my fondest memories is sitting on a curb in Monte Carlo eating sandwiches made from ham and bread bought at a grocery store that we had found. We had met two college girls from California while we were in Barcelona and they decided to travel with us. One of the girls had bought a bag of olives and when she tore it open, the liquid went all over her. We laughed the entire day because she smelled like olives. I'm sure we were labeled the ugly Americans. Just couldn't help it.
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Old Feb 17th, 2010, 06:05 PM
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One of our best meals in Paris consisted of a bottle of water,a baguette sandwich, bought from one of the multitude of stands, and then sitting on the edge of the Seine.
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Old Feb 17th, 2010, 06:06 PM
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At home we're used to a really early dinner time and can't stand to wait till 7:30 to eat. If we want a restaurant meal, we go at lunch time. For dinner we collect salad, cheese, bread, pastries, yogurt, and something to drink and eat it outdoors or in our room.
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Old Feb 17th, 2010, 11:32 PM
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When I travel alone, I have no problem hitting the supermarket and having dinner in my hotel room in front of the television. When you have been out for a long and exhausting day, it's nice to just relax. But I enjoy eating in a restaurant for lunch -- the people watching is better, the service is faster and I can get back to doing my tourist stuff quickly.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 01:36 AM
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We regularly have picnic lunches in France (and other places in this world). In France, it is easy to find stores with wonderful supplies for picnic, many of them in gourmet quality.

Check for:
- Boulangeries (bakeries): In addition to breads, they sell things like quiche lorraine, onion tarte, pizza etc.
- Patisseries: wonderful desserts. Often, it is a combined boulangerie/patisserie.
- Charcuteries: They have wonderful selections of sausage, patés, meat pies etc.
- Rotisseries: They sell complete ready-to-eat cold and warm dishes. They fill the dishes into plastic containers and you can ask for plastic cutlery. (We always have our cutlery, plastic plates, cups and corkscrew with us.)
- Alimentations: Usually small grocery stores in downtown locations with a limited offer. Often operated by Arabian immigrants.
- Supermarchés (e.g. Intermarché, Casino): medium-sized grocery stores, sometimes downtown, but more often in residential neighbourhoods.
- Hypermarchés (e.g. Auchan, Geant, Carrefour, Mammouth, Leclerc, Rallye, Leclerc): Huge stores with gigantic delicatessen departments. Usually out of town at the autoroutes. Easy to find, because the towns are covered with signs directing you the hypermarché.

Have your picnic in a public park (it is perfectly acceptable to drink a bottle of wine together with your picnic), on a bench at a street-corner, in a roadside picnic area or on your hotel room.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 01:50 AM
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If I am only going to eat out for one meal, I frequently make it lunch for several reasons. There are many restaurants with very well priced lunch menus, so it is less expensive than eating dinner out. If I am going to an evening performance of some kind, it is easier to eat dinner in, since many restaurants don't open until it is just about time to get to the show. If I am solo, I also like the flexibility to stay in at night when I might not feel like traveling to a restaurant and back.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 01:52 AM
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A common sight in France:

http://www.fasbf.com/asbfparis/rando..._du_lavoir.jpg

Look here what you find in French grocery stores:

http://www.lineaires.com/var/li/stor...n_gallerie.jpg

BTW, I forget to mention the "traiteurs": stores (or departments) selling prepared food (similar to rotisseries which have grilled meat). Often you find combinations like "charcuterie/rotisserie/traiteur".
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 01:58 AM
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Basically 'traiteur' translates to 'deli'.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 02:04 AM
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Thanks Kerouac. I am not so good in English.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 07:51 AM
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Hi Ma,

For a splurge lunch, I can highly recommend the 80E PF at www.taillevent.com.

See my report for details and other recs:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=35136218

Much less expensive, and very very good, is http://leflorimond.com/

Enjoy your visit.

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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 08:31 AM
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I haven't ever done what you are suggesting if I understand it as I have no intention of going back to a hotel to eat lunch when I am in Paris to see it. Also, I'm in Paris to experience it, not to hole up eating in my hotel room. You can eat just as cheaply out in a cafe as a dept. store, anyway, their eating places aren't particularly rock bottom cheap. I might eat in a dept store cafe if I happened to be there, but not to save money.

I don't know what markets would deliver a snack to a hotel without charging you a bundle.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 03:22 PM
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Mamaw,

Don't miss La Grande Epicerie, the gourmet grocery store attached to the Bon Marche department store. It's not too far from your hotel and it is a virtual playground for food lovers. Simply wonderful to look at everything in there. (One tip--if you buy something like fruit that needs to be weighed, the person who weighs it will be in the vegetable/fruit department.) They don't have scales at the check-out register.

http://www.lagrandeepicerie.fr/#en-GB/home
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 03:37 PM
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You all ROCK! I plan on having a nice lunch in restaurants and doing the picnic thing if the weather permits. But I am a huge Foodie, so I will be stalking all the gourmet grocery stores and traiteur aka deli's too. And cw, Thank you for the link to La Frande Epicerie, I'm dying over here!

And I'm surely not going to Paris to be cheap, I know that ain't happening. I don't eat cheap food, I try to put only the best, but I'm not too much into meat, so that's gonna make it tough for me in some places, soooo. But I'll survive

Thanks again, For everything. I will keep up on this thread, because I'm always looking for good stuff and info.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 03:55 PM
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One reason that the deli/traituer is great is that I can balance my meals out to the way I like to eat and also select around my 3 food allergies. Plus, I haven't eaten meat/poultry since 1976. But, I eat at my regular macrobiotic/vegan/vegetarian restaurant in the 6th, for lunch, where I eat my main, hearty meal of the day. Then I can hit the deli/traiteur for items for the later meal. I can either take the items back to my hotel or back to my rented apartment and mix them with whatever I decide to cook. I absolutely don't like to "have to" be restaurant dependent for any meal and especially dinner, as by the end of the day, I don't want to have to daily decide on what restaurant I'm going to eat dinner at and then wait until 7PM until the restaurant opens. Happy Travels!
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 04:03 PM
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Loved all the information. We will be in Paris for the first time in early July. Some of my favourite memories of past trips to places are buying local type foods and having picnics while watching the sights. Thank you to all for the ideas.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 04:32 PM
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>

Your English is excellent. But do note that with regard to the alimentaires, it's not Arabians that tend to run them, but rather Arabs. To English speakers, Arabians generally refers to Saudis, and while there might be the very occasional Saudi running an alimentaire in Paris, it's more likely to be a Tunisian or other North African.
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Old Feb 18th, 2010, 05:09 PM
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When I was in Paris alone, I was on a tight budget and ate mostly groceries from the discount grocery store around the corner from my apartment- yogurt, cheese, salad, stuff like that. When I'm alone I often lose track of time and end up spending too long in museums and skipping lunch- I get tired and overstimulated so I love being able to relax and eating a light dinner at home.

I also just enjoy the experience of buying groceries in another country, especially in areas outside the tourist centres. Great opportunities for people-watching in a normal, everyday environment.

You're going to have a great time in Paris!
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