3 Paris questions
 

Our December trip is getting closer - and questions are multiplying:

1)If it weren't December, we'd be planning lovely picnics in parks - are there places one can have an indoor picnic - i.e. bring a lovely sandwich in from some place else?

2) where to go for aligot?

3) Still looking for any suggestions for New Year's Eve dining that might not involve 250 euros and seven courses.

Thank you!

Hi M,

Ambassade d'Auvergne, 22, rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare.
Tel: 01.42.72.31.22. Mº Rambuteau

has been recommended for Aligot.

3) What's your budget?

"1)If it weren't December, we'd be planning lovely picnics in parks - are there places one can have an indoor picnic - i.e. bring a lovely sandwich in from some place else?"

It is hard to imagine what you have in mind. I cannot think of anywhere in the US or UK where you could bring in food from outside and have a picnic, but maybe my imagination isn't focussed today.

Am I really missing something?

Maybe they're thinking somewhere like a large museum lobby or otherwise covered but public space?

Suze is right: I hardly mean going into a restaurant and pulling out our sandwiches! I'm thinking large public spaces that happen to be indoors.

And ira, budget isn't a problem as much as time - we have ballet tickets, so would need a later sitting, but have an early departure the next morning, so don't want to start into 7 courses at 10:00PM - and thanks for the aligot tip!

Did a quick scan of some Paris resto blogs

Auberge Aveyronnaise
12th - 40 rue Gabriel Lame

La Maision de la Lozere
6th - 4 reu Hautefeuille

Citheaubrac
11th - 114 rue Oberkamp

Hi

You could visit the covered walkways - http://www.parisinconnu.com/passages/index.htm. I'm not sure about seating or whether you can eat and drink at these spots - maybe Fodorites can shed some light on this.

Covered walkways won't offer casual seating. If there is seating, it is most likely for a bistro of one sort or another.

The most common public space I can think of in Paris (that would have seating and no admission) would be the train stations. They're not great for atmosphere, though--a bit noisy and cavernous.

Le Forum Des Halles has some open space, and it's in the center of Paris, but I can't say it's where I would go.

There are wonderful cafés and bistros at every turn that would provide comfortable, pleasant, and unique surroundings.

Tim

Yes, of course - plenty of bistros and cafes - perhaps I'm sounding like a Clampett - looking for a place to brown bag in Paris. But we're going to be in an apartment and if we were visiting Paris at a more clement time of year, we'd be enjoying the opportunity to bring along a picnic. If it's really tacky, we'll try something else. The train stations occurred to me, too - but was hoping for a little more ambience.

Thanks for the restaurant suggestions.

1) You are kidding of course. A close substitute would be eating in the BHV or Galleries Lafayette cafeteria.

2) Thanks for asking. I never heard of this dish so now I must make it. Found some recipes via google.

3) A baguette, various cheeses, tomatoes, grapes, apples, a great red Burgundy, and then to your room for your picnic. Then stroll the Siene.

Would that be possible at the Louvre? Isn't there quite an expanse of indoor spaces, wide corridors, shops.

In your shoes, I'd just set up in the hotel room for lunch, include a glass of wine, then head out later without having to tote everything around town.

I agree with suze's suggestion about dining in your room. I have had the pleasure recently of eating a sandwich in the Gare de Bercy while waiting for the overnight train to Venice . Definitely not recommended.

Well, I seem to have given the impression that I was raised by wolves. My indoor picnic question was actually asked by someone else some months ago, but my efforts to recover the thread weren't successful. It seems there are stupid questions after all.

In many cases, the hotel breakfast room allows people to eat there throughout the day.

I understand exactly what you mean, I am just not familiar enough with Paris to have good answers to share.

The Louvre is indeed cavernous, but eating is limited to the museum's own restaurants and cafés. However...there's a cafeteria on the mezzanine level, with tables and chairs. I doubt that anyone would notice if you brought in a baguette sandwich similar to those that can be purchased. You could get something hot to go alongside.

mizilen, yours is certainly not a stupid question. With the dollar dropping there will be more and more of us looking at winter to satisfy our affordable "Paris fix".

I will be coming in February and of course would love to find a substitute for a park picnic if the weather is nasty.

Unfortunately, I've drawn a blank but maybe there are some really creative minds in Fodorsville to help us winter travelers.

Good luck and have a wonderful trip whatever weather may come your way ;;) Deborah

Not a stupid question at all. Maybe there is a place someone can recommend that would allow for a dining experience that would be indoors but different from a traditional restaurant. Maybe a food hall where you could pick out some different dishes and then sit, share and enjoy?

Not exactly outdoors but the closest that I can think of would be the small and completely charming little cafe IN the Luxembourg Gardens.
It is a sort of greenhouse, all glass so wherever you sit, you are by the window and looking out at the trees, gardens etc.
We have gone in the late fall and had a very nice lunch there..closest thing to an indoor picnic in a garden that I know of.
Otherwise, brown bagging it in Paris is sort of un-romantic in December..Unless the ice skaters are out at City Hall and you just bundle up and go watch and freeze :)

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/inde...event_id=24832

Hope this helps :)

The courtyard under the Louvre (Carouselle du Louvre) has a food court just like a mall, and tables for shared use. You could probably sit there, and no one would notice.

mizilene - This may just be possible.
Take a boatride on the Canal St.Martin either from Quai de la Loire (Metro Jaures) or the other direction from Port de l'Arsenal.

The boat we travelled on had mostly seats under cover and no-one would pay you any attention if you quietly munched on a baguette and discreetly drank from paper/plastic cups.

This trip may not be running in December. If not maybe just picnic on one of the other excursion boats.

No, I didn't think you were a Clampitt; I just couldn't figure out what you meant, and I am still trying to think where one might go indoors in the US/UK for a winter picnic. I understand that you aren't just trying to grab a sandwich under the table but have something special to eat.

Certainly in Paris, even some of the places I have had delightful outdoor picnics (garden at Rodin Museum, for example) were technically not, I think, legal picnic spots even though people do eat sandwiches there.

If you are lucky, it won't be all that cold, and you can have a nice picnic in a park, perfectly possible if the temperature is in the 50's F, especially with a nice bottle of red wine to warm the innards.

I noticed that you mentioned you were staying in an apt.I dont think (given it will be December) that brown bagging it will be possible. If your apt in central you can easily plan to return for a quick lunch. A bowl of soup takes no time to prepare and you maybe thankful for a bit of downtime in the middle of the day.

Hi there mizilene,
What about a table 'outside' or near-outside (by the window inside) at the casual cafe/restaurant located in the gardens at Rodins museum.
The museum and/or restaurant may not be open in December though.
Bon appetite in Paris though .... kjay

Maybe this would be a time to try the dinner cruise on the Seine..since you're looking for a different venue.

Hello M,
I believe I know what you mean.
In NYC we found an enclosed solarium that seems to be made expressly for picnics. It is across the street from the Sony Wonder Theatre.

On a rainy day in Paris I remember wishing that I knew where something similar could be found. We ended up eating in the Orsay's cafeteria.

Also did the sandwich thing in Bercy station waiting for a night train to Venice. Not much fun so I'm interested to hear Fodorites suggestions for next trip to Paris.

If you just want to buy a sandwich and eat it somewhere, you could do that in a train station, as noted. However, lots of places that sell take-away sandwiches may have a small area where you could eat it, anyway.

You really aren't going to save any money versus eating at one of the cheap places that sell sandwiches. Some of them have tables for customers, like Paul, Brioche Doree (I think that's the one, they have a large store with lots of tables on Champs-Elysees). The Louvre has a cheap food court, anyway, so I don't understand why you'd need to bring in your own food to eat at those establishment's tables. You could just buy it there and not carry around food with you all day. I'm sure you probably could bring in your own food and sit there and maybe no one would notice, but I don't see the reason for doing that. Other than train stations, I can't think of any "public" picnic area for people that isn't a park. The concept just doesn't compute as people don't have picnics inside or in the winter, so a city wouldn't build such a thing.

2) Aligot is always available at Chez Flottes, on rue Cambon, across the street from Metro Concorde.

bkmk for restaurants.

There are vending machines on the Batobus, no? So perhaps nobody would mind if you munched your picnic food while floating down the Seine?

The picninc question is a super question, and it seems some good options are coming up, as people are using their creativity and knowledge.

I don't understand why people keep advicing to go to the hotelroom for lunch:)

I hope more people take some extra time to puzzle the little gray ones. I love this post:)