3 wks in Paris-Wanted: good value meals
 

We'll be in Paris for 3 weeks in November and are looking for suggestions on where to find delicious food at moderate prices. We can't afford a 21-day eating orgy! Thanks, Don and Linda <BR>TheTravelzine.com <BR>Non-commercial travelogues http://www.thetravelzine.com

If you go to the Musee d'Orsay, have lunch at the restaurant on the 2nd floor. Good food at decent prices (order the plat du jour) and a beautiful dining room (huge crystal chandaliers) overlooking the Seine.

Hi Don and Linda, <BR> I had a wonderful meal in May at Le Fermette Marbeuf. I highly recommend it for value, ambiance, and especially the food. I had the best creme brulee and escargots I've ever had there. <BR> The restaurant itself is a historic treasure and is of the belle epoque style. I think you'd really like it. Have a great time!

There is LOTS of info on this forum (try a search for "Paris restaurant" and see how many hits you get!) I can recommend "Cheap Eats in Paris" by Guftason; she has rarely steered me wrong. Others have recommended the Leeds Good Value Guide to Paris Restaurants, which you can download at the following site (for a fee): http://www.wfi.fr/leeds/ <BR> <BR>This website is supposedly the 200 "Best Restaurants in Paris" at all price ranges, but you can search by budget: http://www2.integra.fr:8080/top-rest...s.htx?br=paris

Be sure to visit the rue de Seine/rue de Buci neighborhood and put together a picnic lunch/dinner from all the great shops. A great way to eat well on a budget.

Our favorite is Brasserie Balzar on the Rue Des Ecoles (across the stree from the Sorbonne)

Is this a little funny?? Another travel web page asking this web page for recommendations? Are we doing their research for them? <BR> <BR>I realize they say "non-commercial". Still, they are a dot.com, not a dot.org <BR> <BR>Perhaps this is all on the up-and-up. Just wondered if anyone else got a little red flag.

My first reaction is--Why are they going to Paris for three weeks? If as experienced travelers, then why the question? If being sent there on business--why worry? <BR>I don't think I would opt for three weeks in Paris if I've never been there before. It's like Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies not knowing if he wanted to be an airline pilot or a brain surgeon.

Dear Just Curious <BR> <BR>Don and Linda have a great non-commercial web page with a huge amount of detailed information to share. Why don't you check it out before casting aspersions?

Geez, people! Check out their website before slamming them! They are just retired people who love to travel and put their travel logs online. Wouldn't you go to Paris for 3 weeks if you could? I sure would!!

Yes, pick up dinner at the rue de Buci markets and picnic at Pont Neuf, at the very tip of Ile de Cite, watching the sunset and all the tour boats go buy! (Can you tell we just did that?) It was wonderful!

Three weeks! I'm Jealous!!!! Across the street from Notre Dame there are a few Brassieres (whose names I can't recall) that serve excellent soups, crepes, sandwiches and desserts very inexpensively. Stay away from soft drinks they are overpriced. Enjoy!

Don & Linda, <BR>There are some student cafeterias around the Sorbonne. As it's been a decade (seems like another lifetime) since I've been in Paris, I don't remember exactly where. Maybe ask your concierge or host for the location, or just hang out around the Sorbonne & follow the crowds. I also used to splurge for a couscous lunch -- that stuff seems to expand in your stomach and holds you over for days . . . Any Algerian restaurant in the Latin Q will have it. Then there's always good old bread & cheese (half a baguette for dinner & the other [stale] half for breakfast . . . I kid you not.). <BR> <BR>s.

Our favorite meal in Paris is tomato and mozarella paninis or quiche, a good bottle of Bordeaux and a park bench. We honestly prefer that to most restaurants!

Both in the 5eme: <BR>Perraudin [near the Sorbonne]- inexpensive traditional French food. Not fabulous, but there is always a line <BR>Le Jardin des Pates [near Le Jardin des Plantes... hence the play on the name] Rue Lacepede [sp?] I think. Homemade pastas, delicious unusual combinations, very communal place.

When I traveled as a student, I loved going to Chartier on rue Fauborg Montmarte in the 9e. It is nothing fancy, just basic good food and not expensive. However, there is frequently a line to get into the place and it is not a place to have a leisurely meal. Another good option is picnicking from vendors in the Rue Cler neighborhood. There is a great deli in the area with incredible take-out dishes.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and to those of you who put out the undeserved flames, a special merci! L&D

I recommend the Leeds Good Valus Guide to Paris Restaurants, which you buy via the net (www.wfi.fr/leeds) and have emailed to you or download. The author has suggestions in all arrondisements, concentrates on budget-conscious dining, and includes lots of ethnic places and other non-touristed spots. <BR> <BR>In Paris, we found that the ubiquitous chain La Briosche Dorée has a very good lunch deal for 34FF to go or 44FF to stay (but includes coffee), where you get a drink, sandwich on baguette or grilled panino, and choice of dessert (exquisite 4" individual tartlets were our choice). Atmosphere is fast foodish, but food quality is high. We went three times: two picnics, and the last stayd there for 10 more FF because of the rain. I also recommend creperies, which often have great fixed price deals, but even a la carte are very affordable (not to forget streetside crepe stands for lunch on the gop, of course). Two creperies we especially liked were Creperie des Arts on rue St-Andre de Arts in the 6th and Creperies Beaubourg on the Place Igo Stravisnky next to the Centre George Pompidou in the 4th.

The Cote Seine's fixed price menu was the best!! My husband & I started out with escargot, had duck for dinner, chose a yummy dessert and had a bottle of wine for $64.50 and that included the tip.

cheap eats is good; zagats & timeout paris, also. <BR>Lots of great cheap eats: chinese & asian food, many brassieres offer good deals; pick up yummy breads & cheeses etc & have a picnic in your room-bring a knife! Crepes are good once in awhile; <BR>always mcdonalds; good pizza!