What is the French equivalent of "fast food", and I don't mean french fries. What can you get for a quick lunch or light dinner without breaking the bank. Also what is the chance of being able to sit outside at a little cafe, and sip a glass of wine, 9/25 - 10/16. I will be in Paris, and Nice. Thanks.

France has plenty of &quot;junk food&quot; places like MacDo's and Le Quick and others, but if you really mean alternatives to fast food places, there's plenty to choose from. A typical lunch might be a sandwich of p&acirc;t&eacute; or ham or cheese or chicken or crduit&eacute;s or some combination, a panino (just as in Italy, cheese and tomatoes or ham or chicken or whatever warmed up in a baguette), &quot;un hot dog&quot; (usually a foot-long sausage baked inside a baaguette with emmenthaler cheese), a cr&egrave;pe with any number of savory or sweet fillings, or any kind of salad. Sandwich places serving such fare are ubiquitous in Paris and Nice. <BR>Lots of caf&eacute;s have plastic enclosures and portable heaters for use when the weather gets cold but still nice enough for people to want to eat &quot;outside.&quot;

I don't know about Nice, but Budget Traveller magazine for March has an article on the best budget Paris restaurants. They won't necessarily be &quot;fast&quot;, but they should be good and affordable.

Hi Barb. In addition to what StCirq said, when you're in Nice, be sure to try a Nicoise speciality, socca, a kind of pancake/crepe made out of chickpeas.<BR><BR>Here are two different websites which mention a little bit about socca...<BR><BR>http://communities.prodigy.net/food/john4.html<BR><BR>http://www.coaltrainwine.com/newslet...letter0009.htm <BR><BR>In Paris, for a quick inexpensive lunch, I always like one of the fairly-numerous falafel places.

I've read Coque Monsieur (sp) is a good fast food? I do not know what it is. I have a $50 a day food budget - including vin and tip -is this a reasonable amount?

Hi Barb,<BR> A croque monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.<BR> $50/day is a quite adequate food budget, especially if your hotel offers breakfast.<BR> You can breakfast on a croissant and cup of coffee for under $2.00, lunch for about $6.00 and have a pleasant dinner (main course and appetizer or dessert) with a 1/2 bottle of wine for about $25.00.<BR> You can also save money on lunch by shopping at a bakery or deli.<BR> Have a great trip.<BR>

Barb, a Croque Monsieur (there's also a Madame counterpart) is basically a ham-and-cheese sandwich. Whether it's good or not depends partly on how it's prepared and partly on what your tastes are.<BR><BR>Croque Monsieur &amp; Croque Madame<BR><BR>http://www.ffcook.com/pages/Wquestarch20.htm<BR><BR>You can, IMO, eat quite easily on a budget of $50/day. But, again, that depends on what your tastes are. If you went to a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, for example, just inhaling the air might set you back $25. <BR>

I LOVE french fast food! A hunk of brie cheese with &quot;ham&quot; (its more like prosciutto) on fresh french bread is among my favorite meals at anytime! Its made fresh as you order it, its portable and cheap! Bon Apetit!

My favorite light VERY &quot;fast&quot; food lunches in France were made up of small portions of a variety of items that appealed to my nose and eyes in outdoors markets: e.g., always wonderful cheeses, olives (in Provence but not in the Dordogne), bread, fruit. Sometimes tiny onion or vegetable pizze from bakeries--sometimes warmed up, sometimes not--weren't bad either, but I preferred the foods in the markets.

Mmmm French Fast Food! <BR>Crepes from a man near the Eiffel Tower.<BR>Brie on a baguette.<BR>A pain au chocolate with a cup of coffee.<BR>A pate compagne sandwich on crusty French bread.<BR>Onion soup and a salad.<BR>Omelette fromage with a salad.<BR>Usually in Paris, they have these great heaters that keep you warm sitting out of doors on a chilly day.<BR>We are in Paris every November and we still sit outside whenever we can.<BR>

You can definitely eat cheaply at lunchtime without resorting the French equivalent of fast food. Crepes, the previously mentioned croque monsieur, onion soup are just a sampling of what's available.<BR>And, yes, you should be able to sit outdoors with no problem (unless it's raining, of course) through early-mid October.

Is it usually warm enough to dine outside mid to late April?

The croque madame is essentially the same sandwich with a fried egg on top! Other options for lighter cafe-type meals include omelettes (I had the best one of my life, with cepes, a type of mushroom, in Paris) and salads. My favorite of the latter is frisee aux lardons. This salad is (obviously) made with frisee, a slightly bitter green that is like curly endive and lardons, which are bits of French bacon, tossed in a vinegary dressing with a poached egg on top. You cut into the egg to let the yolk act as part of the dressing, and it is delicious. I've done a passable version at home, but the bacon isn't quite the same so it's not as good.<BR><BR>I've also stopped in at a wine bar and had just soup or an assiette du fromage (cheese plate with bread) and a glass of an interesting red if I'm hungry at an off hour.

Check out a self-serve place called &quot;Flunch&quot;. I think it was recently mentioned in Frommer's Budget Travel (or something I get in the mail). We have eaten there before - it's located at Les Halles.<BR>You serve yourself from salad bar, fruit bar, beverage case (incl wine), and get a hot entree (American usage) and veggie/frites, take your tray up to the cashier to pay. Fountain drinks and ice!, condiments, etc past the cashier. Full of families, students, etc.<BR>For about $8-11 you can get full on decent (not gourmet, but not bad) food.<BR>I know it's 'French' because you have to be sure to use the right dish for the right bar, or the hostess may come and 'redo' it for you <BR><BR>Otherwise, the walkup places have great ready-made salads, sandwiches, pastries, etc.

There's a wonderful little book of essays translated from the french best seller:<BR>&quot;We could almost eat outside&quot;

What great responses - I guess it's a great topic. Merci

You bet it's a great topic - it's FOOD!

P.S. Don't pronounce it &quot;Croak&quot; Monsieur, or you'll end up with frog legs and cheese on toasted bread.

I was also going to mention Flunch! I don't think of it as high-quality food, but if you are on the go and on a budget, that will do. I did think the Flunch in Nice was waaaaaay better than the one in Paris, though. maybe franchising is not the same in France.....hahaha