jazzie

My husband and I have never been to Paris and keep hearing about how smokey the restaurants are. We are both very sensitive to smoke and have been known to decline meeting friends out at particular venues due to a smokey atmosphere. For the most part we were anticipating eating at outdoor cafes so smokers wont be much of a concern; however, we would like to splurge on a grand romantic dinner in Paris. My worry is spending the grand amount of money required for such an evening and it being spoiled by a smokey restaurant. Is it really that bad? Are there restaurants we should avoid, or better yet, you would recommend which smoking wouldn't be an issue?

Gretchen

Restaurants are not smokey in our experience.

tedgale

In my experience you would be better inside than outside -- people really do smoke up a storm on the sidewalk!

Most restaurants are not smoky; many if not most have non-smoking sections, unless they are tiny.

I think there are new rules about smoking, anyway.

There are a few expressly no-smoking restaurants in Paris -- try a google search under "non fumeur - restaurant - Paris"

Hal8999

I can't remember being bothered by smoke in western European restaurants in several years, and I, too, am very sensitive to smoke.

L'auberge de la Reine Blanche on the Ile St Louis used to be an extraordinary experience. It's changed hands since the last time I ate there but the food is reportedly still very good. This is a small restaurant, reservations are essential. Seating is quite compact; you will have the opportunity to meet your dining neighbors which is a lot more fun than it might sound.

djkbooks

We have observed less and less smoking in Paris restaurants over the last ten years.

Note that exhaust fumes are problematic at sidewalk cafes - particularly from the huge tour buses.

Best for dining outdoors are restaurants with lovely garden terraces out back.

Christina

I've only been in a few places in Paris that I thought were noticeably smoky, and they were pretty low end. Of course you could get next to someone doing that outside. But I really don't think the very expensive top restaurants are going to have smoky rooms or have you sitting in layers of smoke.

mulifat

We have had several pricey dinners in Paris ruined by smoking. And yes, outdoors can be worse than indoors as crazy as that sounds. If you are sensitive I strongly suggest you make sure the restaurant has a nonsmoking area that is clearly separated

StCirq

Grandiose...............grandeos has quite another connotation.

No, smoking;s not a problem in most Parisian restaurants these days. Just watch yourselves on the sidewalks if you're sensitive.

sandykins

Never. DH and I are non-smokers, and DH is very sensitive to cigarette smoke. However, we've eaten a week of dinners in Paris without once finding the air inside the restaurant excessively smokey. We were never asked whether we wanted a "non-fumeur" zone, and we never asked for it, either, because we always preferred to be in the main dining room or area if possible.

When you are in the class of restaurant where you are spending "a grand amount of money," as you put it, you can be sure that the staff would accomodate you if at any point during the dinner you found the air unpleasant.

Julienas

The website
www.smokefreeworld.com is supposed to list non-smoking places

Paris has a new law saying that restaurants have to offer non-smoking areas; it is enforced not everywhere, but in many places.

One well-known place that has a no-smoking area (enforced) is the Brasserie Bofinger, in the Marais, 5 rue de la Bastille.

tara3056

Le Florimond in the 7th is non-smoking as a whole, and was very very good. Price was about 90 Euros for two, including half-bottle of wine.

jazzie

Thanks so much for all your replies. This is very reassuring and am looking forward to a lovely memorable dinner in Paris.
Julienas - thanks for the website! What a great resource.

Bonjour_Voyageurs

Living in a smoke free state in New England one quickly forgets how fortunate we are to be able to eat and breathe at the same time (what a concept!)
Ironically I learned how to smoke the almighty strong Gitanes and Gauloises while growing up in Paris (at a boarding school-I was 12). A dozen or so years later and after many attempts, I managed to quit a 2 and a half pack a day addiction on 12/31/1979.
Heading to Paris and Provence in May and dreading the 'section non fumeur' which is basically like the non chlorinated section of a pool.
What a pity to be subjected to 4,000+ carcinogenic chemicals while attempting to savor the most delicious food in the world.
I had already resolved to just make the very best of the situation but now thanks to Julienas have found many smokefree listings at http://www.smokefreeworld.com/france.shtml
Merci!
Michèle

nytraveler

Some restaurants are more smoky than others - but it's more a matter of who you're seated next to - and if they're polite or self-centered.

If they're polite they will aim their smoke away from you. If they're rude and self-centered they will aim it at you so they don;t have to breathe it. In that case I take the menu and wave the smoke back to their table. (Only once has anyone had the nerve to comment - she complained to the waiter - who told her to put her cigarette on the other side of the table - which was near a window - or take another table.)

Art_Vandelay

Michèle, the anti smoking ayatollah, does not, I am sure, drive 40 miles a day, and thus never sends any "carcinogenic chemicals" into the air. She never over heats or uses her A/C under 80°.
A tolerant non smoker.

tod

I was with three smokers this last trip so we were always seated in the smoking section.
I really had to laugh when we discovered a "non-smoking" table in the restaurant at Le Train Bleu was the one across the aisle from us! Seems like if
you want "smoking" - we give you an astray, you want "non-smoking" - we take the astray away!

Bonjour_Voyageurs

Perhaps Monsieur Vandelay is not aware that female ayatollahs are as viable as female popes: they do not exist.
He is correct with the assumption that I do not drive 40 miles a day nor do I overheat or use A/C under 80° (I do not drive that much in a week and do not own an A/C)
Aside from comparing apples to oranges, Monsieur Vandelay completely missed my point of thanking Julienas for mentioning a valuable website.
Identifying himself as a "tolerant non smoker" is quite admirable but to some extent quite ignorant. In the definition of secondhand smoke there is no such thing as secondhand exposure to vehicle exhaust fumes mostly because tailpipes do not invade a human's 'personal space'. To quote from the abstract written by Dr. James L. Repace, world renowned expert on the subject: "Breathing secondhand-smoke causes morbidity and mortality from cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease, as well as acute sensory irritation. It causes the premature death of hundreds of thousands of nonsmokers worldwide. Smoke-free buildings are the only remedy. Secondhand smoke cannot be controlled by ventilation, air cleaning, or spatial separation of smokers from nonsmokers".
Bon Appétit!
Michèle

Art_Vandelay

Michèle, I had forgotten you were a "born again non smoker": so it is true that converts tend to overdo it and become die hard fanatics.

Christina

<< In the definition of secondhand smoke there is no such thing as secondhand exposure to vehicle exhaust fumes mostly because tailpipes do not invade a human's 'personal space'>>

You can't be serious! Have you never heard of air pollution? Which is what secondhand smoke is, as well as car exhaust.

I don't think anyone will say any kind of air pollutant is good for one, including cigarette smoke (not to mention cigar smoke which literally makes me almost throw up, and I will leave if I have to be near that) -- but how can you seriously claim that exhaust from a car is of no consequence to anyone because it doesn't "invade someones' personal space". This doesn't support your cause of knowing what you are talking about. As a matter of fact, I used to live in LA (which has improved the environment a lot), and I have read scientific studies that show that living in a city like LA is equivalent to smoking about a half pack a day or more. If you've ever been in a really polluted city (like some in China), you can literally blow soot out of your nose.

Bonjour_Voyageurs

Christina - I apologize for not making myself understood more clearly. I should have emphasized second hand -tobacco- smoke in an -enclosed- area.
The argument of vehicle exhaust vs. second hand -tobacco- smoke was finally put to bed a couple of years ago:
New Study: Tobacco Smoke More Toxic than Car Fumes [08/24-1]
Smoking more toxic than car fumes People who smoke cigarettes are pumping out 10 times more toxic air than cars, say experts
BBC News [08/24/04]
Tobacco smoke produced far more fine particulate matter - the element of air pollution most dangerous for health - than diesel exhaust.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_ne...00/3590578.stm
And no Art, I am not a die hard fanatic (I love how this guy attacks and labels me yet claims to be tolerant). I am just a nice human being who dedicated over a decade of her life informing others about the dangers of enviromental tobacco smoke, exposing the lies of the tobacco cartel, and preventing under age youth from starting a deadly addiction. I always felt badly for (and to some extent annoyed by) non-smokers who from lack of knowledge did not lend support once they knew the scientific facts. You just reminded me of such folks.
This thread has gone way past jazzie's original question and I think we ought to just let go of the issue. Thanks once again to julieannas for suggesting the http://www.smokefreeworld.com/france.shtml website.
Michèle