Mamaw,

My husband doesn't eat meat and had no problem in French restaurants. He does eat fish.

Also, you need to go to the open-air food markets. We were near the Saxe-Breteuil market in the 7th but you'll be near the market on Blvd. Raspail. On Sundays it is all organic.

Here's an older interview with the Barefoot contessa, who mentions Raspail.
http://www.fodors.com/news/story_2159.html

Mrs. Peabody and I usually had hunter-gatherer picnics for Parisian lunches, or occasionally for supper if the lunch was a biggy at a too-pricey restaurant. Sometimes it was gathered going from shop to shop, sometimes the food basement at Galleries Lafayette or Bon Marche, sometimes from a traiteur (especially from Gargantua, if we were nearby). A new type of cheese here, a bread from there, some charcuterie, fruits and vegs, a bottle of rediculously cheap wine, a new patisserie find, and a seat in a park or on a bench or in the hotel room. Sometimes it was a fancy sandwich or a rotisserie chicken. Whatever.

We always bring a picnic kit with us, plastic plates and cups, cheap cutlery (plastic nowadays to keep the TSA off our backs), paper napkins, and a corkscrew in the checked luggage.

Two restaurant meals a day puts on too much weight. A lunch or a supper picnic is just right.

I couldn't wait to get home and check this thread. I was just in awe by the food in the department stores in Paris. I just couldn't get enough. The students were running around buying clothes and sovienirs. I on the other hand was drooling over all the sandwiches and pastries behind the counters. I was jealous that we didn't have this kind of stuff in the USA.

I mean why can't I buy a eclair like one in Paris here in Detroit? I'm sorry, I've tried them every where, not one has ever compared. Even the so called "French Bakeries" NOTHING has compared to Paris. Hell, the gas station has better food than the "French Bakeries" here in the Metro Detroit area. And we were founded (after the American Indians) by the French. They forgot to leave some bakers

Thanks for all the idea's. I just keep looking at all the department stores and deli's on google street view, that is the best invention yet on the computer...

For special--and expensive-but-good-value--places for lunch, I ate at La Grande Cascade and Le Cinq solo last spring. Okay, at Le Cinq I met someone but I would go there alone in a heartbeat. Have a wonderful trip. I look forward to reading your report.

My favorite place to buy a sandwich is the grocery store near the Ecole Militaire metro stop. They are sold outside the store, and are very fresh and made with wonderful bread. You can buy a bottle of wine inside the store, if you want.

We like to take the short walk to the Champ du Mars and eat our lunch with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower!

I find it so strange that tourists go to department stores to buy food. Do they really need to spend all that extra money?

I don't think tourists go to department stores with the intention of buying food. They go there to shop and then discover the food section and get carried away.

Well, I have been called strange many a times.....

And I do get carried away when it comes to food. Especially if it's something special or unique. And if it's something I've never had before, gotta have it.

When I discovered Harrods a few years ago, my brother about dies when I didn't by anything. I was too in awe to do anything but stare and point a lens Now that was food Mecca.

But the French do ohh so much better.

My airline friends and I quite frequently hit up the Monoprix next to our hotel for grocery goodies to eat in our rooms,picnic or on the flight home-there are some amazing things to purchase in the deli section which are wonderful to savor when you are wide awake at 230am in your hotel room from your jet lag!

Food from a traiteur usually is much better than food which is served in a tourists' restaurant (those with English menus and photographs of the dishes on display).

My favourites are the fish and seafood terrines and cold lobster tails with mayonaise and vegetables. Foie gras isn't bad either. Foie gras de canard is excellent value for money (buy that which is sealed in plastic and alu foil, not the canned variety which has a tin taste). A loaf of bread, a package of foie gras and a small jar of jelly or jam makes a perfect dish. What about this menu:

1. Slice of terrine de saumon.
2. Foie gras de canard with jelly.
3. Tarte aux chocolat.

You had me up until the foie gras with jelly.

I think when Echnaton says jelly he/she means something like an apple or fig confit, or perhaps jellied consommé, which are frequently served with foie gras. I doubt he means Polaner's.

<i>My airline friends and I quite frequently hit up the Monoprix next to our hotel for grocery goodies to eat in our rooms,picnic or on the flight home-there are some amazing things to purchase in the deli section which are wonderful to savor when you are wide awake at 230am in your hotel room from your jet lag!</i>

When my office was next to the spectacular Monoprix at Beaugrenelle (with lots of crews at the Nikko, now a Novotel), there were times when it seemed at though half of the customers were in airline uniforms. I was never able to determine if they were crews that had just arrived and had to buy some things immediately or crews just about to fly out with tons of goodies to take back.

Kerouac-both!
Does this mean that we perhaps have crossed paths in Paris?
Hated the hotel but LOVED that Monoprix with all of its goodies.

Yes, we saw each other in the Monoprix.

Had I known... Was it in the wine aisle or looking for my favorite chocolate crepes?
Kerouac-have you ever eaten at Le Blevet near there? Its my favorite restaurant in Paris!

I just got an email from Franchon Paris. I signed up for their email specials. I was drooling over their little goodies. I can't wait to shop around. And I also printed up some 10-20% off coupons for Printemps in Paris too. Their good until Dec. 2010. Check it out on their website.

It's been mentioned above already I see, but many bakeries have ALL kinds of excellent choices to-go, not just pastries. Quiche, ready-made sandwiches, etc. A lovely chicken salad on whole wheat bread eaten on a park bench near the Sorbonne on a sunny day... a favorite memory.

Do you mean Fauchon, Mamaw?

Some hotels do not allow eating in rooms!