shellio

Ingres refers to Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a major French painter of the 18th-19th century.

Ingres enjoyed playing the violin and the phrase "violon d'Ingres" has come to mean an enjoyable activity or hobby.

It is also the name of a famous Man Ray photograph showing a woman's nude back with violin shapes applied to it.

Scarlett

And the art on the walls are details from d'Ingres paintings.
The name is an homage to d'Ingres who is from the same town as Christian Constant.

One of our most favorite restaurants in Paris.

cigalechanta

That woman was the famous Kiki of Montparnesse lover of many artists like Man Ray

plambers

i am unable to get any information from bonjour paris since i am not a member. how are you finding it? thanks

plambers

I love your posts and think we are kindred spirits, at least as far as our love for good food and wine. You MUST try L'Astrance. We ate there 4 years ago and it was the highlight of our trip. I think it had recently opened and I made reservations months in advance. It was also about $150 for the two of us for dinner (it is $300 now) -we had the tasting menu with wine included. there were about 12-15 courses with some additional courses that were not officially on the menu but they were looking to see how they were received. there were also 2 desserts. the service was more formal than we prefer but it was an experience.

robjame

plambers - Don't you just love any meal that has two desserts! I find the bonjourparis website difficult to navigate. I joined a couple of weeks ago and am still trying to find my way around. I think most of the restaurant reviews that cigalechanta was talking about are in the forum or discussion pages. You access them by the menu at the top, however I am unsure if you can read them without being a member.

plambers

robjame-I am sorry to say I am not much of a dessert eater but my husband was thrilled-this way he got 3 desserts!
I lived on bonjour paris for our first and second trips to paris and provence-it was free then and it gave me great info and confidence. However, I think their fee is pretty high(would rather spend the money on food!). The forums are where you will get all the information. I can view the information but can't post a query, but you can since you are a member. Same for ZAGATS-that was free our first 2 trips too.
If you are a member, ask them about the l'express article that mentioned the 30 best bistros under 30 E. I have eaten in some but not all (that is my goal before I die!) and did a translation but it did not translate well. Here is the link http://www.lexpress.fr/mag/saveurs/d...asp?ida=431865.
We are going to Paris 4/28-5/6 of this year and I am avidly reading the reviews. I tried to make reservations at Le comptoir over a month ago and they were booked thru june. Once I get my list narrowed down, I am afraid I will be posting to ask people to comment on my choices. Life is too short for a mediocre meal!

robjame

plambers - Great find on the Bistro list! Now I have another quest to devote myself to.
We overlap your Paris time slightly.
Here is when we will be where.
April 23-30 Paris
May 1 - 2 Lyon
May 3 - 8 St Remy
May 9 - Le Rey (Le Vignan)
May 10 - Meyrueis
May 11 - Estaing
May 12 - Saint-Cirq Lapopie
May 13 - 18 Domme (Saturday - Thursday)
May 19 - 20 Amboise
May 21 - 24 Paris
You mentioned Provence - any "don't miss dining" suggestions?

plambers

robjame, i am embarrassed to say but i somehow found a food critic and have been corresponding w/ him directly and he gave me the l'express list. (i do take this way too seriously!).do you speak french? mine is minimal and the translation i got from the internet was brutal. if you can somehow translate, that would be great to share. there were about 4 to die for provence restaurants. we stayed in isle sur la sorge so we ate in the luberon areas. i will search my records and let you know. one was in gordes-we ate outside in a garden with lanterns hanging from trees etc. there was another we ate at twice (a 1* michelin) in some tiny town, and one right outside of st remy where we ate after the wed market. pretty famous but i can't remember the name. the owner gave us an autographed poster that we have framed and i longinly remember my meal there.
how are you able to get away for a month or do you live in europe and enjoy their generous vacations?
let's get our lists close to finalization and share. i have a 2 and 4 year old and this trip (sans the children) took so much doing that i doubt we'll be returning any time soon so this one had better supply enough memories to bridge the time gap!

JulieVikmanis

Plambers, our dates in Paris overlap yours completely. Thanks for the post about Paris bistros. I just picked up a great little book of photographs of Paris Bistros that has pix of several of those listed in the article. I'm using the book to search out historic old picturesque bistros that I can get my husband to photograph for a series to display in our dining area. Perhaps we could meet at one of them for a dink during our mutual stay.

DAX

tagging this thread