Al, I'm not sure what kind of a place you are looking for or perhaps I or someone else could make better suggestions. Before, I thought you said you wanted a hot trendy place but now you don't want high cover charges or late night dance bars, so those are the hot spots often (and they will be expensive). Anyway, if you were considering the Moulin Rouge, that is very expensive so you couldn't spend that much very easily in a bar, so I wouldn't worry if that's the comparison (I think that is $75 or so without dinner and $125 or so with). Now, I am not the club or bar scene person or the hippest hip myself--however, bars usually don't have cover charges it seems to me, it will be the clubs with dancing that do (they are not high at all for a whole night IMO, even the trendiest may be only about US$10 during the week or $20 on weekends). These bars (like Man Ray, Buddha, other ones like that) make a lot on the drinks and food, those will be expensive. So, I don't think there is a cover charge at May Ray or Buddha, espec. not weekdays, but drinks will be $10-12 probably and both serve meals which aren't too bad (maybe 300F). I have read the food at Man Ray is actually not too bad. For eating, you must have reservations, and they get crowded anyway, so you might not get in otherwise. My favorite ex-Prez, Bill Clinton, took Chelsea to Buddha last summer, so there you go. Sean Penn and Johnny Depp own part of Man Ray. I think you see these are very trendy, popular places for beautiful people (like models, actors, etc), and yes, you should dress the part, so is that what you want? Barfly is another, I would go to Buddha myself.<BR> I'll tell you a cheaper very Parisian place but it's mainly for music and dancing, not sitting around at a table, and that is Caveau de la Huchette; it's down in a cellar and has a cover charge but it's not bad. Good place for getting picked up, guaranteed (ha ha, I did meet a charming French lawyer there, but females won't be alone long). They play mostly jazz, but often more like dixieland. It gets very crowded so it can be hard to get a place to sit, but if you go early you might.<BR> I think I suggested you view jazz clubs on
www.jazzvalley.com but I gather that isn't what you want, right?<BR> Here's one idea, but I'm not clear what these guests want -- Les Trois Maillets is a piano bar/jazz hole-in- the-wall in the Latin Qtr with drinks less than $10 (last I saw) and I don't think there is a cover. Here's a little article on a musician there which may give you an idea of its style: www.paris.org/Curiosites/Maillets<BR>They have a nice piano bar at the Hotel Lutece, also.<BR> There is an English-language comedy club that is popular for that audience (comedians are British or Austrialian) called Hotel du Nord near Republique metro. Those tickets are about 100-120F.<BR> So, what are you really looking for, a bar, music, or something else? If you need tips on how to get into trendy hotspots, I will devise a plan. <BR>
