I agree with earlier respondents who advise that you write out the opening sentence for a reservation request, and then ask "Parlez vous anglais, s'il vous plait?" Most will admit that they can speak a little ("un peu,") which is enough to get a reservation.

In our day travels, if a restaurant appeals, we'd stop in and ask for a reserv that evening or later in our stay. We also case the neighborhood for possiblities. Except for the very grand places, many restaurants won't fill up until the evening, but since many are small and don't rush you, a resrvation is appreciated -- it's a courtesy to the kitchen staff to manage the flow (you can't imagine how tiny some of those kitchens are at the "quaint little places...") Like you, I don't want to start the trek from restaurant to reetaurant when I'm hungry! As others note: you may want to nail something down for Sunday or Monday when many restaurants are closed.

'Should also mention that the Flo Brasseries are a good option in that they can make a resrv via internet. You can check to see if other restaurants on your list have an internet website.

Obviously, there are many good dining options, but a fun tactic is to pick up a book of the historic bistros of Paris, in one form or another (I've seen a few versions.) The neighborhood place can be great, but there is something special about the historic ones. Yes. you'll deal with tourists, but you will just about anywhere in Paris.

Grandmere, I am the friend Deb was meeting on Saturday. We ended up having dinner at Chez Fernand. I speak french and I had called a couple of places (almost 3 weeks before for "Les fables de La Fontaine") and all of them told me that they were fully booked.

I saw the apartment and it was really cute, I have bookmarked it for the future.

Bye, Cova

Cova, so glad to hear that Deb got to Paris last week; I was wondering b/c of the dreadful weather here on 2/14.

Did you enjoy Chez Fernand? Hope so1

We had the most incredible weather last weekend. Sunny and warm. We walked all over the place. In fact, the weather in Madrid had been wet and windy, so I was carrying way too many clothes and ended up having to buy a pair of ballerinas to survive until dinner.

We had a lovely dinner, but probably the best part was the company ;)

Bye, Cova