We will be staying at Hotel Muguet Eiffel Invalides over the four day Easter weekend in April. We enjoy smaller, moderately-priced restaurants and if possible, ones with less smoking. Also, will many stores, restaurants be closed for Easter? We would like to walk through Ile de Cite and Ile St. Louis on Easter Monday~will everything be closed? Thanks for your wonderful information!

Le Florimond (totally non-smoking), Auberge de Bressane, La Fontaine de Mars, Thoumieux, and Punjab for excellent Indian.

I'm pretty sure all the stores will be closed for Easter. Some restaurants, too, though I'm sure you won't starve. I think it will be the same on Easter Monday.

I'm curious for replies as well. I will be staying at Muguet the same dates - see you there!

StCirq~Thank you for the recommendations. Will we need reservations, and if so, what is the best way to do that? Chicgal~I will check the website. Thanks! Coldwar, do you have your itinerary in place yet, considering the holiday?

I second Thomieux!

Reservations can be booked through your hotel, or call them yourself, we always do.

I would strongly second the Fontaine de Mars, I don't know if it will be warm enough to sit outside but it is in a lovely little courtyard with a glimpse of the top of the Tour Eiffel over surrounding buildings. Food was wonderful.

We have eaten at Brasserie Ecole Militaire a few times. It feels relaxed, where you can just order what you want, not necessarily any set courses. For various visits, we've had trout, mussels, the 'salade supreme'(a big salad plate/meal), sometimes an appetizer, and once a dessert we shared. Hubby likes 'American champagne' (coke) and I have a glass of wine or a bottled water. Our largest check was maybe 40 Euro. I doubt they have separate smoking areas but I don't remember being bothered.

Always, La Fontaine de Mars

Hi mystar. I have not quite planned out the schedule yet. I am in a "wing it" mode right now but that will probably change. I know I will do one day at Versailles and want to attempt to see the Crown of Thorns display. Since the last time I was in Paris (June/July 2003), I have read the daVinci Code and want to visit some of the places mentioned in the book as well.

Travelnut:

I'm pretty sure the Brasserie Ecole Militaire is closed. It was on both my last October and last April trips - looked as though it had burned out. Maybe it's been reopened since October?

Or maybe I'm thinking of another place? The one I'm taking about was right across the street from La Terrasse, but still on the Place Ecole Militaire.

Bistrot du 7e
It is on Blvd de Latour-Maubourg not far from Ecole Militaire metro. Good Food and Inexpensive.
BTW.. Brasserie Ecole Militaire was being renovated (rebuilt) last autumn.

Brasserie Ecole Militaire has been open on our last several trips. The one that was closed was Le Tourville - directly across from La Terrasse. In early January, Le Tourville had been remodeled and reopened. La Terrasse had also undergone a transformation.

I second Bistro 7eme, Fontaine du Mars. Also highly recommend Le Maupertu - on Latour Maubourg, close to the corner of Avenue de Tourville.

Enjoy the Muguet! We stayed there in January for the first time and have already booked it for a June visit.

KirRoyale has it right. Br Ecole-M is around the corner, I think you are looking over at the Splendid Hotel from its terrace. It is on avenue de Tourville. I remember passing by an empty corner brasserie closer to the metro stop, so that must be the one being renovated. My last visit to this area was Oct 2002.

Thanks, Kir and Travelnut, for the correction. You're right - it's the Tourville.

All of these recommendations are wonderful! This is our first trip to France. We will end the two weeks in Paris for 5 nights. I would like to reserve a restaurant for our first night as we will have traveled by car and train and would like to have a warm, relaxing dinner. Is there a website for telephone numbers in Paris that would be useful or should I ask the restaurant to book a table? Thank you for all of the information. Many of you have been so valuable in planning this trip. Merci!

The Bistro du Breteuil is my only dining experience in the 7th; how does it compare in terms of food, ambience,etc., with the others often mentioned here, eg, Florimond, Fontaine, Champs du Mars, Auberge du Bressane, etc.? I thought it was good value for the price, pleasant enough, good food, but don't know that I would go again until I've tried some of the others.