Brian in Atlanta

Just kidding . . . <BR> <BR>Actually, we leave for 10 days in Ghent and Paris 5/19. After hogging the availability of the search function for the last couple of weeks (sorry), we still have a few last-minute questions: <BR> <BR>1. Restaurants - Ghent - would love any recommendations for lunch/dinner - prefer non-touristy neighborhood restaurants or brassieres. Beer garden recommendations would be great too. We have good info on Brugge (which we plan to visit) but there's little out there on Ghent. Paris - for dinner, we've planned on La Truffiere (are all tables in the cellar or do I need to request this with our reservation?), Maurommatis (my wife loves Greek), Le Petit Nicois, Il Fiorentino and possibly Chantairelle (is this too touristy?). Are any of these bad choices? <BR> <BR>2. Transportation - Ghent to Paris: we fly into Brussels and leave from CDG. Getting from BRU to Ghent seems pretty straight forward (no pre-booking required?). From Ghent to Paris seems a tad more complicated. The direct Thayls leaves too late for us (anxious to get to Paris), so how difficult would it be to take the hourly train from Ghent to Brussels and transfering to either the TGV or the Thayls? Can I make a reservation on the Thayls or TGV at the Ghent station? And then do I need to buy the ticket for the Ghent-Brussels leg at a separate window? <BR> <BR>3. Transportation - Paris: RER B line from Paris Nord - if I'm looking at my map correctly, it looks like I can transfer from the Saint Michel RER station to the Cluny Metro station (I need to go to Cardinal Lemoine). And I can do this on a single billet? <BR> <BR>4. Jules Verne for drinks: Is this really possible, just to have drinks at the bar if you're not eating there? Is this worth it (are we talking $10 a drink or $20)? Tie required? <BR> <BR>5. Saint Chapelle - haven't been able to get ampconcerts.com to work for me. Are there standby tickets usually available? When would you suggest we show up to try to score a couple of these? <BR> <BR>Sorry for the length of this. Thanks in advance for any help with any of the above!

MarkJ

I can only help wquestion 5, when we were in Paris back in April the gentelman at the St. Chapelle ticket booth said they always have tickets available the up to and including the day of the concert. My guess is they onlt make x # out of z # of tickets available over the internet and sell the rest on premises.

norena

<BR>They accepted ours last year. Just don't bring a lot of the larger denominations unless you plan to eat a lot!!&lt;g <BR> <BR>BTW, great catchy title! Got me to read your post! We are eager for those Euros to arrive next year (I think). Sure will make traveling to Europe a lot easier for some of us. <BR>

Carol

Dear Brian, <BR> <BR>There's another much less expensive restaurant/bar in the Eiffel Tower which is also easier to get reservatons for--it's called Altitude 95, and, of course, you have the same view you get from the Jules Verne. I plan to try it in September.

s.fowler

Only if you are wearing a crispy pink running suit and white Reeboks. <BR> <BR>Re: #3 - There is a connection in my memory - but if my memory is worth anything it's a loooooooooooooong walk.

elvira

Euros can be used only to purchase McHaggis-in-a-Tube. <BR> <BR>2) The Ghent-Bruxelles-Paris trip works well; you can buy the whole thing in Ghent at one ticket window (you'll be taking the Thalys from Brussels; if you went to Lille, you'd be taking the TGV). <BR> <BR>3) You can use the same ticket. PBA, the St Michel station and Cluny are connected by a looooooooooooooong corridor.

elaine

Hi Brian <BR>try this website as well for church concerts <BR>http://www.pariscope.fr (for concerts, look under "musique") <BR> <BR>or try this one <BR>www.leconcertographe.com