You are correct that the taxis seemed less expensive than I thought they would be. We took the Metro a lot thinking we were avoiding traffic, but it probably would have been quicker to take a taxi. Also, we had most of our big meals at lunchtime - so we were in the touristy areas. If we had planned our big meals at night, we could have ventured further afield. Oh well, hopefully we'll be back again soon and can plan differently. In the meantime, though, despite the tourist rut mentioned above, we had a wonderful trip and ate very well.

The problem with this approach, and I just got back from Paris last night after hitting all the greatest hits restaurants listed above, is that when you are a tourist and are only there for one week, you are likely going to see all the tourist attractions where these restaurants are also located. It's difficult to venture out of these areas when your time is so limited and getting around Paris is time consuming. I wish I was that person who could come to Paris once a year!! Or maybe, if I ever get to retire, I could spend a couple of months in Paris.

Thank you. My daughter and I are celebrating our 50th and 25th birthdays, respectively. I also spent my (first) honeymoon in Paris 27 years ago! It was wonderful. Keep your reports coming and enjoy!

Thank you so much for the report. I have been following your plans because my daughter and I are doing a very similar trip (without the honeymoon part, of course) in less than 2 weeks. Glad to hear the report on the beef bourg. at jcd. Regarding chez l'ami jean, do you recall if they are still offering 3 set menus at night, along with a la carte?

Your reports are making us so excited for our trip! Thank you!!

Thanks. It appears we will be awash with steak tartare! I know I said one more question up above, but I have another last question and maybe someone (including Parigi) can chime in.

We have reservations for Chez L'ami Jean on Thurs. night. I've been about 5 years ago and loved it, but my experience was marred by being with a group of picky eaters, so I'm really looking forward to going back with someone who loves food! I have read on Chowhound that there are 3 prix fixe formulas, but when I read the extensive Trip Advisor reviews, not a mention is made of any formula other than the grand 75 euro tasting or a la carte, which we prefer not to do. We were thinking more realistically of the mid-level formula, which I believe is in the high 50 euro range. Does this program no longer exist? Is it not available at dinner? Is it not offered to tourists?

Many thanks in advance.

All wonderful suggestions. Thank you. I am not inclined to make a reservation for after the opera. I'd rather leave it open and decide then if we want to head to Mini Palais or to Point Bulles. We had already been considering Semilla for Sunday night or possibly late Friday after we do the Louvre for evening hours, so my daughter may get her tartare fix then. Will look at La Rotonde as well for a possibly Sunday night option followed by Piano Bar. I have several reservations set and am leaving a few meals "open" with options in hand. We will need to gauge our appetites on a day to day basis, and I'm trying to only schedule one set restaurant meal per day. I have a lot of possibilities in hand, and I'm certain we will leave Paris fully satiated! I appreciate the help from all the Paris contingent.

Hmmm. They also serve it at lunch and they are also open on May 1. We may just do lunch here on our first day. Is anything else decent?

Charbon Rouge isn't open on Sundays, unfortunately. The only one open on your list in Drugstore Steakhouse. Is it any good?

Thanks for the suggestions, but sorry for not looking each one up first (I'm at work, as usual), do you happen to know if any of the above meat places are open on Sunday night? The only other available time we have is lunch the first day after arrival, prior to dinner at Frenchie. I'm not sure we want a meat meal when we will be so tired and jet lagged.

One more question: My daughter MUST have excellent beef tartare during this trip. Will she be able to get it at CJD or Chez L'Ami Jean? I'm assuming not at Spring, Frenchie or Le Cinq. We have not booked for Sunday evening and are also considering Café Constant, Le Relais du Comptoir, Semilla and Dans les Landes. Any of these serving beef tartare? Also, considering lunch the first day (May 1) at Terrior Parisien. We wanted Metropolitain, but they appear to be closed. Thanks again.

Thank you both for the suggestions. We were already considering Mini-Palais so that may be a great option. I also like the sound of Point Bulles Champagne Bar a lot for the last night. Sounds elegant.

Regarding Grand Café des Capucines, my daughter is a huge oyster lover, but me...not so much, so I'm not about that as a option.

Do we need a reservation at any of these places on a Monday night at 10:30?

Hello Paris Hounds,
My 25 year old daughter and I are coming to Paris for 6 days and nights on May 1 (I know - I already messed that one up!!). Thanks to you and constant lurking on this board while at work for the past 2 months, we've managed to put together a gastronomic festival (Spring, Le Cinq, Frenchie, Chez L'Ami Jean and others). We have just purchased tickets to Hansel & Gretel at Opera Garnier for our last night - a Monday night. Because of this, we are moving what was to be our final dinner at Josephine Chez Dumonet to a lunch that day. The opera starts at 19:30, and I assume lasts 2-3 hours. Can you recommend somewhere for us to eat a late, last meal before we fly out the following morning? We will be at the opera but our hotel is in the 6th, so either area would work. Also, I'm assuming that after a lunch at JCD we won't want anything too heavy. Also, we are considering L'Avant Comptoir and Le Barav for other evening lighter fare on other nights (and Le Barav isn't open on Mondays).

Thanks in advance for your suggestions (and also for all the past advice I used).

Thanks again for all your help. We had a great trip. We ended up getting an evite to a barrel tasting at Vincent arroyo a couple days before the trip so we rearranged some things and had a great time enjoying the gorgeous weather, food and wine at arroyo. It was wonderful. From there we went to reverie, which was lovely. The setting is amazing, Jose, our guide and host was super friendly and knowledgeable, and we really liked the wines. We finished the day at frogs leap, outside on the terrace. It was so nice. We were feeling no pain and the blue skies, breeze and view made the experience even better. We loved the wines and its nice that they serve some cheese and nuts with it.
The next day I was sidelined with food poisoning (actually the next 4 days) but I forced the rest of the group to forge ahead with my well planned itinerary. They went to failla, which they liked but didn't love, and to Von strasser, which they loved !! Von strasser was the highlight of the trip for them. We ordered a lot of wine, so I'll decide for myself.

As far as food goes, we had a great stop at graces table for happy hour on Friday. Great snacks and wine at super reasonable prices. We had a late dinner at solbar which was pretty meh and pretty expensive. Two really good breakfasts at sarafornia in Calistoga. Lunch sat was at farmstead, and was really good. I'll skip over the offending dinner, though at the time I thought everything about the place was terrific. On Sunday, I couldn't convince the group to keep the reservation at jole without me, so they just went to brannans at the request of the meat and potatoes guy. They said it was fine. All in all, a good trip for me and a great trip for the rest of the group. Thanks again for your help and hospitality!

Bal Harbour is closer to Miami than to Fort Lauderdale.

The dates "light" up 2.5 months in advance from what I gathered while trying to book my reservation. Sometimes another random date will light up, indicating to me that they might have had a cancellation. I booked 2.5 months to the day in advance.

I also tried to get that Paris by mouth tour but there was only one spot available. :(

I just waited until the day that was 2.5 months out, and the day came up and I booked it. They release the reservations basically one day at a time.

I also reserved by email for May. It was extremely easy and friendly. I also got a Frenchie reservation on La Fourchette, which was wonderful.

D'angelo Italian pizza and tapas just opened a second location in Weston. We really enjoy the ft. Lauderdale location.

We ate at all four of your Venice choices in feb 2012 and enjoyed each of them, our favorite being l'anice stellato. They are all fairly casual and the staff was very friendly and welcoming at each, especially ai promessi sposi.

The Far Niente Dolce is one of my favorites!

Thank you, Maria. It's been a long time since my original post where I wrote that we'd already been to Vincent arroyo (loved), Bennett lane and summers! I will look into cuvaison (I've had their wine before). I am very interested in late harvest wines, but I may be the only one in my group who is, unfortunately. I'll do a quick search anyway. Thanks again. Tamar

The Violetta is the one wine I really wanted to try there.

I did a little more research and came up with 3 more options, based on what we seem to like and location: Heitz Cellers tasting room (free tasting also!); Grgich Hills and Corison (which we were considering earlier in my research). Frog's Leap is of interest also, but is a little further away.

We can do Von Strasser and Reverie on Sat. after breakfast, have lunch in St. Helena as planned (does Sunshine Market have any tables for eating your sandwiches or is it strictly take-out), and do one of the 3 or 4 above after lunch. On Sunday, we can go to Failla and another of those listed above, before lunch and heading back to Solage for mud baths, that is if I have Maria's, Carrie's and Robert's approval on the options above!

Thank you all. Rombauer is out. Holding on failla, Von strasser and reverie and back to the drawing board for 2-3 more choices. I'll report back with additional questions soon.

LOVE Chateau Montelena, but I've been twice!

Duckhorn?

We're arriving in Terminal 2 (Virgin America). Would love recommendations. Thanks

I did all this research on Howell Mountain wineries, but now that we can't picnic anywhere up there, and we've also decided not to get a driver ($$$), I'm rethinking the whole thing. We like smaller, more intimate tasting experiences, with an opportunity to really learn about the wines. I like Failla because of the pinot, which is hard to find on the Napa side. We were looking for chardonnay as well, which is how I got to Rombauer. Because we only have 2 days, I also don't want to be driving all over the valley tasting wine. That's why I'm trying to stay close to Calistoga/St. Helena. We are very interested in cabs also, but not the fruit bomb in your face style. Thank you for your advice!

I've been doing a little more research and stumbled upon Von Strasser and Reverie, which seems to be pretty close to Calistoga and not very high up on the mountain. They both look very interesting to me. Would you exchange any of our current planned vineyards (Outpost, Ladera, Failla, Ehlers, Rombauer) for a visit to these two?

I've run into a hitch in the plans. Ladera, Outpost and Neal all cannot accommodate our indoor or outdoor picnic plans, so we may go into St. Helena after all for lunch. We've decided to hire a driver, so maybe we will do two places on Howell, drive to St. Helena for lunch and do one more down around St. Helena (instead of going back up the mountain for another winery). So we will have to eliminate one of the 3 Howell wineries listed above, and I guess we can do Failla, Ehlers, and Rombauer (one on Sat. and two on Sunday).