Paris Warning or Danger Tips by BeatChick

Be prepared - you might actually LIKE the food proffered by the airline (but maybe it's Air France who does such a great job).

My 2nd trip to Paris, I tried to order the fruit plate for our international flight to Paris but was informed that Air France doesn't do that. Good thing because the food was EXCELLENT (for airline food). We started with a chicken caesar salad followed by an entree of Beef Burgundy and steamed veggies. I think dessert was Black Forest cake or some version thereof? I was impressed. I accidentally ate a button mushroom from the Boeuf Bourguignon thinking it was beef, it even tasted a bit like beef and I like it, which is odd since I HATE mushrooms. :)

Photos: Feb 2006 & August 2005

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Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde
Our dear Oscar was born October 16, 1854 and died November 30, 1900 almost at the very close of the 19th century.

His grand wit, his style, his passion, his truth inspire in us a great love of Oscar. In my naïveté, I kissed his grave in imitation of all the other kiss marks found there. Little did I know at the time that the oils in the lipstick cause the marks to remain & harm the stone. His grandson, at great expense, pays for the upkeep of the grave & for the cleaning of the Jacob Epstein monument.

So I beg you to please not continue the sacrilege & deterioration of the grave with kisses. I wish now I'd never done it.

Some fave Wilde quotes:
I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. (in conversation)

...the great superiority of France over England is that in France every bourgeois wants to be an artist, whereas in England every artist wants to be a bourgeois. (in conversation)

The world is a stage but the play is badly cast. (Lord Arthur Savile's Crimes)

Turn your back to that-you have all Paris before you. Look at it-Paris vanishes. (on the Eiffel Tower)

I have nothing to declare but my genius! (his customs declaration upon entering the U.S.)

If this is how her Majesty treats her subjects then she shouldn't have any. (said during his incarceration at Reading Gaol)

I am dying beyond my means. (said of the Hôtel du Quai Voltaire, the hotel he stayed at before he moved to the Alsace)

Either that wallpaper goes or I do. (and then he promptly expired - said of his room in the Hôtel Alsace now known as the popular L'Hôtel which has greatly improved its décor)

You may read about my pilgrimage to Oscar Wilde's final resting abode HERE.

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Phone: 01 55 25 82 10
Website: http://www.pere-lachaise.com/

Well, there aren't too many things I hate about Paris but here's two:
UGGHHH! The rotten egg smell on the Métro in Paris and the rotten meat smell wafting down one of the side streets (coming from a bûcherie, I'm sure) near the Hôtel les Invalides area.

But that's it!

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Always opt for freshly-made crêpes; eschew the vendor that has a stack of pre-made crêpes! Buying from a crêpe vendor is an economical way to eat in Paris (generally less than 3€). Only here would you have something as GOURMET as this for a street food & in a huge variety of flavors. Please note that the stand on rue Cler runs 'til late at night (11pm or so).

My personal faves are Nutella, ham & cheese (like a small meal) & citron sucré (fresh crêpes with butter & sugar & freshly-squeezed lemon juice - mmm). My favorite crêpe stands are bolded in the following list:

1ST
-Pl de la Concorde
-Jardin des Tuileries right hand side walking from Louvre
-Quai de la Mégisserie (across from Conciergerie)
-Outside Samaritaine dept store
4TH
-Rue du Cloîre-Nôtre-Dame (corner of parvis & street)
-Rue du Cloître-Nôtre-Dame (further down street)
-Le Sarrasin et le Froment Crêperie, 84-86 rue St-Louis-en-I'Île
-crêperies on Île St-Louis
-Rue de Rosiers
-Outside Centre Pompidou
5TH
-Crêperie du Cluny, 20 r. de la Harpe
-Left side above Pl de la Contrescarpe (9 rue Mouffetard)
6TH
-Crêperie des Arts, 27 rue St-André-des-Arts
-Gelateria Marie - 35 rue St-André-des-Arts
-Crêperie des Etoiles, 13 rue Princesse
-North end of Luxembourg Gardens, Bd St. Michel or rue de Medicis
-Front of St-Germain-des-Prés church
7TH
-Stand next Café du Marché rue Cler & rue du Champ de Mars
-Base of Eiffel Tower
8TH
-Rue Roquepine near Place de Madeleine
9TH
-2 blocks from Folies Bergere-Pigalle
-NE corner Bd Hausmann & rue du Faubourg-Montmartre
10TH
-LE TERMINUS NORD across street from Gare du Nord
14TH
-Gare Montparnasse, r. Montparnasse, r. d'Odessa
-Crêperie de Josselin, 167 r du Montparnasse
15TH
-Across from Motte-Piquet Métro station
18TH
-Across street on corner from Sacré-Cœur funiculaire

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Always opt for freshly-made crêpes; eschew the vendor that has a stack of pre-made crêpes. You'll thank me later! Buying from a street crêpe vendor is an economical way to eat in Paris (generally less than 3€) - as a snack or a light lunch/dinner.

Only in Paris would you have something as GOURMET as a crêpe for a street food item & they come in a huge variety of flavors. My personal faves are Nutella, ham & cheese, & citron sucré (fresh crêpes with butter & sugar & freshly-squeezed lemon juice - mmm).

There are 2 types of crepes: sweet crepes (crepes) or salé (savory crepes or galettes which are made from buckwheat flour).

Here's a short list of FLAVORS you'll come across:
à la Crème de Marrons - Chestnut cream
à l'Oeuf - with egg
Banane - banana
Beurre et Sucre - butter & sugar
Canelle et Sucré - cinnamon & sugar
Chantilly cream - whipped cream
Chocolat - chocolate
Citron Sucré - fresh lemon juice & sugar
Crêpe au fromage et ouef - with cheese & egg
Fraise - strawberry
Fromage - cheese
Grand Marnier - orange liqueur
Jambon - ham
Jambon et Fromage - ham & cheese
Marmalade
Nutella - heavenly Hazelnut & chocolate spread

Photos: Feb 2006

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Website: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=107858