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Hot chocolate and chestnut cream cakes at Angelina's - an absolutely must-do event in Paris.
It's a traditional teahouse - with fin-de-siecle decor and mouth-watering cakes on display cabinets by the entrance that will have even the most die-hard savoury fans entranced. It's on Rue de Rivoli, opposite Tuileries, so you can have a wander round the gardens and over to the river when you've had your fill.
Opposite La Gare de Lyon is La Hotel de Lyon, hosting a dead posh yet relatively reasonable restaraunt. Enjoy the Plat Royal (EU 80) Seafood Platter between two and snore your way back to London.
A great little restaurant hidden in the back of the wine shop here - walk through the wine shop and up a couple of steps, open the curtain and there are about seven tables.
You can eat good food and drink the wine from the wine shop - very smoky but snug and secretive.
rue d'abesses
The new owners of bar Antoine in Rue de la Prefecture have certainly changed the place; it’s cleaner, more sophisticated and with a less varied menu, but: it is still a very French atmosphere with lovely food and good service.
Try the Parma ham freshly sliced to order in front of you. The duck is good too and the truffle risotto to die for. It’s still one of the busiest restaurants in Old Nice, a place where every other doorway leads to a restaurant, so book a table and enjoy.
Rue de la Prefecture
On the train trip to Cape Ann, which goes along the ocean, you can get out at Beverly. See a movie at the wonderfully restored Cabot Theater and have dinner nearby at any one of some excellent restaurants. Get out at Beverly Farms and have dinner in one of the few small restaurants downtown (one block long), then walk to the beach.
On the train from Boston to Cape Ann
The George restaurant at the top of the Pompidou centre is perfect for a cocktail as the sun is setting or a gourmet, trendy dinner if the wallet allows. It isn't cheap.
Lunch at the Jules Verne is much better value than dinner. This is true for all great restaurants.
For the most exquisite patisserie, go to Laduree on Le Champs Elysees. Amazing macaroons, and one of the oldest, most beautiful tea rooms for resting your weary feet after all that walking.
Hacienda Los Gorriones are two 'cortijos' (typical Andalusian cottages) tucked away in olive-dotted mountains in the Sierra Norte (about 1.5 hours north from either Sevilla or Cordoba).
The cottages are located in an area of dramatic landscapes, and within an area renowned throughout Spain for its Iberian cured and fresh meats. The owners of the cottages also run a ham drying facility, and for a very reasonable price you can enjoy excellent Iberian fare in the barbecue.
The cottages make an excellent detour for people visiting Sevilla and Cordoba, and are ideal for people wanting to go walking in the hills. There are very few tourists, but the cottages are often booked by locals for the weekend.
They are both family and pet friendly.
On our first trip to Paris, we went to a restaurant in Les Invalides called L'Esplanade. We had left finding a good restaurant until very late, and all the options that we had been given were booked solid. The only one we could get into was L'Esplanade, for a 10:30pm booking.
A little aprehensive, as we expected a near empty restaurant, we turned up, only to find we were among a number of groups waiting for tables to clear! The restaurant was still accepting new diners as late as 2am, and we finally left at 3am, drunk, happy and well fed.
The food, not typical Parisian food, was delicious. Some reviews have called it fusion, however, being from Sydney the styles presented were just good combinations of tastes and textures.
The standout was the potato mash (of all things). I have heard of Joel Robuchon's mash made of 50% butter, I tasted something similar here, and it was magical!
I have had friends make their way to this restaurant only to sample this starter! The staff were very efficient and friendly, particularly as we were liable to murder their native language whenever we opened our mouths. The clientele were also quite entertaining, with a good spread of celebrity/wannabes and crusty old French diners, you would look to the door to see who was next.
Café de l'Esplanade 52, Rue Fabert, 75007 Paris Fax : +(33) 1 47 05 23 75 - Reservations : +(33) 1 47 05 38 80
Paris is not renowned for good vegetarian food. However, if you've had enough of cheese sandwhices, you could try a visit to Le Potager Du Marais.
Situated in Rue Rambuteau, this vegetarian restaurant serves delicious and imaginative dishes and offers a good value three-course 20 euro set menu. It's also only a five-minute walk from the Pompidou Centre. Just remember to book in advance at weekends because it fills up quickly.
Rue Vieille du Temple - a classic Marais stomping ground. Kick off with a flinty sancerre in the bar/bookshop/coffeshop La Belle Hortense, before perusing both kitsch and cutting-edge in the boutique shops dotted about.
Congratulate your good fortune with a coupe of Veuve Clicquot from Les Etages, a scruffy, scarlet salon for the tragically hip, before lining the stomach with some classic bistro dishes in Les Philosophes. Take your coffee on a terrasse seat and watch the people parade, parade, parade, all night long.
Then, how about a midnight embrace in nearby Place des Vosges? Pourquoi pas.
Forget forking out over hundreds of euros at the Eiffel Tower's pricey restaurants, pop around the corner (southwards) to a fantastic little authentic French bistro called Chez Ribe.
Great food, nice wine, great atmosphere, frequented by locals and all at a reasonable price. Great place for an evening meal in a great location.
Le Marais is a well-known and much visited part of Paris. If you are there, find the less-famous Place du Marche St Catherine which is a great place to eat, alfresco or not, cheap or not.
Catering on a budget in Paris – then head for Chartier, Opera Quarter, an old 19th Century soup kitchen with listed décor, which offers a bustling atmosphere and inexpensive basic French food.
This cavernous restaurant caters today, as it always has, to people on a budget. Be prepared to share one of the long trestle tables with other diners but that adds to the fun of the Chartier experience. You never know who you’ll be sitting next to in Paris!
There is a beautiful little Polish/Jewish delicatessen just off the rue des Rosier. It's called Chez Marianne and is amazing. Amazing smells and food...lovely!
This restaurant is linked with Green Gulch Farm, a Zen centre and farm which provides organic produce. The restaurant serves outstanding vegetarian haute cuisine. The cookbooks by two of its cooks, Deborah Madison (Greens, Vegetarian Cooking for everyone) and Annie Somerville (Fields of Greens) have been my best friends in the kitchen for many years.
On the waterfront in San Francisco
Whatever your arrival time is at Gare du Nord, go to the Pied de Cochon, an open brasserie on a picturesque pedestrian walkway open day and night, 24 hours a day and all the year long! In a few minutes' time with the Metro line 4, you get some amazing fresh seafood or meat, foie gras pied de cochon etc.
My suggestion: the Menu Rouge and the Alsace Riesling Wine. The service is fantastic, the experience unforgettable.
From Gare du Nord, Line 4 direction, Porte d'Orlean stop at Chatelet les Halles. Located opposite the St Eustache church.
A restaurant called 'Le Chiberta' which is just off the Champs Elysees. It was the most amazing meal I've EVER had and even a year later, I still drool about it. It wasn't that expensive either. It was about 125 euros for two of us, but that included my husband ordering the most expensive glass of wine in the history of wine drinking! My mouth is watering now!
Come now, rent a car, get on the pike and head west. The trees are just changing colours, the apples are ready to pick, not to mention the pumpkins, and if you're in luck you might find an apple cider donut... home made almost. Don't forget to try a corn (maize) maze.
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