Bon Appétit!

With the value of the dollar being weak against the euro, it is important not to waste your budget on bad food aimed at the unsuspecting tourist. Paris without a doubt is an expensive place to visit, but if you know what to look for and what to avoid you can eat well on a dime. Having lived here three years and visited many times before that, I can tell you I have made a number of culinary mistakes, bad restaurant choices in moments of post shopping desperation, my body and mind weak with hunger and fatigue. Here are a few tips that will stretch your travel dollar as well as guide your taste buds on a trip to nirvana! To fully embrace and enjoy the french experience, one must first locate the best boulangerie your neighborhood has to offer. Employ all of your senses, but especially your sense of smell. The best bakeries smell heavenly, like your grandmothers kitchen after she just baked an apple pie-with a touch of homemade bread and butter thrown in for good measure. There will no doubt be several boulangeries near you, but they are not all created equal! Try them all and decide for yourself which you prefer, then settle in to the french way of walking to get your morning croissant or pain au raisin, pick up dessert for later, and experience the mainstay of Parisian life; the "sandwich mixte". With a thin slice of ham (jambon) and cheese (frommage) nestled inside a crusty baguette and sweetened with butter, it is the perfect afternoon pick me up, and cheap! A sandwich mixte will cost you 5 euro or less. If your hotel offers a refrigerator and a coffeemaker, so much the better, put them to use and avoid the hotel breakfast which can cost anywhere from 7. 50 to 20.00 euro per person. Your morning croissant from the boulangerie will cost you about 1 euro each. Luscious desserts, what the french do best really, can be sampled for 2.50 to 3.00 euro (in the restaurant you will pay 5.00 to 7.00 euro). Parisians lunch anywhere from noon until 2:30, and many restaurants close between 3 p.m. and 7:00. It is then fashionable to take a drink around 5, but to dine before 8 is trés vulgaire. Enter the tourist trap! Nestled in the many mazes of narrow corridors between Notre Dame and the Boulevard St. Germain, they are the ultimate afternoon bait and switch. Always open, the greeter welcomes the weary sightseer with a broad smile, a basic grasp of the english language, and a prix-fixte menu that offers what appears to be a generous three course meal for the low, low price of 10 euro! You are tired and hungry, and have been at the Louvre all day, and this brightly painted sign with a big one-zero promising moules gratinée, poulet roti (rotisserie chicken), and your choice of mousse chocolat or tarte du jour is all you can see. The thing is, it's now 3:15 and the 10 euro menu is served only until 2:30! The waiter is glad to point to the fine print on the pretty sign: "menu à midi", and direct your attention to the next set of choices: salade avec saumon fumé, entrecote (the roughest, toughest steak you will ever attempt to chew and digest), and for dessert, your choice of mousse chocolat or tarte du jour. 16.95. With a drink, 20.50. Or, you can have the crab and avocado salad, (the same) rotisserie chicken, sarlat style potatoes (sliced thin and fried, garlicky and greasy), and for dessert, you guessed it! Mousse chocolat or tarte du jour. 19.95. With a drink, 23.50. These establishments are a dime a dozen, serving food ranging from mediocre to lousy, and are easily identified by the proprietaire standing in the doorway grinning at you with open arms and attempting eye contact. They usually have colorful, professionally painted signage-often in english-with the 10 euro menu prominantly displayed, and are clustered together in the more touristic locations. I avoid them like the plague, and I suggest you do the same. If I know I am going to be out for a long afternoon, I always have a sandwich mixte in my backpack-and some chocolate, yummy! There are many neighborhood "farmers" markets around Paris, usually on tuesday, thursday, and saturday mornings until 2 in the afternoon. Fresh produce, flowers, artisan sausage and rustic cheeses can be found for sale, and it is a good alternative to café lunching. Pack your backpack with an assortment of traditional french delicacies, find a quiet spot in one of Paris' many jardins, and voila! You are experiencing one of lifes Grand Plasirs for less than 20 euro. Don't hesitiate to visit the little cheese shops, wine caves, tea merchants, and chocolatiers you will happen upon as you explore the city. The merchants are happy to help you, especially if you greet them with a "Bonjour Madame/Monsieur! Parlez-vous anglais?" Having a stash onhand will save you a fortune in bar and restaurant tabs, two people having café and dessert at the restaurant will add 20 euro to le addition. On the other hand, after strolling back arm in arm through the streets of Paris, making a cup of tea and sitting on the bed sharing a chocolate....who knows what might happen? In "Bon Appétit, Part Deux" I will share with you some of my favorite places to have dinner. From 13.50 euro per person to 50.00 euro per, I have never been disappointed. Also in "Part Deux", more places to avoid.