Never go through JFK or Midway in the winter. Total nightmare! We recommend anyone thinking about doing this do it now before you get too old. Going to Europe is always difficult. There are lots of walking on uneven pavement, steep inclines, and difficult weather at times. On our cruise at least 3 or 4 elderly people fell and went to the hospital or had to be helped moving around. Imagine taking the train at 80 with minimal luggage and having to walk up and down stairs and then walk hundreds of yard to catch a train and have less than 5 minutes to get on and get your luggage on. Believe us the experience is worth it but there is no such thing as an easy European vacation that we have found. You need to be fit and a young enough age to get around. We figure we have a few more years of this but it is not getting any easier. It is worth it as the people over there are exceptionally civilized to us and makes it all worthwhile.
La Grande Lafour
A very famous restaurant. Napoleon, John Paul-Sartre, Victor Hugo, Simone De Bolivier all have eaten here. It is a two-star Michelin restaurant and is very expensive. Forget the price you see listed here on Trip Advisor. With wine, it is going to cost $300 to $500 US per person or more. Is it worth it? Maybe once in your life. To begin with, it is a little cramped. Tables are comfortable but everything is compact and it is not a large place. The décor to me was no different than the other places I went to. Very nice turn of the century art deco. The menu is a little limited and most choices are fairly classic French dishes and each menu item, for the most part, cost $120 US per item. Clark had the lamb and liked it, I was not impressed. I have had better lamb. If I had to guess I would say the lamb is why they lost their third star. There is an overabundance of Foie Gras but it was some of the best I have ever had and was cooked perfectly. The Foie Gras Mosse Presse was too die for and no question the best I have ever had. The presentations were wonderful especially the desserts. In fact, dessert was the highlight of the meal and dessert presentations were spectacular. And they just kept coming and coming. First the dessert main course, then petite fours, then candies, then more petite fours, then a special fresh made cake from the Alps, we couldn’t get out of the place! Another interesting aside regarding French culture and attitude towards others. We were a party of four and had decided to share desserts only ordering two. The reason was we were beyond stuffed and had been on a nonstop orgy of food for at least three days and did not feel we could stuff anymore down without getting sick. The French would have nothing to do with it! They just felt that was wrong so they gave us two desserts free and only charged us for two insisting that everyone had to have dessert. And then after that, the desserts kept coming and coming. We had to be carried out. Service was obviously gracious, attentive, polite, and friendly and English was cheerfully spoken. Of course, once we got the bill it would be hard for them to be nasty and give you that bill! This morning after the dinner and looking at the pictures I can say that I am glad that I came, but as before having eaten at two Michelin starred restaurants in the past I do not think I will go back again simply because the cost is very very high and we went to many other places not quite as fancy but just as good or better in terms of food quality and taste. Though again, I do not think I will ever have fois gras that good. I am totally spoiled and if it is my last, which it could well be given the US laws being passed, I can always remember the last I ever had was the best.
Paris Restaurants
Well, we have eaten in Paris for years now so we feel very qualified to recommend to you where to eat and hopefully maybe save a little money. In general, we would no longer recommend Michelin starred restaurants. Why? It is not because they are not any good because they are. We have eaten at three and have always been pleased. The problem is cost and the difference in cost from a Michelin starred restaurant and one that is not is huge. You can have four(4) dinners at a wonderful spectacular place for the price of one(1) Michelin place. And for the average person, the difference in quality and presentation is marginal. We can say this because we consider ourselves foodies and we have eaten at the Michelin starred places and have a reference point to make this kind of judgment and that is where we can save you some cash. Don’t get us wrong, they are nice places but to us, it is more about the show and renting space in a famous place as opposed to eating a great meal. Our TOP recommendations are (1) Café Marley at the Louvre. We have been eating here for over 20 years and it has always been wonderful and they have the BEST Dover sole and mashed potatoes on earth. Just had dinner there this past January and still great. (2) Benoit near Hotel de Ville. Treated extremely well here, food preparation and quality spectacular. They must have a bad night once in a while to get anything less than rave reviews. Every mayor of Paris in the past 100 years has eaten here and they celebrated their 100th-anniversary last year. (3) La Grande Colbert near the Louver. Extremely well prepared and tasty food and great wine prices. Famous because last dinner scene in “Something’s got to Give” with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton was filmed here. Staff is very nice, friendly polite and accommodating. Unequivocally the best frog legs in the world that just fall off the bone tender. Can’t wait to return just for the frog legs. If you have never had frog legs and are scared to try them this is the place to do it. Unfortunately, the last time we had dinner there it was not good and I cannot recommend it anymore. (4) Mollard next to the Opera house. This is the closest to what most Americans consider a tourist trap and sometimes they don’t get great reviews. I am not sure why because we have been twice now and everything was great. It is a seafood restaurant and we do not recommend the beef. But I don’t recommend the beef in France anywhere. Their Sea Bass is legendary. Their shellfish platters are legendary. Clark had the sea bass and said it was wonderful. A possible misunderstanding with Americans French sea bass is a smaller species than Americans get so when they bring you a small fish don’t be upset. Just taste it, you will be blown away. Both times we dined at Mollards 99% of the patrons were French which says a lot and there was always a line out the door to get in. We were treated no different than anyone else and they spoke English. (5) Breakfast in America is a chain and the one we went too is in the Marais district close to the St. Paul metro stop and another in St. Germaine. I have been to both. If you get a hankering for ham and eggs or pancakes this is the place. And according to the French, they now serve hamburgers. The French do not understand why you would come to Paris and eat there when you have 13,000 places to eat great French food. But then again when we eat there the place is full of French patrons. Go Figure! (6) The food market at Galleries’ Lafayette at the Opera, which is across the street from the main Galleries’ Lafayette. It is 4 or 5 stories and the same size as one of our Dillard’s. An entire department store building devoted to food and wine. You imagine if they have it. Hot food, cold food and virtually every country with a stall serving international foods. A large wine department with good prices. A caviar section, that’s right an entire section for caviar alone. The prices there are not good. We saw cans of caviar as high as $6000 per can! Imagine $6000 a can for fish bait! Wonder what kind of fish you can catch with that? It is a great place to go and pack a picnic or take dinner back to the room. Clark wants me to clarify, the entire food market to pack a picnic, not just the caviar section. She didn’t want to go fishing anyway. (7) Les Climats is right behind the Museum Orsay and you simply cannot beat it for an outstanding 3-course lunch for around 50 Euro. It has 1 Michelin star and is an experience and demonstrates the best way to experience Michelin star restaurants is to have lunch there. Prices are much lower but the same great food and gourmet experience. (8) There are 2 Marco Polo Italian restaurants, one in the St. Germain area, that have outstanding service and food if you crave Italian cuisine while in France. If the above won’t fill you up then nothing will. As a rule, you cannot go wrong eating almost anywhere in Paris. Check out travel advisor for more recommendations. In most cases, any place you see full of French people is going to be good. The French take their food and wine very very seriously and any restaurant that does not provide anything but the best cannot and will not survive in Paris. It is often said you cannot get a bad meal in France and we agree.
Our first trip to Versailles was 20 years ago and we had a guide. We took the train up and walked immediately to the Queens and Kings apartments and were shown the Hall of Mirrors. We were done and gone in 2 hours. This time we took a cab, which took 30 minutes and got lost inside only to come out hours later. A totally differed perspective. The place is IMMENSE! It is the size of Texas! Louis the 14th the Sun King spent the entire GNP of the country for one year building the place. It is dripping in marble, gold leaf, paintings, carpets, etc. etc. etc. It is beautiful and is an example of the highest forms of art and building man can attain. But I am sorry it was an abuse of power. In today’s dollars, it cost trillions to build while 99% of the country was starving to death. I am sorry but when your children are crying and dying before your very eyes so the top 1% can live like this someone is and did lose their head and they should have. There is a lesson to be learned here, my friends. I support capitalism and the individual attaining his or her full potential. But there is a fine line and when the system becomes abusive as it did here don't be surprised when heads literally roll!
Final thoughts on Bordeaux.
William Osler the great American physician who founded the internal medicine department at John Hopkins University considered by many the father of modern medicine made the following statement "To study sailing going to sea without charts or books and reading books is like going to sea without a sail but studying sailing by reading books alone is like never going to sea at all". It is a prophetic statement that applies to many areas including wine. Robert Parker is considered probably the world's leading expert on Bordeaux wine and he comes here frequently and studies and drinks thousands upon thousands of bottles of wine. Until I physically came here essentially I had no idea what I was talking about when discussing Bordeaux wine. In my opinion, Robert Parker himself has missed a few things. And being here and speaking with the French correctly all the rules that I thought existed have been changed. One rule that I learned is that not all Bordeaux wines are blends of multiple different grape varieties. For the first time in history Pichon Leland 2013 is 100 percent cabernet sauvignon and according to the French their greatest wine they have ever made even though 2013 was a horrible year for weather. Parker said that he based his entire reputation for his life on the 2009 vintage yet the French stated unequivocally 2010 is the best ever. We went to some of the lesser known vineyards and they all know that in order to compete in the world market they have to produce a quality product and they are no longer laying on their laurels so to speak and are producing higher quality wine with higher quality personnel and equipment and all of them were at work upgrading everything in order to be as good as the first growths. The people of Bordeaux are most laid back Frenchman we have ever met they have a joy of life unmatched anywhere. They spend 2 hours for lunch and 4 hours for dinner drinking wine the entire time but not in excess only to enhance their joyous life and the food that they eat we all could learn from them. I highly recommend anyone who wants to fully appreciate these wines to please come and spend a week here you will be treated with nothing but courtesy and love and you will come away with a whole new perspective. I recommend you visit some of the lesser known areas of Bourg, Blaye, Castillion, Cadillac, Bordeaux Superior, etc.
People of Paris
On the people of Paris. I continue to be tired of hearing about how nasty the French people are especially in Paris. I am sorry but people just don't know they're talking about. We went to Versailles with friends one of whom is disabled who cannot walk more than 100 feet without having to stop and sit it for 20 minutes. Upon arriving at the information desk the French people gave us a wheelchair at no charge so we could take our friend around. After we finished our visit they escorted us to all the elevators and they escorted us to where she would have to walk to taxi the least distance. Both coming and leaving the Taxi drivers drove as close as they could legally. They were constantly friendly concerned and extremely polite. We went to some of the top restaurants and the waiters and waitresses and servers and were polite courteous smiling and friendly. We took cabs all over town and every cab driver has been polite and helpful especially with our disabled friend. Not one taxi driver has tried to rip us off. Our taxi driver to the airport the night before insisted on going inside the hotel with us to make sure we had the right place and were safe. One of them actually tried to refuse a tip in a polite way. We have not met anyone but the most polite and friendly and nice French people everywhere. If you want to see nasty people go to New York City. We continue to feel that these are the most gentle civilized people in the world they're like peoples world over if you are polite to them they are polite to you if you come in with an American attitude that I want what I want right now and you can go to hell you might not receive the best treatment. Clark says it's difficult to be patient and different people in the different parts of the world run on a different time scale. Clark says it is worth it. It does beg the question when do they work. I noticed that they spend at least 6 to 8 hours a day eating and receive 6 weeks paid vacation and you have to wonder when do they work and yet you look around and you see some of the greatest buildings ever made some of the greatest architecture ever made some of the greatest wine and artwork made and I can only come to the one conclusion, they are extremely productive and efficient workers. Imagine what they could accomplish if they only worked 1 hour additional a day!
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