Teresa and Paul's World Tour - 2011

After Paul and I settled in to Paris and reclaimed our restaurant mojo we wound up finding a number of spots that we enjoyed while in Paris.  All of them were great for various reasons - either the food reflected the art of food preparation and presentation or the service was super friendly, or the ambiance was unlike anything you could find anywhere else.  So,  here they are!  If you're able to try some of these suggestions the next time you are visiting Paris, please let us know what you think of them! L'Ami Jean:  Dining here gave us the experience we were hoping for in Paris - rich food that was fun to look at too. The service is friendly and the atmosphere is rustic with some graffiti cartoons of the owner and chef.  L'Ami Jean also forced us to finally learn how to ask for a carafe of water!  http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d714972-Reviews-L_Ami_Jean-Paris_Ile_de_France.html .  Ironically ...

When describing our experiences in Paris, 'food' is a great place to start. Despite Paris's reputation for wonderful food, Teresa and I spent the first few days of our visit eating some pretty ordinary meals, and we were beginning to wonder what all the hype was about. Even worse, we were beginning to think we might have left our best food back in Brooklyn. It wasn't until we did some introspective analysis that we discovered that our 'food-radar' seem to be malfunctioning (in the French context). We were doing everything we usually did... when we were hungry we looked for restaurants with lots of people, we looked for a place with at least one thing we like on the menu at a reasonable price (not too high, not too low), and outdoor seating was always considered a bonus. Well... we were wrong on all accounts. The first thing we found out is that, 'good' restaurants in Paris are typically only open for lunch from noon until 2pm, and for dinner from 7pm un...

We managed to get by in Peru with our bit of Spanish, but our French is sad....beyond sad...it's quite embarrassing how sad it is.  What we discovered right away is that beyond the obvious phrases to learn when visiting any country (like, "Where is the toilete?" and "Help!"), there are some helpful phrases that will simply make your life easier and help us keep our costs down a little. They are : A carafe of water for the table.   Une carafe d' eau pour la table .  The shorter version of this is: Carafe d'eau. Bottled water is a pricey proposition in Paris when your daily budget is 70 euros a day!  We paid 12 euros ($17 US) for a bottle during a meal because we didn't know this handy phrase. Coffee with a treat Cafe Gourmand We actually learned after we arrived and had dinner with Alexandra that this is a great way to have a coffee with a little treat at the end of the meal....

As the pages of our New York chapter draw to an end both Teresa and I continued to soak up the remaining few experiences on our list of favorite things to do before we leave. And so it was the day we packed up a lite picnic lunch and headed off to wave a last good-bye to Lady Liberty, while taking a leisurely cruise across New York harbor on the Staten Island ferry. It was such a beautiful day and the majestic lady didn't disappoint. Seeing the towering structure reminded me of the gentleman who designed her internal framework (Gustave Eiffel) and his famous Tower in Paris, which we will undoubtedly see very soon. After a leisurely stroll around Battery Park City we made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge and crossed one last time over to Brooklyn, placing another checkmark on our New York bucket-list. The walk across the iconic structure was as breathtaking as always. It had been a fun last few days in New York. We made the time to catch-up with a few old friends, including a far...