Eating & Drinking in Paris: French Menu Reader and Restaurant Guide 4th edition (Open Road Travel Guides)

My husband and I found this book indispensable on our trip to France last year. We didn't even go to Paris, so did not require any Paris-specific information, but the Menu Reader is invaluable all over France. It has many words and phrases that you will not find in your pocket French dictionary. I also LOVE the drawings and "handwritten" commentary in the margins - both useful and good for a laugh. I didn't agree with all of the food assessments (I might have a slightly wider tolerance for odd foods) but for the most part you will not be led astray. :) It has space for your own notes at the back which I plan to use next time we visit France. It is lightweight and fits in my purse - no excuses not to take it! (Well, one excuse ... brain fart. We were kicking ourselves on this year's France trip when we inadvertently left our book behind.) Buy this!

I found this book very useful when eating in France (not just Paris!). It gave more useful information than a phrase book and, more importantly, gives very good CULTURAL information on how to survive Paris. This is something that tour books lack.

Many Americans who go to France come back saying how rude the French are. It might surprise them to find out onjouthat the French find Americans to be very rude! France is a much more formal country than the US and it's expected that you ALWAYS greet people with a "Bonjour" before saying anything else to them and that you say please and thank you for everything. As Americans, we just don't do that.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this and other cultural nuances in this book. In my week in France, I didn't have any problems with "rude French people". I found them to be quite friendly and helpful.

Love the concept...but did not like the book. The restaurant recommendations are pretty useless. With no map, there's no way to figure out where the heck the restaurants are. And the roads are too small to appear on typical tourist maps. The food glossary is similarly not very helpful. For example, one dish I looked up was defined as "red sausage." Um, what the heck is that? My recommendation: just buy a good French dictionary.