Spider Michaels

Whenever I travel, I take photos of the meals I’m served and also of the different foods and fruits on display that I see around the cities I’m visiting.  This Blog Post is about the food of Paris, France.

Paris is known to have world renowned chefs and great cuisine.  I did not frequent any of the ritzy restaurants on my trips.  I mostly ate at regular restaurants and deli’s.

Occasionally I would dine at a nicer place than usual and I have photos and stories about all of my experiences.

One of the first things a person should know before dining in Paris is about tipping.  Restaurantss already include the tip in the price so you don’t have to leave any money.  If you do then you’re double tipping for service.

As you walk around, you’ll notice many shops with sandwiches and other quick bites in glass displays.  These are great for a quick, inexpensive meal while you’re on the go, taking in the sights.

After you get your sandwich, you can pick up a bottle of wine and you’re set.

If you’re in the mood for a healthier snack, you can find fruit and vegetable stands in certain areas.

For a fast soda or snack, you can find little stores that carry the necessities.

If you have a sweet tooth, you can always find candies and treats.

There’s fresh crabs and seafood in the windows of some shops.

I noticed a lot of restaurants would put their raw food on display so you could see the freshness of it.

Some restaurants will have signs out front with pictures of their entrees.

In some areas, like the Latin Quarter, you can get freshly cooked meat cut just for you while you wait.

This meat is sheared off in thin strips and served in some bread with sauce.  They’re called Gyros and pronounced “Year – o’s”.

Having the food in the window is good advertising because it looks so good and you can smell it as well.

A lot of the restaurants and coffee spots I dined in looked similar to the one below.  There’s sidewalk restaurants All Over Paris.

I had a cappuccino a few times and they were always good.

This shish kebab of meat was very good.  You’ll notice the fries.  Many meals in Paris are served with fries.  I guess they’re living up to the name “French Fries”.

I ordered a ham sandwich at one place and this is how it came.  Even with putting something on the bread, it was still hard to swallow because the bread was so tough.  And they didn’t serve mayonnaise.  Who ever heard of having a ham sandwich without mayonnaise?

Even though I was in France, I ate a lot of Italian dishes while there.  This pizza was pretty good.

I think I had this spaghetti along the Champs Elysees.

Very good pasta with nice flavor.

This is lasagna.  It came to the table piping hot and I had to wait a while before I could eat it but it was good.

I tried another restaurant for a ham sandwich and had a little bit better luck the next time.

This is a hamburger and fries.  There’s a meat patty underneath the egg.  Look how sloppily they squirted the sauce on the egg.  It’s all in a pile and not spread out over the egg. You get one bite of sauce and the rest has none.  You try to spread the sauce out and you break the yolk before you even bite into the hamburger.

This is a Quiche Lorraine and was very good.

When my sister and I went to visit the Palace of Versailles, she had this salad for lunch.

I had shrimp.  Not too much else but a few shrimp.  No fries this time.

At another restaurant, my sister had another salad.  I think this one looks better.  Tomatoes always help.

The chicken was enjoyable.  It was a leg and a thigh and I prefer dark meat so I was pleased with this meal.

I’m not a big fan of Romaine lettuce.  I much prefer Iceberg.

I tried the shrimp at another restaurant.  Their presentation was better than the other shrimp entree I had.

My sister had a Tomato Caprese Salad for one meal.  The tomato and basil were from local market.  The cheese was Mozzarella Buffala from Italy.

When we went to see the Eiffel Tower, we heard about a restaurant with a spectacular view of the tower.  On the back patio of the Musee de l’Homme, which means Museum of Man, is a very elegant dining area.  We arrived just before dark.  I had the steak.  It wasn’t too big.  Maybe they should come to Texas to learn how to serve a real steak, lol.

While we were dining, night fell.  The lights on the Eiffel Tower came on and it was a beautiful scene with great ambiance.  Every hour the lights on the tower would twinkle for five minutes and it looked spectacular.

By the time I got back to the states, I was ‘French Fried’ out.

I didn’t eat too many desserts but I couldn’t pass this one up.  It was delicious!

I saved this dish for last.  My sister had heard of this great Paris Cafe so we went for brunch one day.

When I was ordering, I asked the waiter to add a tomato to my sandwich.  I thought he was going to blow a fuse.  He said “No! Only what is on the menu!  No special orders!”.

I was a bit shocked that I couldn’t get just one slice of a tomato for my sandwich.  The tomato in the picture is on my sister’s salad.

After the waiter was so rude to me, I was pissed.  I wanted to get up and leave right then and there without even ordering anything but I was with my sister so I played it cool and just stayed quiet.

The sandwich was good but would have been better with a tomato slice, lol.

Here’s one last tip.  When you’re selecting a restaurant to dine in, check to see if the menu is also in English.  On one trip, a friend and I went to this very nice restaurant.  When we sat down we realized the menu was only in French.

When we tried to get help, the wait staff ignored us.  They were very rude and snooty.

Somehow we ordered two steaks with mashed potatoes and the food was good but the experience sucked.  You’ve been warned.

For more photos and videos of Paris and many other places, you can visit my website.

Also, you can ‘Like’ my Facebook page if you want updates of what events and places I’ll be traveling to next.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com