Much like last year's quest for the best gelato in Florence, this year we're searching for the best French onion soup, or as they call it here, soupe a l'oignon gratinee. When we visited Paris 5 years ago, we stumbled on a little cafe, Le Kleber,on Avenue Kleber near the Arc De Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. The onion soup was the best ever, other-worldly, and to-die-for! It had the right mix of carmelized onions, beef broth, wine, herbs (especially thyme), cro...

As we soak up the atmosphere, sights, and flavors of Paris, we start to understand the love affair that people have had with this city. Going back to the time of The American Revolution, we know that Benjamin Franklin was enchanted with Paris. Thomas Jefferson also enjoyed Paris, but for John Adams, it was just a necessary chore to come across the Atlantic to attend to his diplomatic duties. Lots of people in the arts have rhapsodized about Paris. Duke and Harbu...

We wanted to visit The Muse'e d'Orsay which houses the world's greatest collection of French Impressionist art. The Metro dropped us just across the river at The Tuileries Gardens, a famous, large park next to the Louvre and just across the Seine from The Orsay. We were interested to learn that The Tuileries is where roof tile workshops were located many centuries ago. Eventually it became a garden next to the palace of Queen Catherine de Medici, the widow of...

Everybody knows that Paris is a very international city, with people from all over the world. But who would think that one tiny rue (street) in the Bastille District would contain so much variety. On one long block of Rue De Lappe, a narrow, cobblestone street right near our place, we saw Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Indian, Japanese, Brazilian, British, Thai, etc. restaurants and shops. Around the corner, we even saw Morry's Bagels and Toast. Just amazing! You can...

The other day, we walked across the Seine to St-Germain (pronounced something like "Sen Jurmen"), in the 6th Arrondissement. It is very quaint, with many narrow cobblestone streets and lots of nice, small shops-- the type you often see in French paintings and posters. It is an expensive area with high prices and very high rents. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe, bought macarons at a fantastic candy/chocolate shop, Un Dimanche A Paris (which means "Sunday in Paris"...