Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [6]
GO GLAM IN PARIS
Break out your bling in this capital of luxury with a stroll down the Avenue Montaigne to window-shop—the French call it lèche-vitrine (or “licking the windows”)—from Chanel to Céline. Then do some real feasting at Paris’s most legendary restaurant, Le Grand Vefour (lunch main courses are around 100 euros).
RENDEZVOUS WITH THE PHANTOM
Want to feel like a Rothschild for no money at all? Promenade the fabulously opulent lobby and theater of the 19th-century Palais Garnier (www.opera-de-paris.fr)—haunt of the Phantom and Degas’s immortal dancers—daily 10 to 4:30 for free, or get tickets for an evening performance.
PIQUE-NIQUE AT PLACE DES VOSGES
No restaurant can beat the “décor” of Paris’s most beautiful square, the 17th-century Place des Vosges, so pull up a bench and enjoy your own foodie fixings. Get them at the nearby Marché d’Aligre market, off Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. It beats those drab supermarchés!
PLAN AN ASCENT ON HEAVEN AT MONT-ST-MICHEL
Keep the faith with a climb to the top and get a God’s View of this fabled Benedictine abbey (mont-saint-michel.monuments-nationaux.fr), whose fortified medieval village is the crowning glory of the Normandy coastline.
RATE THE BEST OF ALSACE’S WÜRSTS
As you head down Alsace’s famous Wine Road, Hansel and Gretel villages pop up every few miles, and each have winstubs that cook up delicious dishes of choucroute garnie. The inns in Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé (www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com) are supposed to serve the best.
POP YOUR CORK ALONG THE CHAMPAGNE ROAD
The famous Route du Champagne (www.tourisme-en-champagne.com) leads fans of the famous bubbly to the prestigious Champagne houses of Epernay and Reims (including Mumm and Taittinger) plus smaller, family-run estates for tours and tastings.
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If you want to get a sense of contemporary French culture, and indulge in some of its pleasures, start by familiarizing yourself with the rituals of daily life. These are a few highlights—things you can take part in with relative ease.
CAFÉ SOCIETY
Along with air, water, and wine, the café remains one of the basic necessities of life in France. You may prefer a posh perch at a renowned Paris spot such as the Deux Magots on Boulevard St-Germain or opt for a tiny café du coin (corner café) in Lyon or Marseilles, where you can have a quick cup of coffee at the counter. Those on Paris’s major boulevards (such as Boulevard St-Michel and the Champs-Élysées) will almost always be the most expensive and the least interesting.
In effect, the more modest establishments (look for nonchalant locals) are the places to really get a feeling for French café culture.
And we do mean culture—not only the practical rituals of the experience (perusing the posted menu, choosing a table, unwrapping your sugar cube) but an intellectual spur as well.
You’ll see businessmen, students, and pensive types pulling out notebooks for intent scribblings. In fact, some Paris landmarks like the Café de Flore host readings, while several years ago a trend for cafés philos (philosophy cafés) took off.
And there’s always the frisson of history available at places like La Closerie des Lilas, where an expensive drink allows you to rest your derrière on the spots once favored by Baudelaire and Apollinaire.
Finally, there’s people-watching, which goes hand in glove with the café lifestyle—what better excuse to linger over your café crème or Lillet? So get ready to settle in, sip your pastis, and pretend your travel notebook is a Hemingway story in the making.
STREET MARKETS
Browsing through the street markets and marchés couverts (covered markets) of France is enough to make you regret all the tempting restaurants around.
But even though their seafood, free-range poultry, olives, and produce cry out to be gathered