Report Cards

From Paris, FRANCE, Jan. 29, ’07. . .

Côté Cour (Impasse de la Gaité, Paris 75014; phone 01 43 27 23 34), located off rue de la Gaité. A favorite restaurant just off the “street of theatres,” it offers traditional French cooking with 2-course meals (entrée and dessert or appetizer) or all three courses. Drinks are extra at moderate prices.

My husband, James, and I started with escargots (12!), then had veal blanquette, then custard with cream — at €26 (near $34) a typical value. Prices range from €18 to €26. Dinner only, every night.

• There’s also a good little restaurant with French island specialties and moderate prices across from Côté Cour, but we didn’t use it this year.

— Marie Kilker, Sarasota, IL

On THAILAND, January ’07. . .

• The new bridge from Mukdahan in Thailand over the Mekong to Savannaket in Laos is now completed. It is part of the highway from Yangon, Myanmar, to Dong Ha in central Vietnam.

The road through Thailand, Laos and Vietnam is, at worst, a very wide paved highway. Much of it in Thailand is a 4-lane freeway.

— Bob Phillips, Tillamook, OR