Café in Paris. Apartments in Croatia. Private day tour in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

REPORT ON FRANCE…

In Paris, BDJ Café (5 rue de Jarente, 75004 Paris; phone 01 4887 2420) is a former bar which has morphed into a good restaurant with some original and interesting dishes. I dined there on May 3, 10 and 13, 2012.

The full menu had about a dozen choices and was all in French, but the agreeable young waiter spoke perfect English, so there was no problem.

I tried an appetizer of baked chèvre cheese on a base of tomato-and-garlic sauce that was excellent. The calves’ liver main dish was done exactly as ordered and was very tasty, with an accompaniment of creamy mashed potatoes.

The best dessert I had was a honey-nougat ice cream with fresh berries. Also good was a dessert of lemon sorbet served in a scooped-out lemon shell; it was tasty but required a wait of about five minutes for the sorbet to melt enough to eat.

My total bill each of the three times I ate there was €30 (near $37); that’s €22 for 3-course meal and €8 for two glasses of the house red wine.

This place is closed Mondays but open all weekend. It’s a small café, and with all but a small portion of the outdoor terrace on a walking street, eating outside was both pleasant and quiet — a big advantage over many restaurants with terraces on busy streets.

Abbie F. Salny, Wayne, NJ

REPORT ON CROATIA...

My husband, Mel, and I just returned from Croatia, visiting Dubrovnik and Split. We loved the walled city of Dubrovnik — walking on the walls and staying in the Old Town. We stayed in apartments in both cities that were perfect and reasonably priced.

• In Dubrovnik, Apartment Bette was delightful. Within the walled city and just a few feet off the Stratum (main walkway), it was very clean and neat and cost $102 per night (April 30-May 6, 2012). The owner, Silva (silvaoptions@gmail.com), lives across the hall and was very helpful.

• Also, just outside the Ploče gate in Dubrovnik, there is a new, clean, self-help laundry facility, Sanja & Rosie’s Launderette (Put od Bosanke 2, Dubrovnik 20000, Croatia; phone +385 [0] 91 896 7509, e-mail info@dubrovniklaundry.com).

• In Split we stayed at a huge, beautiful, modern apartment with a lovely garden/patio. Just a 5-minute walk from the walls of the Old Town, it cost $120 per night (May 7-10). The owner, Maggi (megi.gabela@gmail.com), was very helpful and even helped us arrange for a ride to the airport at 4:30 a.m.

Jacquey Moss, Sun Lakes, AZ

REPORT ON BRAZIL...

My husband, Peter, and I had been to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, twice before, and there were places we wanted to revisit as well as sights we had missed. When we knew the date our ship would be there, Feb. 27, 2012, we contacted Tatur Turismo (Av. Tancredo Neves 274, Centro Empresarial Iguatemi II, Salas 222-224B, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; phone 55 71 3114 7900, fax 7901), which had been recommended by a friend.

I dealt with the owner of the company, a genial Irishman, Connor O’Sullivan. He arranged the day for us to our complete satisfaction, helped us choose lunch and dinner places in Salvador and, in our case, picked us up and returned us to our cruise ship.

Our 5-hour tour, 1-6 p.m., cost $140, which struck us as extremely reasonable. Our English-speaking guide was excellent.

Linda Beuret, Santa Barbara, CA