Well off the usual tourist track in Paris is a very French restaurant that serves wonderful 4-course meals for €24 (about $32). It is À la Biche au Bois (45 avenue Ledru Rollin, Paris; phone 01 43 43 34 38), located in between Métro stops Gare de Lyon and Ledru Rollin. It also can be reached by the No. 29 bus.
Amsterdam is famous for its fine international cuisine. On our July ’05 trip, one of the spots that we thoroughly enjoyed was the highly recommended d’Vijff Vlieghen, or The Five Flies (Spuistraat 294-302 1012 VX, Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 20 5304060, fax 6236404 or visit www.thefiveflies.com). The unusual name originates with Jan Janszoon Vijff Vlighen, the first inhabitant of one of the five adjoining 17th-century houses that make up the dining establishment.
The reader’s letter titled “Chancing Street Food in India” (Aug. ’07, pg. 71) provokes a response. She wrote that despite her “semi-suicidal” practice of eating from street vendors in India, she and her traveling companion never got sick, and she would have missed out on a lot of the best of India had she been more cautious on food consumption.
I don’t think her letter should be left unanswered without warnings about the risks that go with throwing caution to the winds in eating in Third World countries.
While on a Mediterranean cruise with Holland America in May ’07, one of our stops was Dubrovnik. We were fortunate to have hired, online, a wonderful driver, Tomislav Radulovic (e-mail tomislav@taxiservicedubrovnik.com). Tom met us at the ship when we docked and was exceptionally pleasant and informative. He speaks English quite well.
His cost without a guide was €180 (near $242) for three to four hours; it’s more if you want a guide. The tour was based on our interests and needs. He will work with you to give you what you want.
by Harvey Hagman, Fort Myers, FL
On FRANCE, July ’07. . .
Dive! Dive! Dive! No, not a line from a submarine movie but the call to Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, a great dive and snorkel venue which is not very well known to many people other than Brazilians.
My husband and I went to Warsaw, POLAND, in March ’07 and were pleasantly surprised.
Here are four recommendations from a July ’06 trip to GERMANY.
In FRANCE, we chose the Churchill Hotel (14-16 rue Saint Jean, 14400 Bayeux, France; phone +33 2 31 21 31 80, fax 2 31 21 41 66 or visit www.hotel-churchill.fr. Reservations for the hotel can also be made through www.france.com) largely on a recommendation in answer to our “Person to Person” query in ITN. The praise given for the hotel was right on the mark.