The Food Lover's Guide to Paris by Patricia Wells has been our Paris bible for years. We've carried successive editions of that book around Paris on every trip, and by now I think we've hit every Cafe, Tea Salon, Market, Pastry Shop...and my favorite, Kitchen Shops (for a real experience, spend some time wandering in Dehillerin's.) Since I have so many notes written in them, when a new edition comes out I can't throw away the old one. We've also used her Food Lover's Guide to France when wandering other places in France.

There's a restaurant we got from the second edition of The Food Lover's Guide to Paris that still ranks as the best rendition of Coq au Vin we've ever had: Le Coq de la Maison Blanche, 37 Boulevard Jean- Jaures, Saint-Ouen, 40.11.01.23 (close to the Mairie de Saint-Ouen metro stop).

I've been a Patricia Wells fan for years - her cookbooks have recipes that are simple but wonderful. (Her Bistro cookbook is worth buying just for the pictures.) Unfortunately, she's on a fitness kick right now that I'm hoping she'll get over. Also, her web site is a good source for Paris tips as well as back copies of her restaurant reviews from the International Herald Tribune.

regards, Al Sonoma, CA