First evening meal...

As posted previously, we will be arriving mid morening and staying in the 6th. We would like to start the week off with a really nice meal- either late afternoon or early evening. Any suggestions? I have been to the %26quot;reservethe best%26quot; web site and they all look fabulous! Also, some of the restaurants seem a bit more formal... what is the customary dress for evening meals?

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Depending on how long you will be traveling, I suggest you reserve for lunch, which in Paris can begin as early as noon, but you will find very few place open for lunch much after 3 pm (15:00). A number of restaurants are open as early as 7:30 - 8:00 for the tourist (North Americans primarily), but Parisians usually do not make reservations before 9:15, or so it seems.

Dress would depend on the restaurant. Most are reasonable casual, but, again, Parisians tend to dress up a little more when they go out to dinner, or lunch.

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For late afternoon and early evening your choices are very limited. Restaurants end service at around three and don%26#39;t reopen until 8pm. Your best bet will be a brasserie, which will be fine, because coming from so far away you probably don%26#39;t want to ssit on in a restaurant for a couple of hours...you risk falling asleep at the table. Here are some brasseries that are fun and have lots of tradition.

La Coupole on the boul. Montparnasse and

Brasserie de l%26#39;Ile on the Ile St Louis have continuous service, as may

Balzar on the rue des Ecoles or

Lipp on the boul St Germain

You could go to just about any cafe and enjoy a very Parisian croque monsieur, Omlette or salad with chevre chaud, for the most impressive of these venues you could look into

Les Editeurs at Odeon, or the historic Deux Magots and de Flore.

Customary dress is slacks with a blazer for men and slacks/skirt with a nice top for women...but the blazers are optional, merely tres parisien.

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Thanks! I didn%26#39;t realize restaurants closed during what we would consider normal %26quot;dinner hour%26quot; times! We%26#39;ll definitely have to give some of your suggestions a try though.