Pre-Book your Tickets to the Top - Tour Eiffel

If visiting the Tour Eiffel is in your radar for your next visit to Paris, make a reservation before you go. It will make your wait in line for the elevators way shorter and you will be glad you did. With your pre-booked Internet ticket, you can just walk to the front of the (lengthy) line where poor folks are waiting for the elevators at the foot of the Eiffel Tower for hours in the summer season. With your ticket in hand, you will breeze right in.

So how to pre-book? go to the official (English version) Internet site for the Tour Eiffel. The site can be reached easily by clicking on the enclosed blue link at the end of this paragraph or by typing "Eiffel tower" in google. Once you reach the official site, go to the ticket section. Once there, please note that there are two types of tickets one can purchase, depending on how high up the tower you wish to travel on their elevators. Be sure to print your ticket from the Internet with the bar codes visible. This will be of crucial importance once you get checked in to enter the "fast and short" line to the Eiffel tower elevators at the foot of the monument. La billetterie officielle de la Tour Eiffel

Some important facts you many want to know about the Eiffel Tower before you go:

- DOB - March 31 1880
- AGE - 121 years old
- MADE BY - Gustave Eiffel
- HEIGHT - 324 meters
- WEIGHT - 7,300 tons
- STEPS - 1665

If you expect to dine in the premises while you're there, there are three options available. First, there's the exclusive (and expensive) Jules Verne Restaurant (276 meters up) at the top of the tower. You must make reservations before you show up at their private elevator door located at the foot of the Eiffel or it's a no-go-up for you. Believe me, I tried lying my way in, it doesn't work! If you reserve, expect to pay about 175 Euros per person for their set menu lunch. The second option is the 58 Hour Eiffel restaurant (about 115 meters up) located in the fist level or fist elevator stop. This is a more reasonably priced, attractive bistro that offers choices like burgers for 15 Euros and lunch menus for 22 Euros. Both of these restaurants have spectacular views of Paris. The third and last choice is Buffet, a fast food restaurant located right at the foot of the Eiffel, where one can purchase soft drinks plus hot dogs, pizza or chicken sandwiches for about 7.50 Euros each.

If you have any stories or travel recommendations you wish to share with us, please send them to postcards@me.com - we will be happy to publish them for you.

Eiffel Tower
5 Parc du Champ de Mars
Paris
Metro - Bir-Hakeim

Burgers in Paris

Have you ever craved American food while in Paris? a juicy burger with fries, a pecan pie, pancakes with maple syrup or cheesecake? Well, now there are some pretty authentic places for American food in Paris and they are getting rave reviews from the locals!

One of them is Breakfast in America, a 50's like diner establishment that opened it's first locale near The Sorbonne in St. Germain several years ago. They were so well received, they decided to open a second location in the Marais. Just to give you an idea of the prices and the selection of food in their menu, their burgers with fries go for around 8Euros; The BLT is 7.50Euros; Ham & Eggs are 8.95 Euros (breakfast is served all day) and Sunday Brunch is 16 Euros and it includes a drink a hot dish and a pastry - muffing, toast, etc.

For more information on the location, prices, history, menus, etc. for Breakfast in America, please click on the enclosed link or go directly to their official website at www.breakfast-in-america.com . Breakfast-In-America.com - Home

A second option for American fare is the sleek and popular Scoop Cafe located near the Louvre in rue St Honore. I have not visited the place, but reviews rave about the "terrific food" the "reasonable prices" and "the best burgers in town". They also have a nice brunch on Sundays and serve dinners three nights a week - Thursday's Friday's and Saturday's.

For more information on Scoop Cafe, please click here or go to www. scoopcafe.com.

A third and more exclusive option for American food while in Paris, is the brand new Ralph's restaurant opened recently by Ralph Laurent in the exclusive Blvd. St. Germain. The setting is supposed to be gorgeous, furnished with luxurious leather chairs, decorated with paintings of hunting scenes and the menu serves a selection of American classics like burgers, fried chicken, meat loaf and carrot cake.

Be prepared to pay through the nose. A burger goes for 27Euros. For this hefty price, you get a burger made from grass fed beef flown directly from Mr. Laurent's farm in Colorado. Book ahead, for there's a two week wait since they opened. So much for eating like the locals!

Ralph's
173 rue Blv. St. Germain - 6th
33-1-44-77-76-00

Breakfast in America Diner
4 Rue Malher (Marais)
Metro - St. Paul
8:30am - 11pm

17 rue des Ecoles (by Sorbonne)
Metro - Cardinal Le Moine or Jussieu

Scoop Cafe
154 Rue St. Honore
01-42-60-31-84
Metro - Louvre/Rivoli