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One of my first nights in France I went out with the locals to a pretty fancy restaurant, and I ordered the "seafood platter."  Several of the locals had a lot of experience in the USA and Texas, and so they had a good idea of what I was expecting, and of course that's not what I got, at all.

Of course none of it was fried, or blackened, or grilled, or anything else familiar.  It came on a three tier dish, on the top was a whole crab on ice, eyes staring at me, claws hanging down in front.  The next tier had some small whole fishes kinda like sardines, and some whole boiled langoustine.  The bottom tier had some type of mollusks in their shell, but I didn't recognize them, they weren't clams or oysters or muscles or scallops.  They were alive but slightly cracked open, and it was your job to finish killing them, separate them from the shell, and then eat them.  And also on the bottom tier were some sea snails.  Probably a couple of other things I'm forgetting because they were so unfamiliar.

Anyway, I had no problem with the langoustine, I've been peeling and eating shrimp and crawfish my whole life.  I tried the sea snail and it was pretty bad, not nearly as tasty as escargot.  The mollusks were actually quite good but it was a little weird killing them and watching them sort of jerk around and shrink a bit, in front of me.  The sardine things didn't bother me but weren't my favorite.  

But I struggled with the crab-- I really had no idea how to take it apart.  It's just not something a middle-class Texan ever really sees.  The locals were laughing at me when it was delivered, and happily devoured what I didn't eat.  They were nice enough to give me some of the crab claw meat which was delicious.

Since then, of course, I've become much more open to foods, and nowadays wouldn't balk at a plate like that, at all.  But at the time, as a 23-year-old wet-behind-the-ear kid, I really had no idea what I was doing.  

Never been a big fan of French cuisine.  First time I went to France, I was on a high school tour (long time ago), they didn't give us an options on our first meal.  they served us some kind of fish covered in olive oil. Was not happy.  As soon as I found the McDonald in Paris, I got a Big Mac. This was back in 1977, so it may have been the only McDonald's in Paris at the time if I remember right it was on the Champs Elysees not too far from the Arc De Triomphe. 

Going to be in France in about 40 days, I am much more adventurous in my dining these days, so no McDonald's. Not sure how adventurous, but definitely will try different things. 

My advice to Americans is to walk until you haven't seen a tourist for a while, and then walk some more, find a neighborhood kind of place with local foot traffic, and dine there.  The locals rarely tolerate poor food for long.  

My other advice is that a simple "sandwich shop" can be excellent.

Never been a big fan of French cuisine.  First time I went to France, I was on a high school tour (long time ago), they didn't give us an options on our first meal.  they served us some kind of fish covered in olive oil. Was not happy.  As soon as I found the McDonald in Paris, I got a Big Mac. This was back in 1977, so it may have been the only McDonald's in Paris at the time if I remember right it was on the Champs Elysees not too far from the Arc De Triomphe.

Going to be in France in about 40 days, I am much more adventurous in my dining these days, so no McDonald's. Not sure how adventurous, but definitely will try different things.

French food is great.  Other than some unusual seafood we don't see much here in the US, and snails, I don't think French food requires a need to be adventurous.  It's not like some of the Asian cuisines (or Louisiana) where they will eat pretty much anything.

If you want some recs on what to order, or how to order, ask CD, he knows his way around the French culinary experience.  And like he says, some of the very best food is in small local neighborhood bistros.  You don't need to hit Michelin starred restaurants to eat like a king, in France.

Well, Utee lived there longer than I've visited, there is a difference.  And I'd note that chicken and pork are not often on menus in France, you'll more likely see a fish, duck, lamb in local spots, maybe some steak of some sort, I've never had a good steak there.  They do like their sauces of course.  It helps to learn the French words for basic menu items, like duck is canard, lamb if agneau, fish is poisson.  No, not poison.  Steak may be bouef or biftek or just steak, fried are pommes frites.

Moules is mussels, a real item in the north and Belgium.

A very casual looking bistro can be excellent, they use fresh stuff, daily. 

And of course the jambon on your pizza or croque monsieur. (ham)

Oh, and don't forget the Lapin a La Cocotte.  Lapin is rabbit and the Frenchies love them some rabbit stew.  It's more an in-home thing than a restaurant thing, though.  But man I loved it.

We stayed at my daughter in law's place for a week in a tiny village near Rambouillet.  There was one restaurant in town, run by a lady we got to know, she's Portuguese.  My wife still emails with her.  The food was really good and she had a large fire place with a roaring fire going, this was January or February.  We had lunch there nearly every day, and one dinner.  The lady said she got up at 4 AM to go to the market to get food items.  The menu was on a chalk board and varied some each day depending on what she could buy.  You rarely see that here, if ever, in the US, getting that day's produce and meats for the restaurant.  "Home cooked", ha.

The other nice thing is wine isn't marked up like crazy.  A bottle that would be say 10 euros retail might be 12-15, while here it would be 30.  The OTHER good thing is I find I often lose a couple of pounds after two weeks over there.

I'm sketching out a trip for two weeks in the south of France and then two weeks in Tuscany.  Maybe longer.  Now I'm hungry.

I'm sketching out a trip for two weeks in the south of France and then two weeks in Tuscany.  Maybe longer.  Now I'm hungry.

Man I'd love to do this.  Make it a couple of months, even.