I’m having taking a short break (4 days) to Paris next month. I’d appreciate recommendations of what are the sights that shouldn’t be missed and more importantly recommendations of where to eat (without spending an absolute fortune).
Cheers

http://www.leclosbourguignon.com/

Love this place. A proper little back street bistro in the finest French tradition. Not haute cuisine, but just really good food and lovely wine in a suitably crazy atmosphere. Don’t be put off by the lightly chilled Fleurie with your steak. Delicious.

Cheap too.

L’Entrecôte is good and fairly cheap – classic French steak and frites – not a place for a long sitdown meal though – service is fast and you’re not expected to linger for ages.

http://www.relaisentrecote.fr/uk/index.html

Obviously, the big brown pylon thing

Get a copy of the Time Out guide – it has some fantastic recommendations – well worth it.

IIRC there is an old converted soup kitchen or workers food hall (or something like that) near Notre Dame that (used to?) do some amazing food – massive, no private tables (so you generally end up next to locals or somesuch interesting people).

It was a long time since I last went there though but I loved it.

Also found some nice restaurants near the Sorbonne but no idea of the names.

Restaurants I like: Au Bougnat (just behind the Notre-Dame), La Tête d’Ailleurs (Bastille IIRC), l’Avant Goût (just down from the Place d’Italie). If you want good cheap eats then head to the Jewish bit, Rue des Rosiers, for great kebabs etc. There are lots of places to eat on the left bank: the Latin Quarter, the Odéon etc, if you like to browse lots of things in a small area. Just don’t bother with pasta anywhere because for some reason the French are hopeless at it.

Sight-wise, be prepared to queue for the big attractions. The Louvre (which is massive – it’d take a week to do it all) and the Eiffel Tower (which is pretty cool if you go all the way up) will normally have massive queues. I liked the permanent exhibits in the Pompidou. But I always think the best sights in most cities are the backstreets and the everyday stuff going on – YMMV 🙂

La Beliere on Rue Daguerre was brill when i was living and working in Paris

http://www.la-beliere-welcome.abcsalles.com/prive/fr/fiche.php?n=19264

Nice food and subtle jazz (think a bloke with a snare and hihat and a bloke on piano, rather than wailing) – but things may have changed, that was a few years back

I’m not even joking, but the only place I go to when I’m in Paris on train layover for a few hours is this pizza joint just off St Michel. I don’t have an address or a name but it’s if you cross Bd St Michel heading east from the metro, into the pedestrianised zone – it’s a conspicuous place located on the corner where two pedestrianised roads meet. It will be recognisable – it’s a known place. You’ll see it, it’s 50m from the metro in the direction everyone goes. Just grunt “pizza” and you’ll be pointed towards it. I think it’s where “Albe” is shown on Google maps.

Not necessarily a nice place for a romantic dinner – it is a pizza place – but I like it for my purpose

More generally St Germain is great, lovely old tea room there, the famous one. Hotel Verneuil was good

“…this pizza joint just off St Michel…“

I think that’s Rim, the one with burgundy-coloured awnings. Last weekend we were at the hotel next door to it, so we walked past it quite a lot, though didn’t eat there. The food looked pretty decent. (Though finding decent pizza in France isn’t hard.)

Best place I’ve eaten is Restaurant Allard.
Very traditional french. Last time we went at lunchtime and it was easier to get in and full of local old business dudes.

Great city to go if you haven’t been before. So much to see and great to just wander around. I’d actually reccomend the open top bus for the first day.

Père Lachaise Cemetery.get a map and dont miss Oscar Wildes tomb