Le Timbre, Paris

This tiny little restaurant - named "The Stamp" due to its postage - stamp size - was a real find in the Montparnasse area. An English chef decides to open up a small restaurant cooking traditional French food in Paris! It has been getting rave reviews from NY times, Guardian etc. There are just two staff - the chef working out of his tiny open kitchen and one waitress who spoke excellent English and French. At most, the restaurant can only seat 20 and you sit side by side with other diners. Tables have to be moved in and out when you leave. Menu changes daily due to what is available. I started with escargots in a luscious tomato-based sauce and Paul went for the day's special, squid cooked with tiny cubes of pancetta which added punches of salty flavor. The squid was excellent - really fresh and cooked very well. For entree, the duck was a stand-out atop leeks (I can imagine Rachel salivating at the picture of pink duck with a good layer of fat). And the best dessert goes to the house Millefeuille - rich vanilla cold custard layered within three crunchy, flaky and sweet pastry. Very nice combination. All in all, this was our best meal in Paris. The portions were not huge but we felt comfortably full and satisfied after the 3 course prix fixe.

La Coupole, Paris

This brasserie in Montaparnasse has been going since 1927 and was frequented by Picasso, Hemingway etc. It is also famous for its interior - murals painted by artists such as Marc Chagall. We secured a good corner table at the back of the restaurant where we could watch all the hustle and bustle as the brasserie filled up. People tend to eat late - we had no problem getting a table at 7pm but would probably not have been so lucky at 8.30pm or 9pm. The food was good although not outstandingly special. Our first taste of the outstanding French butter! I'm so annoyed with tasteless American butter and so one of the objectives of the vacation was to eat as much French butter as possible. Luckily, they gave us 2 large servings so we are off to a fine start. I had a salmon dish atop mashed potatoes swimming in butter which needed a little more acid. Paul was brave and went for the steak tartare with frites and salad. The steak tartare was good - mixed with capers and onions but the portion was far too big. Dessert included a floating island - very soft meringue floating in a vanilla cream topped with almonds.