Reddit reviews Markets of Paris, 2nd Edition: Food, Antiques, Crafts, Books, and More

Congratulations! I too am planning my honeymoon to Paris this summer a few weeks after you. I'm happy to share my research (much of which I've compiled from Reddit suggestions and wikitravel). I've also been before, though my fiancee hasn't, so we're doing all of the touristy things that I thought were worth it after being there and doing them mystelf.

First off, I'm been putting most of my research into a google map. Blue pins are the tourist attractions, blue circles are shopping and green circles are vegetarian restaurants. My fiancee is vegetarian, though this may not be an issue for you. If you do want my vegetarian research, let me know and I'll do a follow up post. My plan is to use this map on my iphone while we're on the go (we'll have a mifi so we'll have internet on the go) so if serendipity isn't striking us we can find a close restaurant or cafe that's recommended.

My general tips are as follows:

• Most food in Paris is good to great. The last time I was in Paris for 10 days we didn't plan out any meals. I tried but we could never find them when we were out and about before we got too hungry and just had to stop anywhere that looked good (hence the google map this time). The thing though was that we never had a bad meal. When people talk about the food of Paris being good though, it's that the quality is generally excellent and it's hard to go wrong. There certainly are better and fancier restaurants, but I wouldn't be too rigid about planning meals out.
  
• That said, my favorite meals from my last trip were the picnics we did. We would go to a bakery each morning and pick up a loaf of baguette and then hit the Monoprix for some cheese, meat and wine (good wine in Paris starts at 3-5 euros). Whenever we got hungry, we would find a nice park or walk to the Seine and find a nice spot to eat and watch the flow of the city.
  
• Take the Fat Tire Bike Tour. It's run by American college students but it's a fantastic way to see the city and they did a good researching and presenting the city's history. More importantly though, taking a bike tour you get to see a lot of the city in a short period of time and really get your bearings for where things are and if you do it early in your trip you can ask them for suggestions.
  
• Depending upon when you plan to go to the museums, you can probably save some time and money with a paris museum pass.
  
• When you go to the louvre, don't go in through the main entrance. There's a side entrance that never has a line. You can exit through the main entrance which has the pyramids so you see them too. Note that it appears you'll need the Paris Museum Pass or other tickets to use it.
  
  Fancy Restaurants Recommended by Reddit
  
  
• Le Jeu de Quilles, 45 Rue Boulard
  
• Les Cocottes de Christian Constant, 135 Rue Saint-Dominique
  
• L'Atelier de Joel Rubichon, 5 Rue Montalembert
  
• Le Comptoire du Relais, 9, carrefour de l'Odéon.
  
• Les Ombres on top of the Musée du Quai Branly (great view/ very good food)
  
• Le Chateaubriand
  
• le Restaurant Jean François Piège at Thoumieux
  
• Mandarin Orienta
  
• Le Grand Véfour,
  
• Le Cinq at Georges V,
  
  Restaurants which require reservations recommended by my Aunt who lives in Paris:
  
  
• Le Pré Verre : 8, rue Thénard 75005 Paris
  
• La Boussole : 12 rue Guisarde 75006 Paris
  
• Le Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon
  
• Le 6 Paul Bert
  
  Street Markets
  
  
• Rue de Seine
  
• Rue Mouffetard Market
  
• http://marches.equipements.paris.fr/
  
• Book on the Markets of Paris that I will be taking to Paris
  
  Other Links that I collected but haven't looked at in a while:
  
  
• http://www.timeout.fr/paris/feature/selection/the-best-markets-in-paris
  
• http://www.timeout.fr/paris/feature/music/best-live-music-bars
  
• http://www.lestroismailletz.fr/
  
• http://goparis.about.com/od/nightlifeinparis/tp/Paris_Nightlife.htm
  
• http://www.caius-restaurant.fr/
  
• http://www.lechateaubriand.net/
  
• http://www.frenchie-restaurant.com/
  
  Have a great trip!
  
  EDIT: A few additional thoughts:
  
  
• Try to learn a few french phrases. My experience was that if I tried to speak french to people, they opened up significantly, whereas if I started in English people tended to be a bit annoyed with me. A simple, "Bonjour" or "Bon matin" or "excusez-moi, je suis desolee, mais parlez-vous anglais?" go a long way towards getting good responses.
  
• Some of the best things in Paris are the touristy things. Just because something seems touristy (e.g. all of the museums, watching the Eiffel Tower light up at night) doesn't mean that it should be avoided.
  
• That said, avoid any restaurant that has a direct view of the Eiffel Tower or that's next to the park where the Eiffel Tower is. My experience is that all the food there was overpriced and poor quality (as compared to the rest of Paris which is to say it was still objectively a good meal, just by comparison you can do a lot better by going a few blocks further away).
  
• I'm still looking into the Velib bike system, but it's something we'll probably do. I think you have to order passes online if you don't have a European credit card, though hopefully others can speak to that.
  
• If you're going to do a day trip, I really liked Versailles. The palace was overwhelming and frankly I want to skip it this time but the gardens are amazing and worth the trip by themselves.
  
• Don't try to do too much. There's a temptation to try to cram things in since there's so much to do in Paris. Part of charm of Paris is just relaxing and wandering. There are so many interesting things that aren't in guide books or on maps that you can just stumble upon that it'd be a shame to plan too much on miss out on the serendipity.
  
  The side bar has a few links which may be helpful if you haven't seen them:
  
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/15cavv/redditors_guide_to_paris/
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/hdzn6/looking_for_less_touristymore_obscure_things_to/
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/l33w9/information_on_paris_and_france/
  
• http://www.reddit.com/r/paris/comments/gz5c8/tips_and_tricks_for_a_firsttime_visit_to_paris/