Eating alone can be a joy, especially in Paris, where café culture means that lingering over coffee and a book is positively encouraged. Still, you want to find somewhere with the right vibe. For business or solo travellers, or if you just fancy spoiling yourself without having to make conversation, these are some of our favourites. Have another restaurant you want to recommend for a meal in blissful solitude? Let us know in the comments box below. Dishes for one • Les Cocottes Christian Constant has found the perfect recipe for pleasing Parisians at his new bistro: a flexible menu of salads, soups, verrines (light dishes served in jars) and cocottes (served in cast-iron pots), all at bargain prices – for this neighbourhood. Service is swift and the food satisfying, though the vraie salade César Ritz, which contains hard-boiled egg, shouldn't be confused with US-style Caesar salad. Soups such as an iced pea velouté are spot-on, and cocottes range from sea bream with ratatouille to potatoes stuffed with pig's trotter... With a book • Les Editeurs Time was, Saint-Germain-des-Prés had some serious lit cred. All the big publishing houses were based here before rents soared and they were forced out to the suburbs, and in the early 20th century the tracks made here by Gertrude Stein, Hemingway and others are legendary – and it also attracted slews of local bohemian artists, writers and musicians. Today, the neighbourhood is still littered with bookshops – many of them second hand E
Surrounded on all sides by the Parisian conurbation, these 2,000 hectares of semi-wild national parkland stand as a bastion of green space against the encroaching city. Vast and remarkably untamed, the Forêt de Montmorency remains one of the more enchanting green spaces in the banlieue. Stray off the beaten path, and you'll find yourself among more badgers than men.
How to get there: Take the Transilien H to Taverny.
Sure, the several million tourists who descend on the forest every year spoil things somewhat. Yet the largest forest in Île-de-France – 17,000 hectares, no less – provides plenty of opportunities to peel off from the crowds and get some alone time. Your best bet is to steer clear of the château and the various motorways that cut through the woods.
How to get there: Take the Transilien R to Fontainebleau-Avon.