3 Best Restaurants in Side Trips from Paris, France

With a roaring fire in winter and an outdoor terrace in summer, this quaint, country-style restaurant specializes in the fruits of the sea. Traditional dishes—like brioche-enrobed escargot with Roquefort sauce, plump seafood sausage, a hearty soupe de poisson (fish soup), and a heaping seafood platter—are served in a wood-beamed dining room.

For total van Gogh immersion, have lunch—or dinner on Friday and Saturday—in the restaurant he patronized regularly more than 100 years ago, in the building where he actually died. A three-course prix-fixe menu is available, and saddle of lamb and homemade terrine are among Loran Gattufo's specialties. What makes eating here special, though, is the genius loci, complete with glasswork, lace curtains, and wall blandishments carefully modeled on the original designs. Table No. 5, the "table des habitués," is where Van Gogh used to sit. A magnificently illustrated book, Van Gogh's Table, by culinary historian Alexandra Leaf and art historian Fred Leeman, recalls Vincent's stay at the auberge and describes in loving detail the dishes served here at the time.

An unapologetic carnivore, chef Alix Guiet bucks the trend for veggie-conscious cuisine in his handsome new restaurant a quick walk from the palace. The seasonal menu offers all the tried-and-true French classics—sautéed duck hearts, bone marrow on toast, veal liver, and steak tartare—from the famous meat-producing regions of France, served with your choice of delicious, artery-clogging sauce: green peppercorn, béarnaise, beurre Roquefort, etc. There's also a choice of fish dishes. The dining room, in a restored 17th-century town house, is sleek, bright, and comfortable, with wood-beam ceilings, white paneling, and tasteful artwork—and the meals served here are reasonably priced and of extremely high quality. Classic desserts (baba au rhum, brioche pain perdu) round out the meal.