Birthday in Paris

Ladydee- that's a good thought keeping dinner and the river cruise separate, some are okay with the food on boats, but it seems most agree that you can do better in a restaurant. There are endless good places to eat in the area, you may want to check out David Lebovitz' site, or Alec Lobrano's Hungry for Paris, where you can search by arrondissement.
We dined at La Regalade Saint Honore, it's a few blocks from the Louvre, and loved it, 120 euro for two, with wine. This year we are going to try Le Reminet, among others, it's in the 5th across the water from Notre Dame.
I have a special day mapped out for us that goes like this: Gosselin for pastries and hopefully coffee in the morning, Rodin Museum, Invalides and the Army museum, a long picnic and walk in Luxembourg Gardens, browse Shakespeare & Company books, dinner at Le Petit Chatelet-next door, outdoors-then find some Jazz at either La Caveau de la Hachette or Sunset Jazz across the river.
Have a great trip!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-reminet-paris
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/paris/
http://www.alexanderlobrano.com/index/

We were in Paris for our anniversary in 2011. We made reservations at the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. It's not nearly as expensive as the Jules Verne. It's one floor down from the JV. During the day, it's a buffet restaurant, but for dinner, it's a quite nice, fancy restaurant with excellent service, gourmet food, and views to die for. If you reserve your tickets to the Tower before dinner, you can check out the view from the top and then stop at the first floor on the way down for a wonderful dinner. Our waiter took our picture (with the Trocadero in the background) and it's our favorite photo of the trip.

One extra benefit -- when you come home, you'll see the image of the Eiffel Tower almost every day (Rick Steves uses it on everything). Whenever we see it, we're reminded of our dinner....."right there."

If you like this idea, make your reservations ASAP.

http://www.restaurants-toureiffel.com/UK/EIFFEL-TOWER-RESTAURANTS/58-TOUR-EIFFEL/Dinner-in-paris-eiffel-tower.html

Thank you both! I'm going to follow up on the restaurants mentioned. Dave, that sounds like a perfect day in Paris :)

The Michelin Guide (now an online version) has been rating Paris restaurants for a hundred years, you probably would want to do some research in the Michelin Guide before selecting a restaurant for this special occasion.

If you are wine drinkers I'd opt for a glass and exploration at Caves Legrand on Rue De la Banque. In the back you will discover a wine bar which adjoins Galerie Vivienne, which will make you smile.

For a nice dinner I would deffinately suggest the 58 Tour Eiffel. It was the best dinner we had in Paris. We were just there in May 2014. For 98 Euros we got champagne, mineral water, 2 glasses of wine, three full courses of generous portions, and coffee. I noticed if you dressed nice (dresses for ladies and ties for men - no jacket needed) they seated you on the second level of the restaurant near the windows viewing the Trocodo. You can pay the extra 50 euros a plate for a guaranteed view but I don't think it is necessary. Dinner there was our most memorable night in Paris.

Here's 58 Tour Eiffel's website: http://www.restaurants-toureiffel.com/UK/EIFFEL-TOWER-RESTAURANTS/58-TOUR-EIFFEL/Dinner-in-paris-eiffel-tower.html

It says on their website that a guaranteed window seat is 170 euros per person. They have several different priced dinner menus, the least expensive is 80 euros. But I'm wondering if the quality of the food is worth even the 80 euros per person menu?

Also, their website says the price of the lift is included in the price and you can pick it up 15 min before your reservation. Do you get to go right onto an elevator that goes right to the restaurant (like the elevator to Jules Verne)? Or do you have to wait in the regular line?

Susan,
I am a very picky eater and I would say that the food was easily worth the 80 Euros a person and far exceeded my expectations. It was so good enough that we seriously considered going back for a second night but sadly we did not have access to a computer and printer to print out the tickets. As for getting there, you take the same elevator as for the Jules Verne. Alas, in may that private elevator was broke, but our tickets allowed for us to jump to head of the line for the normal elevator. We were up to the first level in less than 10 minutes from getting our tickets.

Thanks Crystal, I appreciate your very helpful info!

When we went, we dressed nicely and arrived early to see the top of the Tower (with a separate reservation). About 30 minutes before our reservation, we found ourselves in the gift shop which is on the same level. A torrential rain started, making it difficult to avoid getting soaked....unless you were already on that level. When we walked into the restaurant, they were very pleased to see us and gave us a beautiful table at the window. I think dressing up a little helps.