Nos Ancetres les Gaulois

When we first started coming to Paris many moons ago,

we were taken to a fun little place on the Ile St. Louis

called Nos Ancetres les Gaulois. 

By Paris standards, it would be called simple food

but it is fun for the buck (er...euro). 

The interior is a step back in time

to Our Gaul Ancestors.

You are led to bulky wooden tables and chairs

lined together and set family-style.

The floors and walls are rough stone,

ancient tools hanging nearby 

and timbered ceilings add to the medieval atmosphere. 

For a fixed price (now 40 euros),
you are given a small pitcher (pichet)
and directed to the wine cask
filled with a red Bordeaux
to refill as often and as much as you like. 

The starter is a basket of fresh veggies (crudites)
with a paring knife at your place setting...
and a small buffet holds several French salads
like the carrot rappee, julienned celeriac and piles of saucisson.

A waiter takes your meat order,
beef, lamb or chicken cooked in the nearby wood-fired, stone fireplace.
A cheese plate ends every French meal
as well as a seasonal fruit basket,
 dessert and coffee.

And while you eat,
a festive and raucous wandering troubadour
will produce any song requested,
for the price of a glass of wine from your pichet,
  and have the entire restaurant singing...in many different languages.

Started as a poetry and song club in 1969 in a medieval cellar,
the restaurant now includes 7 rooms and 300 seats
all situated in the very heart of where Paris began centuries ago.
Step back in time with a medieval experience
for the modern day traveler.


Click Here to see inside. 

Hover over the photo,

then left click and move around the room. 

Nos Ancetres les Gaulois

39, Rue Saint- Louis en I'lle

75004 Paris France

33.1.46.33.66.07

Open every day from 7pm-1am
Now also lunch 12-3.


(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Monday is 'Missing Paris Day'~Ile St. Louis

(Photograph copyright: Kirsten Steen)

One of my favorite old, timbered buildings on the Ile St. Louis, these sit just around the corner from Shakespeare & Co. and Notre Dame. One day I'll have to partake of les frites et biere at La Friterie and actually sit outside at one of les tables.

Happy Autumnal Equinox to all!

Monday is 'Missing Paris Day'~Ile St. Louis Restaurant Window

(Photograph copyright: Kirsten Steen)Taken through the window of a restaurant on the Ile St. Louis. Don't remember the name or exact location but loved the Old Paris tile mural. This was our screen saver for awhile, reminding me of so many French meals enjoyed with the hopes of many more to come. This scene makes me want to slide into a cushy seat (as the table is slid away from the wall to make room for my entrance as is the custom by the gentlemanly waitstaff), order a kir and peruse the French menu.

I have daydreams of Foie Gras and Sauterne, Coquille St. Jacques, Tarte Tatin and Vacherin.
I do miss the Choucroute (most likely more of a German meal of many types of meat and sauerkraut but the French love to do it big and make it their own).

We once attended the draining of a French 'lac' by the hunters and fishermen in that area, said to be done for the sole purpose of giving the younger generation something to remember. When the draining was finished and the fish hauled in with nets, separated and divided up, a long trailer sat nearby with one long table inside. A cook had prepared Choucroute for 20 and all along the table were bottles of Alsatian beer and white wine, plates of sausages, bacon and ham knuckles, piles of sauerkraut and scattered baguettes. We sat on benches and stuffed ourselves, partaking in the laughter of a day filled with 2-3 generations working, playing and eating together! One of my favorite memories!

If I were sitting at this table right now, it would most likely mean there was plenty of time to do lunch the French way, with hours to while away on nothing but food designed to make one's eyelids flutter, the sound of a language that makes's one's heart race (for a variety of reasons), and time for a nap apres.

Has anyone eaten here? Recall the name? After gazing lovingly at these tables for the better part of who-knows-how-long, I plan to make this a destination so the memory of it is filled with the particular taste of a certain food and wine. And I promise photos!

Happy Labor Day everyone!