Dressing For Dinner--this one's mainly for the girls

At the request of my DSW, in a few days I'll be posting a poll on dressing for dinner on the trip. This applies especially to the six nights we'll be dining aboard the barge.

Specifically, how many "dress up" nights vs how many "casual" nights do we want?

Also, what constitutes "dressing up"? Coat and tie? Sportcoat and open collar shirt? Any colorful tee shirt without too many holes?

We would like to designate one night aboard the Marjorie 2 (probably the last night) as a "special" night and call it our 50th birthday party.

Teri said that the ladies in the group would be intensely interested in this topic and may already be obsessing on what they will be wearing and how they would prefer the gentlemen of the BYSAPC to present themselves at dinner as their fashion acccessories.

Typically people in Europe tend to dress up a little more for dinner than we do here in the States, but since this is our own little love boat, we are empowered as a group to set our own dress codes while aboard. In Paris your dress for dinner will depend greatly on the kind of place you choose.

Anyway, ladies (and gentlemen too, if you're so inclined) please feel free to weigh in on your sartorial preferences.

Speaking of dinner in Paris, Mike has been busy researching dining spots near our hotel. He's had exchanges with our hotel's concierge and has come up with several highly recommended places within a short walk of the hotel. The price range of these restaurants vary from pretty reasonable (for Paris) to kind of expensive, but none of them are anywhere close to the 300 Euro threshhold that we had been warned of.

Mike will be passing on his short list to me and I'll in turn share the links with you for your comment and approval. Once we've mulled over the menus, we can decide how many "group" nights we want to have in Paris. Of course you have the option of going your own way for any or all of the nights we're in the City of Lights.

One thing to keep in mind about restaurant dining in France is that you can mentally deduct 15 to 20 percent from the bill since tipping is almost always included in the price of the meal. As an American, it's almost impossible for me not to tip, so I usually leave 10 percent anyway, which tends to endear me to the wait staff wherever I go.