France, Italy & Croatia . . . off the beaten path??

[mysharonany]

My husband and I are heading to France (Paris, Dijon, Grenoble, Annecy & Lyon), Italy (Bolognia, Perugia, Assisi) and Croatia (Hvar) for 5 weeks starting in July. As one would image, we are totally psyched!!

We like to do things a bit off the beaten path and was wondering if anyone had any really cool suggestions or ideas for any of these destinations. Local restaurants, foods, wines, sites, day trips . . . would all be greatly appreciated.

I hope you notice that I mentioned restaurants, food and wine first . . . as that is what we love to do . . eat and drink (and photograph) our way around a town. We love to eat in smaller local joints with the locals. Most places in the guide books are over priced, usually not nearly as good and packed with tourists.

We already have the guide books and know what they suggest, but I would rather hear from you all . . .

Thanks in advance!!

[Eye Prefer Paris]

Hi,
Don't know whether you already visited Paris, but if you didn't , I lead private Paris insider walking tours where I show clients off the beaten path places in Paris that most tourists never see. I would love to take you on one of my tours. They are 3 hours and cost 175 euros.check out my site eye prefer paris dot com
Look forward to hearing from you and showing you my special Paris.
richard Nahem

[mysharonany]

Well, we are actually leaving Paris tomorrow morning. We have had a great time and as a matter of fact, we spent most of the day yesterday walking around the Marais district (til blisters formed). As we are only 2, your tour would have been a bit pricey for us, but definitely something worth looking into the next time we come to Paris (hopefully with friends).

Au revoir!!

[joe]

Sorry I didn't get to your post mysharonany, but I've never been to areas of France and Italy you were hitting, and I've never been to Croatia. I hope the trip was a good one nonetheless. If you have any learned tips/tricks/advice to give, please feel free to do so!