and you can work through 63 pages via the link below… to find ALL the Michelin stars in France… (the link opens at page 1… so click the arrow top-rhs for next page)
not very many in 24.
Quite frankly the starred restaurants aren’t always the best way to enjoy a meal out - there are some exceptions - The Mariottat in Agen (sadly now closed) was superb - good value menu de marché with all the trimmings, lovely luxurious setting and gracious service.
Starred restaurants are more expensive, can be very snooty and pretentious
We often find the best restaurants to be found among the next level down - not starred but well reviewed. (bib gourmand)
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Loads in Paris…
There’s nothing nicer (in my view) than finding somewhere to eat by chance … and discovering that the food on offer is absolutely delicious and well within budget.
We used to wander across France like that… marvellous fun.
However, I’ve no hesitation in accepting an invitation to dine at a restaurant which is in the Michelin guide… what an experience… and even better when someone else is paying the bill.
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Yes loads in Paris.
I know what you mean by bib gourmand…that is what we had in
London for our restaurant. Michelin stars are a nightmare for chefs.
I’ve heard about the terrible strain some chefs suffer, trying to maintain/improve on the standard which won the star in the first place…
Frankly, if someone wins a star… they’ve won it! and should be able to retain/display their plaque “*winner for xxx year” and not get it taken away if “someone” thinks they’re no longer up to scratch… that’s my view… and others might well disagree…
This single page shows all the Michelin 2022 starred restaurants in France (mostly) listed in alphabetical order of town
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Yes it was all a little painful for me as we got an accolade and then
I got cancer and every aspect of running the restaurant became a massive struggle.
Lost the accolade and never regained my confidence or good health.
Operating a fine dining restaurant in London is an easy route to a nervous breakdown.
Our local Michelin formerly 3 star resto at Lagioule famously tried to return their stars, but Michelin said that they were Michelin’s stars and not Bras’ to ‘return’. Since then his son has taken over and been awarded, guess what? Now, only two stars!
Previously, while dining in their other, cheaper place next to the Musée Soulages in Rodez I had a whole bottle of wine poured over my head by a young waiter who took the corner too fast, it ruined a very fine genuine Hawaiian shirt and all they did was not charge us for our wine. For me, two stars = Hawaiian Karma!
NB. Not to be confused with Hawaiian korma which might include pineapple…
Ahem…You were wearing a Hawaiian shirt in a fine dining restaurant in France and the waiter accidentally poured a bottle of wine over it?
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Yes, but it was a genuine Hawaiian shirt 
. I shouldn’t take the micky, as I do have a real Hawaiian shirt, and it’s really nice. I acquired it one night when very drunk at a party. I swapped it with someone who liked my shirt, and I liked his. I got the better half of the deal.
In another lifetime… a friend in the Merchant Navy brought me a genuine grass skirt… good grief, there was no way I could wear it, it weighed a ton… 
Really
Well not sure how the waiter managed to pour wine over your head. Think about it jt really sounds over dramatic. And by the way the customer is not always right. Not sure why the same young waiter was taken your order. In a 2 star place the people serving are sleek and not trainees. The sequence of events sounds like a fairly poor comedy script. Yes I imagine one is expected to wear clothes which are not casual at a starred restaurant there are certain unspoken rules…which can, on occasion be expressed y the Maitre D
He was walking too fast carrying the wine on a tray, one handed, he turned the corner of our table too quickly, the bottle fell off and hit me on the head, emptying its contents all over me.
I don’t see what that has to do with my post.
If you’d bothered to read my post properly, rather than jumping to conclusions, you might have noticed that I wrote, ‘Previously, while dining in their other, cheaper place next to the Musée Soulages in Rodez’.
Which I’d hoped was also self-evidently far more informal - otherwise I wouldn’t have been wearing such a shirt - I’m far from being a sartorial ignoramus.
Also, I described the waiter as ‘young’, I didn’t call him a ‘trainee’.
Does that answer all your questions?
Lastly, from your tone and phrasing, I could be forgiven for thinking that you’re questioning my veracity, but instead, I’ll just assume that you’re not reading and writing as carefully as one might hope.
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One might hope for a lot of things…actually.
‘One might hope for a lot of things…actually.’
Obviously, but there’s no point wasting one’s time hoping for an apology!
Instead, let’s all hope your brain’s in gear next time you hit that keyboard.
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Probably did not read the entire story but the idea of a waiter rushing around with a bottle on a tray is very odd,
Maybe if you had ventured to the Michelin starred restaurant you would have saved the shirt.
Good bye Dr Mark H
As I mentioned I trained as a waiter in Switzerland (regarded as the best place in the world for hotellerie/restaurant-running training).
A bottle is always carried upright and generally, if done traditionally, on a salver (which may well itself be on a tray). One of the techniques is always to position the upright bottle near your body. Precisely to avoid it capsizing. Inexperienced waiters sometimes forget this leading to the slightest shock or even just a slight tilt going through a door or round a corner, having a high risk of the bottle going over.
The modern way you’ll see in a lot of London restaurants and I’m sure elsewhere, is simply to carry the bottle in the hand. The posher more likely to be with a napkin, and the hand more under or towards the bottom of the bottle (properly, never obscuring the label). But France and Switzerland likely to have kept more of the old ways hence the risk with the salver and/or tray and every inexperienced waiter has a bottle fall at least once.
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I never trained to be a chef but my restaurant received awards from
Gault Millau Michelin AA Asociation Egon Ronay and the
Good Food Guide and others. But we did not have a somellier …and yes
Always presented the bottle to the host client to approve the
Bottle before he or she tasted it.
Perhaps we began a new trend in less Posh service and just had excellent
Ingredients which were cooked with care and good presentation.
Sometimes the Michelin service style is overpowering.
However balancing a bottle on a tray is more or less a circus act.