The one thing I will point out is that if you have a long leisurely lunch you have the option of having a long leisurely dinner or in the case of this past Sunday to just keep going 
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It’s easy to do a light(er) lunch or dinner. We generally can’t do two large meals per day. We usually do a light lunch then bigger dinner. Then again, sometimes we do a bigger, nicer, long lunch and just find something very simple dinner. Regardless, try starting with some simple French and usually the wait staff will just go into English. We were at Ami Jean and waiter said, “this will be a lot easier if we all spoke English”. Also have been to places that did not speak English (or much English) and had a great time. We all figured it out!
Of course they were nice to me. I’m nice. And I speak Parisian French, not that Quebecois patois! 
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Even as far back as 2014, I only encountered one time over 12 days where I needed to use my rudimentary French. That was at Fromagerie Hess in Beaune. Even then, the woman behind the counter got someone else to help when it was clear that ordering was going to take time due to the language barrier. It was a real change from my first trip to France in 1983.
Don’t forget the markets. One of the joys of visiting another country is cooking with ingredients not available where you live.
There is so much more to Paris (as most places) than restaurant meals. I hope the OP and daughter are going to make the most of non-food experiences and not let the perceived language barrier stop them. (Also, why not learn a little French???)
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Marché l Aligre in the 12th is our favorite. We always buy provisions there to make a meal or three in our rented apartment.
But most importantly (compared to the US, with few exceptions), the French give a shit about the quality of what they are selling
The time and distance from source to market are much shorter than in the US. I find their vegetables to be fresher and better, especially in the street markets. My favorites are the Bastille Sunday market and the biologic (organic) Sunday market on Blvd. Raspail, which is five mins walk from the apartment. It is quite small, but with excellent products. Also well worth mentioning is the Grand Epicerie at Bon Marche. And, believe it or not, some of the Monoprix stores (not all Monoprix sell groceries) are very good, too. We shop at the store on Blvd St-Germain and Rue de Rennes.
Not sure about this. Sunday Raspail is of course the benchmark for Paris, but most of the markets around the city are not actually farmers markets, they are just food-sold-outside, with products from all over France/Europe/beyond. Sure, you can focus on the handful of stands that have actual farmers, but the better farmers markets in the US are similar/better, as they will only have farmers from a few hours away.
That said, certain products are obviously better in different locations. Dairy is sublime in France, etc.
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I should have qualified my comment; I live in LA and many of the farmers market are so-so. The produce section of that Monoprix is better than any traditional chain market produce that I’ve seen in the US. Agree about dairy. Meat, poultry, and fish are more to my liking in France, too.
I go to a market almost every day in Paris, even though we’ve never cooked anything in the apartment we rent other than coffee and tea!
If you happen to get up to Santa Barbara on a Tuesday afternoon, their market is quite good, all local producers.
I would counter that in California we have pretty fantastic farmers markets with local produce. The Bay Area has many, San Diego has several. France definitely has an advantage in the prepared foods area, but as far as produce we do pretty well in California. Don’t know about LA, but I would be surprised if there aren’t some good ones as well.
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Wow. Surprised to see this. Are you including Santa Monica in this? I think LA has great markets.
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I live a few blocks from the Brentwood Sunday market and visit Santa Monica Weds/Sat market on occasion. I think the produce is generally much better in Paris.
Like @Robert_Dentice , I find this hard to believe. The climate in LA (and the various nearby regions of CA) is phenomenal for fruit/produce and there should be lots of demanding clients/customers. I haven’t been to a market in LA in 20 years, but I do remember being impressed when I visited.
That said, yes, if you compare ‘average’ food outlets (e.g. generic supermarkets), France always wins over the US in most categories. But it’s just that for most of us around here, ‘average’ outlets are irrelevant!
And at the end of the day, lots of great food (and wine) all over. Enjoy!
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One would think so, but that hasn’t been my experience. I prefer being in Paris to most places, so there may be some bias at work. I’ll give a grocery store example: I avoid garlic (and onions) at US grocery stores and in many US restaurants. The garlic is too often old and rancid. Not as often the case in Europe. Don’t get me started on tomatoes…
Sure, but I minimize time/purchases in grocery stores everywhere! And certainly not where I would want to look for fruit or produce. (I live in Nyc, so the winter does get tough, need citrus from the grocery store, so yes, Paris does have that advantage with the citrus from southern FR. But CA is no slouch on that front either)
Regardless, enjoy Paris, it is great! Although I am surprised to hear you describe Raspail Sunday market as ‘small’. Maybe it’s shrunk over the years, I haven’t been in a while, but it always seemed pretty large to me. Maybe the spread of organic stands to other markets may have reduced its distinctiveness?
I spend a lot of time in US grocery stores for business and the first places I look are produce and fish. US grocery store produce is generally terrible. Fish is worse.
Blvd Raspail is the same size that it has always been, one block between Cherche Midi and Rue de Rennes. It is small compared to Bastille and Marche Aligre (and Rue Cler). President Wilson Saturday Market is a bit bigger and seems to feature a fair amount of organic.
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Sunday market at Bastille was always my go-to, hands down. If I could swing a late start on Thurs or wanted to stock up and had a Sunday conflict, I’d run over to Saxe-Breteuil, which was both convenient (lived in the 16th) and spectacular. Le Grande Epicerie in Passy was our go-to for Galician beef, as well as awesome produce.
Couple of pics to convince you to hit outdoor markets that I’m sure I posted over in my “Adventures in Paris” thread…
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Stop that!!
More so than Sunday Raspail?
I was at Sunday Bastille in early February and happy to see a few organic stands, and clearly one can make good purchases. But also a lot of junk and Raspail struck me as an overall higher quality ratio. But really all that matters is that one gets good things!
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