Belgium, France & Italy: Our Trip Recommendations

We often get asked for our recommendations of places to see, stay, and visit, just as we ask other travelers.  I thought it might be good for our own memory and for ease of sharing to do a final blog post listing all our recommendations.  We try to pay it forward by writing review on Trip Advisor, since we do lots of research on Trip Advisor, so many of our recommendations are just links to our Trip Advisor reviews.
 
Enjoy!

Brussels
Accommodation: The Residence Les Ecrins
Review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188644-d1167648-r179267433-The_Residence_Les_Ecrins-Brussels.html#REVIEWS

Restaurant: Fornostar
Review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188644-d1742820-r177933032-Fornostar-Brussels.html#REVIEWS

Paris
Accommodation: Grand Hotel Leveque
Review:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187147-d220006-r179267862-Grand_Hotel_Leveque-Paris_Ile_de_France.html#REVIEWS

Restaurant: Les Fables de La Fontaine
Review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187147-d719521-r178037137-Les_Fables_de_La_Fontaine-Paris_Ile_de_France.html#REVIEWS

Manarola
Accommodation: Arpaiu
Review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187819-d267666-r177932264-Arpaiu-Manarola_Cinque_Terre_Italian_Riviera_Liguria.html#REVIEWS

Restaurant: Trattoria Dal Billy
Review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187819-d1088126-r177932737-Trattoria_Dal_Billy-Manarola_Cinque_Terre_Italian_Riviera_Liguria.html#REVIEWS

Venice
Accommodation (used AirBnb): Santa Ternita D - Venezia Arsenale
Since we can't link directly to our review, here it is:

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. The directions to the apartment that Pietro gave were perfect. Although we had a little hiccup meeting Taziana for the keys due to something beyond her control, we were able to get in touch with Pietro and then just hung out in the campo to wait for Taziana. The apartment is outside the tourist area which was lovely. We felt like we had escaped into real Venice, watching the kids play in the campo and the elderly ladies chatting on benches. However, it's still only a 10-15 minute walk to St. Mark's Square. We found the location very convenient.  The apartment was just fine for two people. It was basically like all the hotels we had stayed at on our trip just without the daily service. It was clean, modern, and had everything we needed including air conditioning which was much appreciated. All in all, a fine experience!

Milan
Accommodation (used AirBnb):  Italian Romantic Getaway in Milan
Our review:

We loved our stay here! Our pre-arrival communication with Christian was great. His emails were very thorough and had lots of good recommendations about things near the apartment. Mariam was right there waiting for us with the keys and showed us the key things to know about the apartment. For two people, the apartment was perfectly sized and everything we needed, including air conditioning and a washing machine which we used a couple of times.  We were in town for the Italian Grand Prix and this was perfectly located between metro stops that went to both of the major train stations we had to use to get to Monza, Milan Centrale and Cadorna. It's walking distance from the Duomo and very close to lots of shops and restaurants.  We highly recommend this apartment and Christian!