It's funny, I really don't care if there are other people in a restaurant when we eat or not, OTHER than it might be a reflection of the quality of the restaurant, if it is empty. Was your earlier trip during high season, or low. Low season, many restaurants are pretty empty. That's why we love going during low season. It's been my experience that eating early on the French side is often not possible, but usually no problem on the Dutch side. I will say that it is nice now to have some more true French restaurants opening on the Dutch side.
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