The smell in the subway? Echoes of the mysterious Middle Ages. French writers also worked on the image of their capital, and long after your first visit to Paris you have already fallen in love with it through the efforts of Dumas, Hugo, Zola and Balzac. It’s worth adding to this the desire to unravel the secrets of French women, smell fresh croissants in the morning, and look at the capital of fashion and luxury with your own eyes. And now a ticket to Paris has already been purchased, and the risk of falling in love with this city increases a hundred times.
Interesting excursions from local residents in Paris
Olga Zaitseva has been living in Paris for four years now, falling in love with this city more and more every year. In this article, she will tell you about picturesque streets that are definitely worth a stroll, about interesting cafes and bars that serve the best coffee and cocktails, and about places hidden from the tourist routes.
Which area to choose for living
Paris is officially divided into twenty arrondissements. Each of them has its own characteristics. The fifteenth and sixteenth, for example, are very quiet and respectable, not far from the Eiffel Tower (it is in the seventh). Young people will rather prefer cheerful Belleville between the tenth, eleventh, nineteenth and twentieth arrondissements. In the eighteenth century there is Montmartre, but there is also relatively cheap housing there (by Parisian standards),
so there are a lot of students and visitors. Another student district is the fifth, but it is already calmer, because there is the Pantheon and the Sorbonne. The thirteenth is modern architecture and Chinatown, and the fourteenth is liberal, with a touch of Breton culture. The fourth is Marais, medieval streets, but at the same time there are many new and modern places. Well, the first one is, of course, the Louvre.
Hotels:
hotel 2* The Loft Boutique Hostel – accommodation from 1,550 rubles/day;
hotel 3* Porte de Versailles Hotel – accommodation from 4,662 rubles/day;hotel 3* Kyriad Paris 18 – accommodation from 5,801 rubles/day;
hotel 4* Déclic Hotel – accommodation from 5,810 rubles/day;
hotel 4* Hotel Paris Boulogne – accommodation from 7,904 rubles/day;
hotel 5* Crowne Plaza – accommodation from 9,489 rubles/day;
hotel 5* Best Western Premier Opéra Liège – accommodation from 12,060 rubles/day;
Where to eat
Before you go to a restaurant in Paris, you should know:
- Bills of less than ten and sometimes fifteen euros often cannot be paid by card – only in cash.
- If you decide to go to a bar, remember that Parisian youth usually hang out on Thursdays, so the establishments will be crowded, but it will be fun.
- Coffee at the bar is cheaper than on the terrace; this is usually indicated on the menu. By the way, behind the bar it can be interesting – you can chat with the barista, who is often also the owner of the cafe.
- Water in French restaurants is free, but you just need to specify that you want tap water and not bottled water.
- It is not necessary to leave a tip, but the French usually leave one euro.
- Well, if you see a menu in all the languages of the world, most likely the locals don’t eat there.
Coffee
Hand on heart, it’s worth saying that coffee in Paris is not great. The French for the most part prefer espresso and are generally not at all pretentious. But there are still several worthwhile places.
Café Kitsune (Jardin du Palais Royal, 51 Galerie de Montpensier) – this small cafe is located in the garden of the Palais Royal.
Average check: 5 euros
La Caféothèque de Paris (52 Rue de l’Hôtel de ville) – delicious coffee and a beautiful place that is gradually becoming very fashionable.
Average bill: 13 euros
Historical restaurants (where else, if not in Paris, to introduce such a category)
Polidor (41 Rue Monsieur le Prince) is a restaurant from the famous film “Midnight in Paris”, where the hero finds himself in the twenties of the last century and meets Hemingway. Only in the film there is now a laundry in its place, but in reality the restaurant still exists, and its interior has not changed for almost a hundred years.
Average check: 11-20 euros
Les Deux Magots (6 Place Saint-Germain des Prés) – cafe of Parisian bohemia. Oscar Wilde, Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso loved to be here.
Average check: 30-40 euros
Café du Commerce (51, rue du Commerce) – restaurant in the art deco style. At first there was a ladies’ dress shop here, then a canteen for workers, and now it is a famous restaurant with tables on three floors under a glass roof, where you can taste authentic French cuisine.
Average check: 20 euros
Le Grand Véfour (17 Rue de Beaujolais, 75001) – the center of social and political life in nineteenth-century Paris in the passages of the Palais Royal.
Average bill: from 100 euros for lunch and from 300 euros for dinner.
Le Procope (13 Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie) – the oldest cafe in Paris, at one time all philosophers gathered here and writers. And they started serving ice cream here for the first time!
Average bill: 35 euros
Rooftop bars
La Perruche (2 rue du Havre or, in short, the roof of Printemps) – probably the best view of Paris from the site of the newly opened bar and restaurant .
Average check: 40-50 euros
Bar Perchoir du Marais (33 Rue de la Verrerie) – be prepared for a half-hour queue, but the result is a unique view of the city hall and the Eiffel Tower in addition to delicious cocktails.
Average check: 50 euros
Beautiful terraces
Café de Flore (172 Boulevard Saint-Germain) – Parisian bohemians come here.
Average check: 17 euros
Au Vieux Paris d’Arcole (24 Rue Chanoinesse) – a cafe on the Ile de la Cité a stone’s throw from Notre Dame, changing its decor every season.
Average check: 40 euros
Le Saint Regis (6 Rue Jean du Bellay) – a cafe with red and black terraces on the island of Saint Louis.
Average check: 25 euros
And just a list of good places
Breakfast and brunch:
- Le Hibou (16 Carrefour de l’Odéon). Average check: 40-50 euros.
- Claus (14 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau or 2 Rue Clément). Average check: 30 euros.
- Café Coutume (47 Rue de Babylone). Average check: 8-10 euros.
Lunch:
- L’As du fallafel (32-34 Rue des Rosiers) – the best falafel in the city. Average check: 4-10 euros.
- Chez Mademoiselle (16 Rue Charlemagne). Average check: 40 euros.
Dinner:
- Loup (44, rue du Louvre). Average check: 20-40 euros.
- La Brasserie d’Aumont (10, Place de la Concorde) – the restaurant is hidden from the eyes of strangers in the Hôtel de Crillion. It is better to book a table in advance. Average check: 70-100 euros.
- Bistrot François Félix (9, rue Boissy d’Anglais). Average check: 11-20 euros.
- L’Auberge Dab (161, avenue Malakoff) – mostly seafood. Average check: 20-40 euros.
What to see (non-tourist routes, atmospheric places)
First, climb the Eiffel Tower, then go to the Louvre, be sure to take a photo of La Gioconda, then Notre Dame de Paris, Sacre Coeur and the Arc de Triomphe…
Joke! You’ve probably seen this list in every guidebook, and these attractions are really worth visiting, but you don’t need to limit yourself to only them.
Paris is a city that does not tolerate fuss. You can see everything in two hours, you can quickly run through the main iconic places, but then you will not see the real Paris.
You need to walk around Paris. Without a goal, without a map. Just get lost in the narrow streets of the Marais or leisurely stroll along the wide Haussmannian boulevards, climb the Montmartre hill, walk to the hipster San Martin canal.
And here are a few specific places:
— Sainte-Chapelle Church (8 Boulevard du Palais) is the most beautiful church in Paris, although not the largest.
— Belleville Market (Marché de Belleville, Boulevard de Belleville),
and any other market you come across – Parisians love to buy fresh vegetables and fruits at markets, and you can recognize them by their unfashionable grandmother’s carts. The markets are full of colors and scents, as well as friendly vendors who will be happy to recommend something local and unique, and maybe even let you try.
— A flea market (eg Brocante du Val de Grâce, 330 Rue Saint-Jacques) is another type of market that is no less popular in France. Here you can find unusual souvenirs or just admire antiques.
— Rue Crémeux is probably the most picturesque street in Paris. It may even seem that you are not in Paris, but in a small fairy-tale village – colorful houses, paving stones, flowers in pots. For photos for Instagram – here!
Things to do
In summer, take a stroll through the Tuileries or Luxembourg Gardens. There are chairs everywhere, sit down with a cup of coffee and a book, you will probably be surrounded by only Parisians. Just relax and watch the life around you, cute elderly couples on a romantic walk, students after class, businessmen on their lunch break.
Or take a stroll along the banks of the Seine. In warm weather, life is in full swing here! Parisians have picnics, dance tango, street musicians play, artists organize exhibitions.
In winter or bad weather, visit museums. First of all, of course, to the Louvre, but you don’t need to limit yourself to the route from the Mona Lisa to the Venus de Milo. It is better to go, for example, to the Egyptian hall. Children will be delighted, because there are not just silent exhibits there – they teach you how to read hieroglyphs!
And in Marais there is a museum of magic and fair art (Musée de la Magie, 11 Rue Saint-Paul). There you can see the old mechanical toys that entertained fairgoers in the nineteenth century, learn the secrets of magicians, and then watch a real magic show.
With children it will be interesting to go to the City of Science and Industry (Cité des sciences et de l’industrie; 30 Avenue Corentin Cariou) or the Palace of Discovery (Palais de la découverte; Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt) ,
where you can not only look at the exhibits, but also try everything yourself, see physical laws and natural phenomena in action.
By the way, admission to almost all museums is free on the first Sunday of every month.
And when you’ve already taken a selfie of yourself on rue Crémeux, it’s worth taking a panoramic photo of Paris from one of the observation platforms! You can go up to the roof of the Lafayette Gallery for free, offering a beautiful view of the Opera and the Eiffel Tower. Original panoramas are obtained from the tower of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Saint-Jacques Tower. The latter is not easy to get into – it is often closed to visitors, but if you are lucky and it is open, it will be a unique experience!
