Pocket Rough Guide Paris (Rough Guide Pocket Guides)

210 Pages·2010·12.46 MB·English

by  James McConnachie, Ruth Blackmore

POCKET ROUGH GUIDE
PARIS
• PARIS’S BEST RESTAURANTS, BARS, SHOPS AND HOTELS
• EXPERT ITINERARIES
Pocket Rough Guide
PARIS
written and researched by
RUTH BLACKMORE AND
JAMES McCONNACHIE
with additional contributions by
SAM COOK
Contents
INTRODUCTION 4
Paris at a glance ........................ 7 Itineraries ................................. 8
BEST OF PARIS 12
Big Sights ................................ 14 Bars and nightlife .................... 24
Cultural Paris .......................... 16 Paris calendar ......................... 26
Dining ..................................... 18 Paris for kids ........................... 28
Romantic Paris ........................ 20 Green Paris .............................. 30
Paris shopping ......................... 22 Parisian’s Paris ........................ 32
PLACES 34
1 The Islands ........................ 36 9 The Quartier Latin .............112
2 The Louvre ......................... 42 10 St-Germain .......................122
3 The Champs-Elysées and 11 Montparnasse and southern
Tuileries ............................ 46 Paris ................................132
4 The Eiffel Tower area .......... 54 12 Montmartre and
5 The Grands Boulevards and northern Paris ...................142
passages ........................... 66 13 The Bois de Boulogne and
6 Beaubourg and Les Halles ... 78 western Paris ...................152
7 The Marais ......................... 84 14 Excursions ........................158
8 Bastille and eastern Paris ... 98
ACCOMMODATION 164
Hotels ....................................166 Hostels ..................................174
ESSENTIALS 176
Arrival ....................................178 Chronology .............................189
Getting around ........................180 French ....................................192
Directory A–Z ..........................184 Index ......................................198
Festivals and events ................188
<< C A F É D E L A M A I R I E , S T - G E R M A I N
< T H E LO U V R E A N D P Y R A M I D S 3
INTRODUCTION TO
PARIS
A trip to Paris, famous as the most romantic of
destinations, is one of those lifetime musts. Long
the beating heart of European civilization, it remains
one of the world’s most refined yet passionate cities.
The very fabric of the place is exquisite, with its
magnificent avenues and atmospheric little back
streets, its grand formal gardens and intimate
neighbourhood squares. And for all the famed pride
and hauteur of its citizens, Paris has a warmth about
it these days: its cafés, restaurants and nightlife
venues hum with cosmopolitan chatter, while new
schemes to reclaim the city for bikes and pedestrians
have brought the streets to life.
4
B R A S S E R I E D E L’ I L E S T - LO U I S
INTRODUCTION TO PARIS
Best places for a Parisian picnic
icnicking on the grass is rarely allowed in central Paris – except on
the elegant place des Vosges. But public benches make civilized
Palternatives: try the pedestrian bridge, the Pont des Arts; the lime-tree-
shaded Square Jean XXIII, behind Notre-Dame; the intimate Jardin du Palais
Royal; or the splendid Jardin du Luxembourg. Further out, the parks of Buttes
Chaumont, Monceau, Montsouris and André-Citroën offer idyllic spots for
lounging on the grass.
Te city is divided into Yet there is a host of
twenty arrondissements in a smaller museums, many
spiral, centred on the Louvre. devoted to just one artist,
Te inner hub comprises and alongside the great
arrondissements 1er to 6e, and civic monuments lie
it’s here that most of the major distinct quartiers that
sights and museums are to make Paris feel more a
be found. Trough the heart collection of sophisticated
of the city fows the Seine, villages than a modern-day
skirting the pair of islands metropolis. Traditional
where Paris was founded. Te communities still revolve
historic pillars of the city, the around long-established
church of Notre-Dame and and well-loved cafés and
the royal palace of the Louvre, restaurants, and the student,
stand on the riverbank, along gay and immigrant quarters
with one of the world’s most are, by and large, lively and
distinctive landmarks – the well-defned. So too are the
Eifel Tower. At times, the wealthier districts, with their
fabric of the city can feel exclusive boutiques and
inhuman, the magnifcence of restaurants. Neighbourhoods
its monuments encompassing such as the elegant Marais,
the bombastic grandeur of the chichi St-Germain and
Panthéon, the industrial chic romantic Montmartre are
of the Eifel Tower and the ideal for shopping, sitting
almost spiritual glasswork of in cafés and aimless
the Louvre pyramid. Te city’s wandering, while throughout
art galleries can be equally the city you can fnd peaceful
intimidating: the enormous green spaces, ranging
collections at the Louvre, from formal gardens and
Musée d’Orsay and Pompidou avant-garde municipal parks
Centre are unrivalled. to ancient cemeteries.
5
INTRODUCTION TO PARIS
THE J A R D I N D U L U X E M B O U R G
Above all, Paris is a city
defned by its food. Few When to visit
cities can compete with pring is the classic time to
t
chaefé tsh, oburassasnedr-ieasn, db-iostnreo ts, visit Paris; the weather is
restaurants, bakeries, food Smild (average daily 6–20°C),
shops and markets that and plentiful bright sunny days
line the boulevards and are balanced by occasional
back alleys alike. You’ll fnd freshening rain showers. Autumn,
anything from ultra-modern similarly mild, and winter (1–7°C)
fashion temples to traditional can be very rewarding, but on
mirrored palaces, and from overcast days the city can feel
tiny neighbourhood bistrots to melancholic, and cold winds can
crowded Vietnamese diners. really cut down the boulevards;
Parisian nightlife is scarcely winter sun, however, is the city’s
cleosns creernto hwanlles dp:u iltls itnh eaartrisetss and most flattering light, and hotels
of the highest calibre, while and restaurants are relatively
the tiny venues hosting jazz uncrowded in this season. Paris
gigs, art events and Parisian in high summer (15–25°C) is not
chanson nights ofer a taste the best time to go: large numbers
of a more local, avant-garde of Parisians desert the capital
scene. Te café-bars and clubs between July 15 and the end of
of the Champs-Elysées, Bastille August for the beach or mountains,
and the Lef Bank fll with the and many restaurants and shops
young and style-conscious close down for much of this period.
from all over.
6
V I E W O V E R PA R I S AT D U S K
INTRODUCTION TO PARIS
PARIS AT A GLANCE
>>EATING >>SHOPPING
Tere’s a real buzz about the One of the most appealing
current Paris dining scene, shopping areas is St-Germain,
as talented young chefs open with its wide variety of
up new bistrots – the Marais clothes shops and gourmet
and eastern districts are food stores. Designer wear
good areas to try. For more and haute couture are
traditional French cuisine, concentrated around the
you don’t have to look far: Champs-Elysées and on rue
every quartier has its own du Faubourg-St-Honoré,
local bistrot, serving staples while more alternative fashion
such as steak au poivre. For a boutiques can be found in the
really authentic experience, Marais, especially around rue
go for a classic brasserie such Charlot, and in Montmartre,
as Gallopin (see p.75) of the in particular on rue des
Grands Boulevards, where Martyrs. If you’re short on
you can dine amid splendid time, make for one of the
original decor. You can almost department stores, such as
always eat more cheaply at Printemps or Galeries Lafayette
lunchtime, when most places on the Right Bank, or Bon
ofer set menus from around Marché on the Lef Bank. For
€14. Even some of the haute quirky one-of buys and curios,
cuisine restaurants become just head for the atmospheric
about afordable at lunch. passages (nineteenth-century
shopping arcades), just of the
>>DRINKING Grands Boulevards.
It’s easy to go drinking in Paris: >>NIGHTLIFE
most cafés stay open late and
serve alcoholic drinks as well Te best clubs in Paris
as cofee, and old-fashioned double up as live venues,
wine bars and English-style but dancefoors rarely
“pubs” can be found warm up before 1am. Good
everywhere. Tat said, certain eclectic venues include the
areas specialize in late-night boats moored beside the
drinking. Te Marais ofers Bibliothèque Nationale, and
trendy but relaxed café-bars; Oberkampf classics such as
further east, the Bastille and Le Bataclan and Le Nouveau
Oberkampf areas have lots Casino. Serious clubbers
of youthful venues, many should chase down the latest
doubling as clubs. On the Lef soirée, though the clubs Rex,
Bank, the Quartier Latin has Showcase and Social Club are
lots of postage-stamp-sized generally good bets. Rue des
studenty dives, while Lombards has some classic
St-Germain is the place for venues, notably the jazz club
cheery posh partying. Le Sunside.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHERE TO EAT, DRINK AND
SHOP ARE LISTED AT THE END OF EACH PLACES CHAPTER
7
PARIS AT A GLANCE
Day One in Paris
1 Ile de la Cité > p.36. Paris was
founded on this tiny island, which
rises out of the River Seine.
2 Notre-Dame > p.38. The
magnificent Gothic cathedral of
Notre-Dame is the uplifting, historic
heart of the city.
3 Sainte-Chapelle > p.37. This
chapel is an exquisite jewel box,
walled in medieval stained glass.
4 Pont Neuf > p.36. The riverbank
quays lead west to the Pont Neuf, the
oldest bridge in the city, and beyond to
the Square du Vert Galant, where you
can sit and watch the Seine flow by.
Lunch > p.120. Step south
 into the Latin Quarter for
lunch at a classic brasserie, such as
Brasserie Balzar.
5 Jardin du Luxembourg > p.127.
These gardens are filled with people
playing tennis or chess and couples
strolling round the elegant lawns.
6 Pont des Arts > p.122. This
handsome pedestrian bridge runs from
St-Germain to the Louvre; you can
pick up the Batobus beside it and head
downriver.
7 Musée d’Orsay > p.123. This
grand old railway station houses some
of the most beguiling Impressionist
works ever painted.
8 Eiffel Tower > p.54. Continue
on the Batobus to this ever-thrilling
structure, at its best at night or
around sunset.
Dinner > p.130. Head back
 to St-Germain to an elegant
bistrot, such as Au 35.
8
ITINERARIES