[Carnet] Paris

Nestor Burma - Tardi

Welcome in an overpriced and over-snob city which is finally… ok (no, it’s a joke, I love it… for real, I LOOOVE it). WELCOME (again)!

Paris is a beautiful city with a strong architectural identity. As France is an old unified country, and as all his unification started from Paris, our capital has also a huge Historical background. But the city isn’t just an open air museum; this is also a dynamic place for who know where to go. Indeed, at the opposite of Barcelona or London – where life is everywhere, every time, life in Paris is delimited in some districts and some streets – especially nightlife. This is probably due to the kind of gentrification the city knew last decades: in fact, great part of the “Ville Lumière” is inhabited by Bohemian Bourgeois families which don’t want noise after midnight (no disrespect in this sentence).

Nevertheless, the only reasons you can dislike this city is:

• You don’t like Haussmannian architecture (sorry guys, it’s everywhere);
• You’ll have a bad experience with Parisian (this is unfortunately too frequent. In this case, go ahead and be sure that we aren’t all like this).

Public transportation

La Gare Saint-Lazare - 1877 Claude Monet

There is a big transport network under an in Paris. It’s not always the most regular, there are technical issues sometimes, and social strike are not a myth, plus, at rush hours, you can be compressed as a sardine in a box (^^”). But it’s still a much better and faster way than car to move in the capital.

Price of the ticket is 1.7€ - in 2014 – for an inner-city trip of 1h30. Buying tickets by ten give you a discount, and buying an electronic pass for the week may be a solution for frequent traveler.

Passing the doors without paying is a national sport (especially for younger people). It’s not particularly risky but it can cost you 30€ to 60€ in case of security control. As you’re not familiar with our beautiful RATP (and as you’re honest of course), I don’t recommend you to try this way.

Vélib’

An alternative to public transportation is public bicycle or Vélib’. The Vélib’ network is really extended, and Parisians utilize it for short distance and to comeback home after party (it looks probably safer than car when you’re deeply intoxicated).

As if you have the idea to rent a car (which is probably one of the stupidest ideas you can have in Paris), driving a bike require a time of adaptation to well admit the stressful way of driving (and living) of Parisians.

PS: if you really want to drive, the City installed some Autolib’, which are public electric cars.

Boat and Fly-boat

There are two types of boats on the river Seine: the real ones and the ones for tourist. And I truly hate to listen the stupid guide screaming on his mic when I lazily drink a cup of wine on the bank… ok, I understand you want to do that, but for real, it’s as bad as in every city in the world…

Walking

Probably the best way to visit a city (except the fu**** huge Berlin), combine with our public transportation, Paris is yours! There are two types of walker in Paris: the real… nupe, the Parisian ones which run all the time and don’t respect light signals (and even crosswalk) and the others which are way more relaxing (but don’t care about crosswalk, I don’t know what they’re for).

Taxi… or VTC

Well, taking a taxi in Paris is maybe worth than taking a car: if you have to choice, you must know the deal: car=stress and maybe death, taxi=robbing, stress, scam, insults, stress and maybe death ^^”. Since VTC exist, taxi drivers are crying for public protection… unfortunatly for them, VTC are way better services in term of quality and price! (But remember, a VTC driver have nearly no salary protection)... the story of the dumb and the bad guy.

Food

Le Déjeuner des canotiers - 1880, Auguste Renoir

You should already know that: in France, food is a serious deal. We always talk about food. Plus, you’re in Paris, and as in every capital, you can eat specialties from all around the world!

As a food lover, I can’t unfortunately give you a complete overview of our gastronomy, but I can try to present some of my favorite specialties:

Bakery

• Baguette: what’s French food without baguette? And, for real, we are the only country where bakers know how to do it.
• Viennoiserie: Croissant au beurre or nature? Pain au chocolat or aux raisins ? If you don’t eat Baguette at the breakfast, it’s probably because you have viennoiseries.

Starter

• Hareng pomme à l’huile: a popular starter of bistrot. Excellent but not light.
• Foie Gras: Some uncivilized countries around the world had banned foie gras, what a waste! I love Foie Gras, but for real, the better one is the one my great mother does.
• Snails: Yep, it’s part of our mythology: French eat snails. In fact, majority of them doesn’t, and it’s all good, it’s make more of those tasty little things for the true gastronome.

Main course:

• Tartare: A piece of meat again, but this time, we don’t even take time to cook it, we mince it and serve it with condiments: Divine!
• Confit of duck: The crispiest part of the duck!
• Andouillette: I prefer to don’t explain you how to do an andouillette, but you truly have to test it in a classic bistrot! Normally, it’s served with a crispy skin and mustard sauce.

Cheese:

• Comté: This is a solid cheese with a delicious fruity taste: one of the best: older it is, better it is!
• Goat cheese: as for Comté, goat cheese is especially good just before to turn into dust…
• Roquefort: this one is sold moldy but still creamy; you have to test it (with snails?).

Dessert:

• Éclair: a classic, you MUST test it during your stay!
• Macaron: A fashion cake, but still tasty.
• Opéra: musically name, chocolaty taste (;-))

Where to buy food?

Le Marché aux légumes - 1878 Victor Gabriel Gilbert

If you want to buy some fresh products for your way-back, don’t expect to buy it at airport, our airport are our shame, there are full of overpriced uninteresting products. My favorite addresses to buy some fresh food are:

• Pierre Hermé: if you are looking for pastries – especially macaron – you’re at the right place. (185 Rue de Vaugirard, 75015 Paris)
• Larnicole: By entering in this chocolate shop, you’ll start to be crazy as you’ll probably want to test everything! (132 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris)
• Aux Délices du Palais: The best baker of 2014 they say. Any case, baguette is a too serious business to do not buy it on a good store. (60 Boulevard Brune, 75014 Paris)
• Aligre Market and Enfants Rouges Market: those two markets are famous in the long list of Parisian markets. You’ll found cheese, delicatessen, wine… Make your choice (but maybe the traders don’t speak English very well). (Place d'Aligre, 75012 Paris and 39 Rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris)
• Caves Augé: I know my friend, you want to drink some fine red wine, some delicate white wine, some touch of paradise: This old cave, open since 1850, will give you satisfaction. (116 Boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris)

Which restaurants I recommend?

Terrasse du café le soir - 1888 Vincent Van Gogh (détail)

During your trip, I can recommend you some French/non-French restaurants. The list below is definitively not a complete overview of my favorite restaurants in Paris, but at least, I select some strong personality places, where you can eat well without spending your entire budget in a piece of meat and a glass of wine.

French restaurants:

• Bistrot Victoires - My favorite traditional "bistrot". Not expensive and tasty. (6 Rue la Vrillière, 75001 Paris; +33 1 42 61 43 78)
• Chez Gladines - Why those restaurants are always full of young people? One because it's not expensive, second because you eat well and a lot, third because of the ambiance (or is it a consequence?). If you want to try Basque food, c’mon! (several adresses in Paris)
• Brasserie Alsacienne Chez Jenny - Open until midnight, this Parisian institution is famous for it Alsacian specialities. (39 Boulevard du Temple, 75003 Paris; +33 1 44 54 39 00)
• Le Bouillon Chartier - This is also an institution: the last real "bouillon" of Paris, which mean simple (but good) French food (from beef bourguignon to snails) at very cheap price. Only problem, there is always a long wait (and you can't book in advance). (7 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009 Paris; +33 1 47 70 86 29)
• Brasserie Bofinger - Last institution also open until midnight. Same type than "Chez Jenny" but more Parisian.(5-7 Rue de la Bastille, 75004 Paris; +33 1 42 72 87 82)
• Le temps des cerises - It was a "worker's restaurant", nowadays, it's a place full of "Bourgeois Bohème", but still very pleasant. (18-20 Rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013 Paris; +33 1 45 55 89 69 48)
• Au Pied de Fouet - A tiny restaurant where you can eat traditional home cooking. One of the most authentic bistrots I know. (45 Rue de Babylone - Paris; +33 1 47 05 12 27)

Others

• Sapori di Parma - More Italian than in Italy ! (56 ave de la Bourdonnais 75007 Paris; +33 1 45 56 19 38)
• Miznon Restaurant - If you want a tasty falafel, you have this small place and the institution next to it: "L'As du Falafel". (22 Rue des Ecouffes, 75004 Paris)
• Schwartz'sDelicatessen - Rosier street is the Jewish street of Paris, and Schwartz is the holy grail of beef eaters : imagine a mountain of Pastrami in two ridiculous pieces of bred. (16 Rue des Ecouffes, 75004 Paris; +33 1 48 87 31 29)

PS: I can’t close this part without mentioning our favorite fast-food (no, not Quick, not at all): The Kebab! A good one (mean - clean one) is Our (41 rue de Londres - 75008, Paris).

City of Lights

Postcard of the World Expo of 1900

I can't write a better guide-book than Lonely Planet or whatever, but I can give you my favorite spots in Paris. This isn’t a “must to see” (as you will notice, I didn’t include Eiffel Tower (which is interesting), nor the Champs Elysée (which are truly a bad tourist trap)). So do your own way with what you want to see, but if you want to leave the main road, you can include some of those places.

Museum

There are plenty of museum in the city, but if I had to select my top five, I'll say:

1. Musée du Louvre: The most famous museum in France, what else?
2. Musée Carnavalet: If you want to know more about Parisian History this is the place. Beautiful museum!
3. Musée Guimet: Probably my favorite museum in Paris, I visit it at least every year if not more. But I don't know if you'll have time to visit Asiatic museum in Paris.
4. Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle: I don't know if it's a must to do, but since I'm child, I'm fascinating by the great gallery of the evolution : there is dinosaur bones !!! ^^ (plus it's near the "Jardin des Plantes", a pleasant garden).
5. Musée de la Vie romantique: I have a big crush on this one! It's a lovely out of time place. (16 Rue Chaptal, 75009 Paris)

Whit an honorable mention for the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée du Quai Branly.

In the street

If you like walking around with no defined goal, here are some places and streets which are interesting by themselves:

• Place Saint Georges - What a pretty little place (one of my favorite)
• Rue Oberkampf - An active street full of Bars, clubs and theatre!
• Behind Notre-Dame - Well, Notre-Dame is interesting... but I prefer it from behind, in the small medieval streets of L'Ile de la Cité.
• Marché St Honoré - I can place it in "Restaurant" because there are a lot all around here. But the place in itself is interesting, with her central glass and steel structure.
• Cité Durmar - Another out of time street with a lot of old artist's studio. Gorgeous! (Near from here, there is the "Cité du Figuier" which is also interesting).
• Passage Molière - If you are searching for the Paris of Midnight in Paris, here it is!
• Butte-aux-cailles district - A lovely district as a small town inside the big city. Alive by night with a lot of bars and restaurants. A Bohemian Bourgeois HQ.

Take a break

If you are tied after a day of hard-visit, here are some places to take a break and have a glass of wine (buyed by yourself ^^).

• Canal Saint Martin and his district - Welcome to the most Hipster place of Paris (which isn't nothing) but still pleasant.
• Parc des Buttes Chaumont - My favorite park in Paris. Charming and relaxing.
• Allée des Cygnes to Bir-Hakeim - I love this small walk (it used to be my way to work). Walking on the middle of the Seine River from our small Statue of Liberty to Bir-Hakeim Bridge (where there is a beautiful view on Eiffel Tower).
• Château de Vincennes - Out of Paris, but well served by transport, it a good occasion to see a medieval castle and a classic one at the same time. Plus you can spend a few hours in the park/wood just in front.
• Quai Saint-Bernard - I love this part of the riverside, there is kind of small open theatres where artists can make performance.
• Les Docks / Cité de la Mode et du Design - An hype (to much hype) place to be. More seriously, the modern building is interesting and view on the top is pleasant.

Buy a book

This single action can be a Parisian adventure if you know where to buy your precious:

• at the "Bouquinistes" small shop, along the riverside near Saint-Michel;
• at Shakespeare & Company - My favorite library in Paris ... is an English one! So, no excuse, go visit it! (37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris)

Paris by night

Répétition d'un ballet sur la scène - 1874 Edgar Degas

Have a drink

Paris is full of bars and pubs, if you want big choice, you can go Rue Princesse, Rue Oberkampf, Rue Moufetard, or in the Quartier Latin. You can also try the Marais district, which is probably the most gay-friendly district of the city . To conclude, I recommend you those spots: 

• NUBA: Mostly a bar but there are good DJs sometime. Good place if the weather is good, beautiful view, but VERY expensive (10€ for a beer OO). (36 Quai d'Austerlitz, 75013 Paris; +33 1 76 77 34 85)
• L'Imprévu Café: I love this tiny cafe with a real ambiance (different in every room). (9 Rue Quincampoix, 75004 Paris; +33 1 42 78 23 50)
• Académie de la bière: Probably not the less expensive pint in Paris, but one of the bigger choise of French and Belgian beer. (88Bis Boulevard de Port-Royal, 75005 Paris; +33 1 43 54 66 65)

In motion

I don't know a lot of cities with as much cinema as there are in Paris. Some of them are interesting by themselves. We also have theatre as the Théâtre de la Ville or La Comédie Française. As we say French is the language of Molière: it may be interesting to watch a drama or a comedy during your stay. I recommend you :

• La Pagode: Long time ago, a rich Parisian import a real Pagoda from Japan. Nowadays, it's a cinema. (57 Bis Rue de Babylone, 75007 Paris; +33 1 45 55 48 48)
• Le Louxor: This place is kitch, no it's one of the kitchest place in Paris. An interesting cinema also (but I still prefer La Pagode). (170 Boulevard de Magenta, 75010 Paris; +33 1 44 63 96 96)
• Théâtre du Soleil: This Theatre is an utopia from the sixties: A popular theatre. Not comfortable at all, but always facinating. Plus, the ambiance of the area is refreshing (an old factory in the wood). (La Cartoucherie, 75012 Paris; +33 1 43 74 24 08)
• Théâtre de la Huchette: This tiny theatre is dedicated to Ionesco's masterpiece. But, be careful, Huchette Street and Saint-Sévrin Street are full of tourist trap. (23 Rue de la Huchette, 75005 Paris; +33 1 43 26 38 99)

"The show must go on!"

There are hundreds of venues in Paris. It will be a challenge to revue all. If you are searching for music in general, you can check the Olympia, the Nouveau Casino, or the Bataclan. If you need something more specialized, you can look at:

• the Palais Garnier for ballets (it's also a breathtaking building);
• the Salle Pleyel or the brand new Cité de la Musique for Classic and Jazz;
• the Glazart for Rock (and also electro by night).

Even Rap and Hip-Hop have crossed the bridge from the suburb to the inner-city (but good rap music is still to found in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth arrondissement).

Party Hard

Night in Paris isn’t that bad Parisian like to tell. As in every occidental places in the world, we have an active House/Techno scene, with some key spots as the historical Rex Club, or the hype Concrete. The best club in town is probably La Machine du Moulin Rouge.

My favorite electro-parties are those organized by Container collective: industrial techno always played in unbelievable gloomy spots (generally in the suburb). Also in suburb – and less hardcore, you can have a look on 75021 house-oriented events. If you need LGBT parties, you can go to Flash Cocotte.

City Map

This map compiles all the adress I recommend you:

To go further

Tour Paris 13 - temporary exhibition

Music

This is a quick overview of some french stuff from different styles and ages.

Movies

• La traversée de Paris / Four Bags Full, by Claude Autan-Lara (1956):  “Two men, a painter and a poor guy, have to cross over Paris by night during World War II and to deliver black market meat. As they walk along dark Parisian streets, they encounter various characters and adventures until they are arrested by German police” (IMDb). A classic, sometime funny, sometime touching served by some of the greatest French actors ever.

• Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain / Amélie, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001): “Amelie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love” (IMDb). I LOVE Jeunet, and this is one of his masterpiece!

• La Haine, by Matthieu Kassovitz (1995): “After local youth Abdel is beaten unconscious by police, a riot ensues on his estate during which a policeman loses his gun. The gun is found by Vinz who threatens he will kill a cop if Abdel dies” (IMDb). R.A.S. This movie is a lesson.

• Baisers voles / Stolen Kisses by François Truffault (1968): “Antoine Doinel joined the army but has just been discharged. The film tells his reunion with Christine Darbon, the girl he was in love with before the beginning of the film, and his adventures in his jobs : first as a night watchman, then as a private investigator, especially during one investigation within Mr Tabard's shoes-shop... Mme Tabard is so fascinating...” (IMDb). I don’t know if you like the French New Wave, but if you like cinema, at least, you have to know this globally important movement. Stole Kisses is probably in my all 5 favorite movies of all time.

• Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen (2011): “While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight” (IMDb). You may already know this movie, ok it’s a postcard Paris, but it’s a beautiful and clever film.

Books

• Itinéraire d’un salaud ordinaire (not translated) by Didier Daeninckx (2007): Clement Duprest, brilliant law student, joined the State Police in 1942. Unlike some of his colleagues, Duprest does not "politic”: he will just use his intelligence and his perspicacity to serve his bosses. Within the "fear mongering brigade", he is responsible for identifying and neutralizing people hostile to Vichy... Thus began the long career of an officer that some would say perfect. Through the daily doings of a bastard quite ordinary, Didier Daeninckx invites us to revisit forty years of French history, from the roundup of the Vel' d'Hiv to the Coluche's presidential in 1981. A dark psychological novel that reveals , with a dry sense of humor and a chilling distance , the blindness, the aberrations and silences of history, and wondered about the duty of obedience.

• L'Education Sentimentale / Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert (1869): "The novel describes the life of a Frédéric Moreau [living at Paris,] through the revolution of 1848 and the founding of the Second French Empire, and his love for an older woman" (Wikipédia). The context, the ironic language used and the feelings of the characters look so modern. A fascinating diving in the Paris from after the Revolution.

• Au Bonheur des Ogres / The scapegoat by Daniel Pennac (1985): In Malaussène family, there are dozens of children, a mother always traveling and pregnant, and Benjamin, the elder son, scapegoat professionnal in a Parisian department store. All is well, but the day a serie of bomb explode in the store, Benjamin is the first suspect. Helped by his girlfriend Tante Julia and his friend Théo, Benjamin decides to investigate. This book is nonsensical, fun, colorful... a big breath.

• Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec / The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec by Tardi (since 1976): "The comic portrays the titular far-fetched adventures and mystery-solving of its eponymous heroine, herself a writer of popular fiction, in a secret history-infused, gaslamp fantasy version of the early 20th century, set primarily in Paris and prominently incorporating real-life locations and events. Initially a light-hearted parody of such fiction of the period, it takes on a darker tone as it moves into the post–World War I years and the 1920s" (Wikipédia). My favorite volume is Mummies on Parade. All the translated volumes are published on Dark Horse Edition.

• The Nikopol trilogy by Enki Bilal (1980-1993): This comic is a strange, gloomy science-fiction story in a futur Paris where Ancient Egypt's Gods are fighting each other to survive. The artwork is amazing and unique. There is a movie adapted from the comic call Immortel, ad vitam which is interesting but far from the quality of the original.