Paris

[IdleRich]

Been going to Paris loads recently and it's beautiful and exciting. Mainly been hanging around in the area called Temple (which is in the 3rd Arrondissement) and drinking in and around the Marais and a few bars nearby. Problem is all the bars are incredibly expensive (lots of them are ten euros for a beer - although that might only be about fifty p soon).
I'm really keen to go to David Lynch's club Silencio and I was on the guestlist last week events over took us and we failed to make it. Bit annoyed about that but hopefully there will be another chance.
I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for places to go to, things to see etc that I might not have seen. Mainly I've been going to house parties cos all the bars are so pricey but I guess there are things I'm missing.

 

[baboon2004]

(from the other thread) I lived in the 9th, between Anvers and Barbes. I liked: the quality of living, and the beauty. For my money, north/north-east/east Paris is my favourite, so basically 9th/10th/19th (Parc de la Vilette is great, as is the Canal St Martin, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont...)/20th. 10 euros is mad - when I was there it was about 40 francs for a pint, which was 4 quid, and that seemd insanely expensive then, unless I'm getting confused.

Thing is, though.....Paris is what happens when you expulse the poorest people beyond the perimeter/peripherique. It is beautiful, but the suburbs are fucking bleak, in the main.

I started watching La Commune recently. Would recommend it, even though I haven't seen it all yet, as a critical slice of french history...kinda tells you a lot about the country.

As to language, i was living with a French speaker, so she did everything. I also found Parisians (when you don't know them personally) the rudest people on the planet if they wanted to be, which kinda cut down my will to speak French to randoms/in restaurants etc...

There's a restaurant which does the best steak ever, but annoyingly i can't rememebr the name - think it had 'oncle' in the name and was in the 6eme, but I may be imaginign the former.

Oh, Bois de Boulogne is beautiful. They filmed some of Belle de Jour there.

 

[IdleRich]

I guess the beer is disproportionately expensive compared to wine and other drinks so maybe it's not the best thing to compare with the UK.

 

[you]

Does paris do good beer? I know most of the UK has top quality ales, and berlin has dope weiss beer - but paris?

Baboon - more info on living in paris would be appreciated....

 

[baboon2004]

Does paris do good beer? I know most of the UK has top quality ales, and berlin has dope weiss beer - but paris?

Baboon - more info on living in paris would be appreciated....

ha - really not the best person to ask, twas ten years ago! but just came back form the pub where my best friend was talking about his weekend in Paris (and he knows it better than i do), so...

never found the beer amazing, but loved wandering down to pigalle at about 4 in the morning and knowing there would be little cafes open for a beer, with very few people around (not manic, like london always is). pretty like berlin in that respect, actually (LOVE weiss beer!). always found the clubs a bit disappointing, but Rich may know places i never did...always liked elysee montmartre tho'.

If you know Parisians, i think it can be a lovely place to live. I never did really at the time (mostly cos we were teaching English, so locked in an expat circle)...

But there's always the spectre of the banlieue (which i don't know well, but people i know who grew up there have tales to tell...), so in many ways spatially/classwise/ racially it's even more fucked than London. If I was to live there again, would choose Toulouse or somewhere else south rather than Paris...

 

[IdleRich]

"never found the beer amazing, but loved wandering down to pigalle at about 4 in the morning and knowing there would be little cafes open for a beer, with very few people around (not manic, like london always is). pretty like berlin in that respect, actually (LOVE weiss beer!). always found the clubs a bit disappointing, but Rich may know places i never did...always liked elysee montmartre tho'."

I've been mainly dj-ing in bars cos apparently for actual clubbing the main scene is for electro/techno kinda stuff - as you'd guess I suppose from all the big bands with that sound that have come out of there in the last few years. There is a little bar called Chez Jeanette which I've been going to every month which has a really nice decor which is apparently unchanged since Edith Piaf used to go there (although if that implies that it's swanky, it's not, it's more like a fifties diner, very simple) although very busy and a bit frantic. Also played at a little place called Le Tigre which is more of a dancing club but only holds about eighty people.
Like you I enjoy the way that, at least some things, are open on a Wednesday until five am and the fact that the things that are aren't always packed full of wankers like they would be in London.

 

[IdleRich]

"But there's always the spectre of the banlieue (which i don't know well, but people i know who grew up there have tales to tell...), so in many ways spatially/classwise/ racially it's even more fucked than London"

That's what I've always heard - but the only place where I've regularly been out past the wall is up to a spot called Neuilly-Plaisance which we head to cos there is this ace charity shop there. It's a weird set-up because all the staff are (hopefully) recovering addicts and so they are not allowed to handle money! The way it works is that it's basically a cluster of around ten shops loosely joined to a central courtyard - to buy something from any shop you have to pull out what you want and give it to the person working in that shop. They then write you a ticket which you take to the central courtyard and there you hand over money and get your ticket stamped and then go back to the original place and swap your stamped ticket for the record or whatever it is. With me it is always a record cos the record selection is fantastic, they have thousands there, very well organised and it's constantly being updated so you find different stuff there every time. First time I went there I pulled out Aphrodite's Child - 666 on French Vertigo for six euros and next time I saw a copy of a recod that I knew my friend wanted for a couple of euros (Danyel Gerard - Sexologie)


Still, I can't imagine such a patronising set-up in England.
Anyway, that particular Banlieu seems totally different from the view you get on telly, it's kinda spread out and has an almost country village feel with some nice houses and an openness that you don't really get in urban Paris. Plus the journey there on the metro but above ground gives you an interesting perspective of other areas and as you look back towards the town centre you can see green hills and a forest although I'm told they may be government owned or private land. I'm sure that some places are very different though and you don't have to be a genius to figure out that people living in a depressed area with virtually no amenities and still separated by an actual as well as symbolic wall from an unbelievably expensive and fun city are going to be more than a little frustrated.

 

[baboon2004]

I've been mainly dj-ing in bars cos apparently for actual clubbing the main scene is for electro/techno kinda stuff - as you'd guess I suppose from all the big bands with that sound that have come out of there in the last few years. There is a little bar called Chez Jeanette which I've been going to every month which has a really nice decor which is apparently unchanged since Edith Piaf used to go there (although if that implies that it's swanky, it's not, it's more like a fifties diner, very simple) although very busy and a bit frantic. Also played at a little place called Le Tigre which is more of a dancing club but only holds about eighty people.
Like you I enjoy the way that, at least some things, are open on a Wednesday until five am and the fact that the things that are aren't always packed full of wankers like they would be in London.

Interesting. I was told at the time that the reason i could never find Daft Punk, Cassius etc playing (except occasionally at the Rex) was that they only played at private(ish) parties in Paris.

Are La Fleche D'or (20eme) and Batofar (on the river, somewhere, 11eme maybe?) still open? I always had soft spots for both. God, this is making me want to go back to Paris big time. Autumn I always found the most beautiful season there.
Jardin du Luxembourg is sublime with fallen leaves, and the Seine looks overwhelming in dying autumnal light.

I have to say (and I know these films divide people) I adored Before Sunset - it's like a love letter to Paris, apart from all its other qualities.

The wanker thing - I really despair of that in London...it's why I go out here much less than I used to, simply don't know places with reliably affable/non-hipster crowds (affable hipsters are fine though, actually).

 

[baboon2004]

Crazy charity shop story...

The banlieues I visited were either (a) horrendous suburban wastelands with industrial parks etc, concrete monstrosities, the absolute antithesis of the Paris of the imagination. or (b) pretty much ghettoes.

93/Seine Saint Denis is probably the most famous (not only cos of the stadium), due to NTM and the french hip hop scene, I think.

When I was there there were several big gang fights reported at La Defense, involving masses of kids coming in from the banlieue. I kind of liked the fact that they brought it to the rich area (which was the kind of depressing thing about the London riots, that they wrecked Tottenham instead of Knightsbridge or Canary Wharf), though wouldn't have liked to be caught up in it, obv (I worked partly at La Defense, English teaching)

 

[Mr. Tea]

Does paris do good beer?

Zactly - who goes to Paris for the beer? That'd be like taking a wine-tasting tour of Burton-on-Trent.

I've only very briefly been to Paris on a school trip years ago - 'through' rather than 'to' would be more accurate - but well up for having a proper look round (and of course, night out). I'm a few hours away by train - might be worth flying instead, I'll have a look at prices. Give me a bit of notice and I'll be there like a shot.

 

[IdleRich]

"Interesting. I was told at the time that the reason i could never find Daft Punk, Cassius etc playing (except occasionally at the Rex) was that they only played at private(ish) parties in Paris."

That may well be the case, I must admit I've never seen those names or Justice or whatever on posters (in fact there aren't as many posters around as here full stop) but perhaps my friend means that there are parties with people playing that kind of stuff even though the big names themselves aren't actually playing.
Also, the guy I go and visit in Paris is incredibly well-connected so it's certainly more than possible that he is going to the private-ish parties.

"Are La Fleche D'or (20eme) and Batofar (on the river, somewhere, 11eme maybe?) still open? I always had soft spots for both. God, this is making me want to go back to Paris big time. Autumn I always found the most beautiful season there."

I've certainly heard of Fleche D'or - think it's probably still there. I know that there is a trendy club called Le Baron but looking at the website it seemed like a mix of celebrities and bad music, the worst of both worlds to be honest. We'll be able to find out for ourselves anyway if we so desire cos they're exporting the "brand" to London very soon.
Anyway, agreed about autumn, it was beautiful last week - and then we watched Midnight in Paris which definitely is like a love letter to Paris - it's cheesey but it's fun and it hit the spot for me at that precise time.

 

[blacktulip]

Paris is one of the most amazing places I have visited.

Palais Royale is my favourite place in Paris. I just like standing there in the mid-morning. Especially after buying a fur vest or something. Then walk up the street towards Opera. I love that street too.

 

[baboon2004]

http://www.residentadvisor.net/club-detail.aspx?id=3347 - Batofar, worth a visit. As is Fleche D'or, the 20th is a great place to hang out (and where I was gonna live originally).

God I want to go now! May have to book a trip in December. Is Eurostar more expensive than flying there these days?

 

[blacktulip]

That reminds me. One bad thing about Paris: that fucking airport.

 

[IdleRich]

"The wanker thing - I really despair of that in London...it's why I go out here much less than I used to, simply don't know places with reliably affable/non-hipster crowds (affable hipsters are fine though, actually)."

Actually, I think it's not so much that there are wankers, it's just that if there is a place that is open late then it's more of a rarity in London and it attracts people from miles around and it can't help but be hectic because of that and it puts everyone in a slightly bad mood and so on and so forth. Always loved the way that there are so many bars in, say, Berlin that are open and empty on a Tuesday morning at two am - dunno how they make any money but I'm glad that they don't seem to care about that.

 

[IdleRich]

"God I want to go now! May have to book a trip in December. Is Eurostar more expensive than flying there these days?"

Not sure but the price increases very quickly so buy as early as possible. Last time I went on the coach - £39 return including booking fee.

 

[baboon2004]

Actually, I think it's not so much that there are wankers, it's just that if there is a place that is open late then it's more of a rarity in London and it attracts people from miles around and it can't help but be hectic because of that and it puts everyone in a slightly bad mood and so on and so forth. Always loved the way that there are so many bars in, say, Berlin that are open and empty on a Tuesday morning at two am - dunno how they make any money but I'm glad that they don't seem to care about that.

vastly lower rents. simple as that, i think.

 

[IdleRich]

Yeah, I realise that but even so it's striking.

 

[baboon2004]

i guess if your personal rent is also lower, and thus money worries are at a minimum then it's just no big deal to stay open all night at a bar, especially if you're a bit of a night owl. Cos serving a few customers and having a chat is almost pleasant, rather than a job.

 

[IdleRich]

OK, what about coffee in Paris? The people I know seem to only drink the little espressos with loads of sugar but no milk. Apparently a longer, milkier one is "just for the tourists" - but the thing is, that's what I like. There is just more time to sit down and chat and enjoy yourself if your drink has more in it than a thimble. Where do I go for a proper coffee?