ParisLocal Life
Insider tips to help you find the real Paris
Paris’ star attractions certainly justify the hype. But to discover the 'Parisians' Paris', you need to delve into the city's quartiers. These quarters are like a patchwork of villages, each with its own evolving character and timeless sense of community.
The Spirit of Les Halles
ACookware shops
ALate-night bistros
In the streets where Paris’ wholesale markets were located, their spirit lives on, with grocers’ stalls, virtually unchanged bakeries, and late-opening and 24-hour bistros, as well as cookware shops where Parisian chefs still buy the tools of their trade.
A Heads-Up on the Haut Marais
AEmerging designers
ACovered markets
The southern Marais used to attract all the hype, but the haut (upper, ie northern) part of Paris’ hippest quartier continues to explode as an art and fashion hub, with edgy boutiques and galleries popping up amid long-standing neighbourhood haunts enjoying a revival.
Exploring the Canal St-Martin
AOffbeat boutiques
ACool cafes
The banks of this picturesque canal and its surrounds are the epicentre of the city’s bobo (bohemian bourgeois) culture, where artists, musicians and other creatives catch cutting-edge music and shop at offbeat new and secondhand boutiques.
Art in Montmartre
AWindmills
AVillage squares
Picasso, Renoir and Van Gogh were just some of the seminal artists who once lived and worked in Montmartre, and although this quaint, village-like neighbourhood of higgledy-piggledy streets now teems with visitors, you can find tangible reminders of its artistic legacy that still thrive today.
A Stroll along Rue Mouffetard
AMarket stalls
ALively bars
This old Roman road in the Latin Quarter is lined with colourful food-market stalls, cheap eateries, quirky shops and student-filled bars. You can easily spend several hours here, but give it a miss on Monday, when the markets are closed.
St-Germain des Prés' Historic Shops
AAntique dealers
AStoried shops
You’ll find a trove of history-steeped shops and designer boutiques in the soulful Left Bank neighbourhood of St-Germain des Prés, as well as the city’s first-ever department store and its magnificent food hall, which draws Parisians from across the city.
Southeastern Discovery
ANational library
AFloating bars
There are lots of reasons to explore this up-and-coming area off the tourist radar, including exhibitions at the book-shaped national library, the national cinema institute and the national fashion institute, as well as floating bars and nightclubs and even a floating swimming pool.