Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [196]
Drinking in Paris as salt-of-the-earth Parisians do means: savouring wafer-thin slices of saucisson (sausage) over a glass of sauvignon on a terrace at sundown; quaffing an early-evening apéritif in the same literary café as Sartre and Simone once did; dancing on tables to bossa nova beats; hovering at a zinc counter with local winos; indulging in a spot of dégustation (tasting; boxed text); sipping martinis on a dark leather couch while listening to live jazz; sipping gyokuro in a trendy Japanese salon de thé (tearoom).
In a country where eating and drinking are as inseparable as cheese and wine, it’s inevitable that the line between bars, cafés and bistros is blurred at best (no, you haven’t drunk too much). Practically every place serves food of some description, but those featured in this chapter are favoured, first and foremost, as happening places to drink – be it alcohol, coffee or tea.
The distinct lack of any hardcore clubbing circuit in the French capital, moreover, only serves to spice up Paris’ drinking scene still further; what might appear as a simple café at 5pm can morph quite comfortably to DJ bar and pounding dance floor as the night rolls on.
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PRACTICALITIES
Drinking in Paris essentially means paying the rent for the space you take up. So it costs more sitting at tables than standing at the counter, more on a fancy square than a backstreet, more in the 8e than in the 18e. Come 10pm many cafés apply a pricier tarif de nuit (night rate).
A glass of wine starts at €3 or €4, a cocktail costs €7 to €15 and a demi (half-pint) of beer is €3 to €5. In clubs and chic bars, prices are easily double this. To hunt down the place with the cheapest drinks, just follow the trail of students. Most venues have a ‘happy hour’ with reduced-price drinks from around 5pm to 9pm.
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top picks
FOR COCKTAILS
Feeling fancy? Flit into urban high life for a taste of Paris at its most chic:
Buddha Bar
Hemingway Bar (opposite)
Kong (opposite)
Le Fumoir (opposite)
Alcazar
Le Rosebud
Harry’s New York Bar (opposite)
Ice Kube
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Closing time tends to be 2am, though some bars have later licences. Click here for clubbing spots and Click here for live music venues – great places to drink, too.
Since 1 January 2008, the Parisian drinking scene has been smoke-free – kind of. Following the blanket smoking-in-public-places ban (Click here), smokers have simply moved from inside to out, socialising on the street in front of bars instead or lighting up on packed pavement terraces which, heated and plastic-covered during the colder months, are smokier than ever!
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LOUVRE & LES HALLES
Some great bars skirt the no-man’s-land of Les Halles, but be prudent and avoid crossing the garden above the Forum des Halles at night. Rue des Lombards is celebrated for its jazz venues Click here, while sophisticated bars are grouped towards the Louvre and Palais Royal. The Étienne Marcel area, especially along rue Tiquetonne and rue Montorgueil, has a fine selection of hip cafés. This area is right next to the happening bars of rue Montmartre, which are listed on Click here.
FOOTSIE Map Bar
01 42 60 07 20; 10-12 rue Daunou, 2e; 6pm-2am Mon-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat; Opéra
In this place – otherwise known as the FTSE (the London Stock Exchange) – drink prices are floated like stocks, with prices changing according to demand; when certain drinks are purchased they then cost more, while others drop in price. It’s a successful gimmick and the gorgeous wood-panelled bar attracts besuited brokers and way-too-young girls batting their eyelashes throughout the night.
LE CAFÉ NOIR Map Bar
01 40 39 07 36; 65 rue Montmartre, 2e; 8am-2am Mon-Fri, 4pm-2am Sat; Sentier
An excellent, dependable bar on the edge of the Sentier garment district, ‘The Black Café’ is, in fact, predominantly red, and one of those bars you decide