Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [200]
BAZ’ART CAFÉ Map Café
01 42 78 62 23; 36 blvd Henri IV, 4e; 7.30am-2am; Bastille
This café, whose name sounds suspiciously like ‘bizarre’ in English, is just southwest of Bastille but could be a million miles away from the hoopla usually associated with that quartier (neighbourhood). It’s a grown-up, stylish place with friendly service and good-value food.
CAFÉ DES PHARES Map Café
01 42 72 04 70; 7 place de la Bastille, 4e; 7.30am-3am Sun-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat; Bastille
‘The Beacons Café’ is best known as the city’s original philocafé (philosophers’ café), established by the late philosopher and Sorbonne professor Marc Sautet (1947–98) in 1992. If you feel like debating such topics as ‘What is a fact?’ and ‘Can people communicate?’, head for this place at 11am on Sunday. It sounds posey in the extreme and it is, but – hey! – this is Paris.
CENTRE CULTUREL SUÉDOIS Map Café
01 44 78 80 20; 11 rue Payenne, 3e; noon-6pm Tue-Sun; Chemin Vert
Housed in the beautiful Hôtel de Marle, a 16th-century mansion, this gorgeous café in the Swedish Cultural Centre hosts a variety of exhibitions, concerts and debates, with rich resources on Swedish history and culture. But what we’re interested in here are the delicious soups, sandwiches and cakes and the tables outside in the tranquil paved courtyard.
L’APPAREMMENT CAFÉ Map Café
01 48 87 12 22; 18 rue des Coutures St-Gervais, 3e; noon-2am Mon-Sat, 12.30pm-midnight Sun; St-Sébastien Froissart
This place is a tasteful haven tucked behind the Musée Picasso and at a merciful distance from the Marais, madding crowds. It’s a bit like a private living room, with wood panelling, leather sofas, scattered parlour games, dog-eared books – and Parisians languidly studying their ‘lounch’ (their word, not ours) and (on Sunday till 4pm) their brunch – or is that ‘brounch’? – menus.
LE PURE CAFÉ Map Café
01 43 71 47 22; 14 rue Jean Macé, 11e; 7am-2am Mon-Fri, 8am-2am Sat, 10am-midnight Sun; Charonne
This old café, which should be declared a national monument (if it already hasn’t been), moonlights as a restaurant with a modern kitchen and some dishes that veer toward ‘world’ food (mains €16.50 to €20). But we like it as it was intended to be, especially over a grand crème (large white coffee) and the papers on Sunday morning.
PAUSE CAFÉ Map Café
01 48 06 80 33; 41 rue de Charonne, 11e; 7.30am-2am Mon-Sat, 9am-8.30pm Sun; Ledru Rollin
Principally a restaurant with plats du jour for around €12, this attractive café with lots of windows remains a firmly popular destination for drinks, meals, coffee or brunch. Well situated a little away from the fray of Bastille, its generous terrace (covered and heated in winter) fills up with fashionable locals and the almost famous.
ANDY WAHLOO Map Cocktail Bar
01 42 71 20 38; 69 rue des Gravilliers, 3e; 5pm-2am Tue-Sat; Arts et Métiers
Casablanca meets pop-artist Andy Warhol in this cool, multicoloured cocktail lounge hidden away just north of the Centre Georges Pompidou. Its clever name means ‘I have nothing’ in Arabic. The acid colours, sweet cocktails, pushy staff and loud house music may be a bit too much for some palates, but it’s a lively, spirited little bar that most will enjoy. There are great olives as well as promising meze plates. Happy hour is 5pm to 8pm. Enter through the courtyard.
BOTTLE SHOP Map Pub
01 43 14 28 04; 5 rue Trousseau, 11e; 11.30am-2am; Ledru Rollin
A popular lunch café by day, this great little local has a lively pub feeling in the evenings. There’s a welcoming mix of regular expats and travellers – at least half the friendly banter going on is in English. Happy hour is 5pm to 8pm.
LIZARD LOUNGE Map Pub
01 42 72 81 34; 18 rue du Bourg Tibourg, 4e; noon-2pm; Hôtel de Ville or St-Paul
A quality outpost of Anglo-Saxon attitude in the heart of the Marais, this relaxed pub has beer on tap, cocktails and food (think club sandwiches and burgers). Young expats with clutch purses file straight downstairs to the cellar, complete with stone walls, a DJ, and magnanimous little corners in which to