Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [81]
La Bague de Kenza (106 rue Saint-Maur, 11ème / +33 01 43 14 93 15).
Le Baron Rouge (1 rue Théophile-Roussel, 12ème / +33 01 43 43 14 32). A terrific neighborhood wine bar that’s packed with a young crowd.
À la Biche au Bois (45 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 12ème / +33 01 43 43 34 38).
Le Bistrot Paul Bert (18 rue Paul-Bert, 11ème / +33 01 43 72 24 01).
Le Bistrot du Peintre (116 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 12ème / +33 01 47 00 34 39). Art Nouveau café with decent food and a fun crowd.
Café Place Verte (105 rue Oberkampf, 11ème / +33 01 43 57 34 10). With an hors d’oeuvres bar and delicious plats du jour.
Café Titon (34 rue Titon, 11ème / +33 01 43 71 74 51). Where the shopkeepers and restaurateurs of the fashionable rue Paul-Bert hang out. Good for quick lunches; on Saturday, there’s a Sri Lankan spread.
La Cave de l’Insolite (30 rue de la Folie-Méricourt, 11ème / +33 01 53 36 08 33).
Le Chateaubriand (129 avenue Parmentier, 11ème / +33 01 43 57 45 95).
Chez Ramulaud (269 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, 11ème / +33 01 43 72 23 29).
La Cocotte (5 rue Paul-Bert, 11ème / +33 01 43 73 04 02).
Le Cotte Rôti (1 rue de Cotte, 12ème / +33 01 43 45 06 37).
Crus et Découvertes (7 rue Paul-Bert, 11ème / +33 01 43 71 56 79).
Le Duc de Richelieu (5 rue Parrot, 12ème / +33 01 43 43 05 64). Steps from the Gare de Lyon; a best bet for a hearty meal before or after traveling.
L’Écailler du Bistrot (22 rue Paul-Bert, 11ème / +33 01 43 72 76 77).
L’Équateur (151 rue Saint-Maur, 11ème / +33 01 43 57 99 22). Delicious Cameroonian and Senegalese cooking.
Eurotra (119 boulevard Richard-Lenoir, 11ème / +33 01 43 38 48 48). A sort of discount version of Dehillerin, the famous cookware store in Les Halles.
La Gazzetta (29 rue de Cotte, 12ème / +33 01 43 47 47 05).
Marché d’Aligre and Marché Beauvau (the covered market in the middle of the open-air Marché d’Aligre), two of the greatest and least-known markets of Paris, both with a distinctly neighborhood feel. (Place d’Aligre, 12ème.)
Le Marsangy (73 avenue Parmentier, 11ème / +33 01 47 00 94 25).
Le Pause Café (41 rue de Charonne, 11ème / +33 01 48 06 80 33). Trendy, with nice, simple food.
La Pharmacie (22 rue Jean-Pierre-Timbaud, 11ème / +33 01 48 06 28 33). A former drugstore; now a grocery store, organic tea salon, restaurant, and bookshop.
Le Quincy (28 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 12ème / +33 01 46 28 46 76).
Le Réfectoire (80 boulevard Richard-Lenoir, 11ème / +33 01 48 06 74 85). Hip little bistro specializing in nostalgic retro dishes.
Le Repaire de Cartouche (8 boulevard des Filles-du-Calvaire, 11ème / +33 01 47 00 25 86).
Au Vieux Chêne (7 rue du Dahomey, 11ème / +33 01 43 71 67 69).
Le Villaret (13 rue Ternaux, 11ème / +33 01 43 57 89 76).
“Paris gives me a frisson every time I arrive. Nowhere else affects me so physically and spiritually. Perhaps it is partly because I was not born a Parisienne but grew it into the fabric of my garments when spending my college years there and then visiting frequently every year all my life. I’m definitely a Left Bank lover, and my secret gardens are parts of the Luco (Luxembourg Gardens), especially around the Fontaine de Médicis and the upper southwest corner near rue Vavin. Square Paul-Painlevé, a tiny garden near the Sorbonne and the Cluny museum, and Place Dauphine, both of which I discovered while a student and used to sit in for hours reviewing for exams, still beckon me and the latest book I am reading. Flâner in Paris is another treat as there is so much beauty: buildings, shops, the bords de la Seine, inner courtyards, markets (particularly boulevard Raspail)—the aesthetic they transmit is signature Paris. Walks, walks, walks are Paris—say, on the way to a visit to the Rodin museum. These are a few of my favorite things. And then there’s the iconic sitting at the terrace of a café. I love it, whether on a main boulevard or on a small street. Eating out is me and whether eating a sandwich at a café, dining at a bistro, or celebrating New Year’s Eve at the Tour d’Argent, it is like nowhere