Neighborhoods to explore for repeat visitors to Paris

Hi Grandot-

On our fourth trip to Paris, we spent a morning walking the Promenade Plantee out through the 12th to the end, had lunch out there, and then walked back to our hotel in the Marais on street level. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promenade_Plantée

Have you done this ethnic walk posted by kerouac?
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/an-ethnic-walking-tour-from-gare-du-nord-to-montmartre.cfm

And the Degas walks?
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/degas-paris-walks-the-passages-revised.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/degas-paris-walks---latin-quarter-jan-06.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/degas-paris-walks-notre-dame-ile-st-louis-revised.cfm

Have you visited Père Lachaise Cemetery?

We have visited the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, and we have also walked part of the Promenade Plantee. Thank you for those good suggestions, might do the entire Promenade Plantee, as you, did, BlueSwimmer. We have not done the Degas walks nor have we done the ethnic walk posted by kerouac. (I am a fairly new fodorite, so didn't know about them last trip to Paris.) Will definitely do some of them this time.

We must have driven through this part of town our last trip and I have been fantasizing about owning a sari since. Is this part of town safe for a woman alone?
Rosie Caro

Have you done the passages. For early 1900 architecture, the 15ième is interesting. Try to get into the salle des fêtes of its mairie.

These photos might give you some ideas:

http://www.photoworks.com/members/slideShow.jsp?id=36972748&key=mksfca

Belleville on market day (which I think is Saturday).

Picpus Cemetery.

Les Buttes de Chaumont.

Oh, wonderful! I'm gathering info for my husband's and my 1-week trip in May - and although it will ONLY be our 4th trip there, we do love the off-the-beaten path places and experiences. I would love to see your list, too.

One area comes to mind; taken from my trip report from 2004:

"The 16th Arrondisement. A stretch of remarkable Art Nouveau building exteriors along one street, Le Corbusier villa (it was closed when we went by, but hey, we got to see it) on another...for anyone with an interest in architecture, this region is a must-see"

Paule

I really enjoyed spending the better part of a day in St Denis. You take metro line 13 in the direction of St Denis-University, and get off at Basilique de St Denis. It only takes about 15-30 minutes from central Paris, depending on where you're starting out from.

The Basilica itself is beautiful. It's one of the first structures ever built in the Gothic style, and every French monarch in history has been interred there.

The little town of St Denis, which is now just a suburb of Paris, is also interesting to explore. It's working class and multi-ethnic and has a very different vibe from central Paris. The area isn't beautiful, but it is interesting and full of character.

Saturday is probably the best day to go, I think that's market day and things were certainly bustling the Saturday I went.

You can find some excellent, detailed promenades through different quartiers [url=http://www.ourparisforum.com/index.cgi?board=quartiers9]here.

Sorry for the slip up above. The url for the quartiers is:http://www.ourparisforum.com/index.cgi?board=quartiers9

bookmark

I would second progol's recommendation: wandering around Auteuil in the 16th lets you see a lot of classy architecture in a "village-type" neighborhood of Paris.

Grandot, have you been to Chateau Vincennes? (metro stop of the same name).

One thing I love doing before a trip is to go to google maps and use the "street view" to prowl around neighborhoods. It always gives me a list of places I must visit in person.

I have so many things that I want to do now that I will have to save some for next trip.
We will choose between all the walks that have been listed and do as many as we can while keeping our preferred method of travel which is to take it slow and easy and go where the wind takes us, never forgetting to stop at cafes!

Progol, as for my list, here is a sampling:

A Sunday concert in a church, as many markets as we can get to, Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Musee Nissim Commondo (Parc Monceau), Musee de Moyen Age for a medieval music concert, a Canal St. Martin boat ride, Bercy, possibly a two or three hour cooking demo class at the Cordon Bleu, wine tasting at Taillevent on Saturday, possibly the Sewer Tour, tea at Mariages Freres or the Plaza Athenee, checking out some of the passages, and walks galore. We are not able to go to the Galerie Lafayette free fashion show on Friday because they will start on April 3 and we leave on March 28th. If you will be there the first or second Saturday of the month and don't mind going overbudget, the Hotel Bristol has a fashion show combined with afternoon tea that I would have loved to do, but not on the day we arrive. (too jetlagged and probably wouldn't enjoy the goodies after a long trip).

I also have a list of places that I'd like to shop at. Although shopping is not my #1 activity, I do enjoy wandering into stores, especially ones that fodorites have recommended.

We might even get to Chateau de Vincennes.

Thank you so much for all your great ideas.

An area you may not have been: get off at Metro Segur. There's a marvellous wood fired patisserie Moulin de la Vierge, just near the intersection of Ave de Suffren and Rue Lecourbe. Superb crosissanct. Then walk down Rue Lecourbe. No tourists, interesting shops and if you can combine it with the market days of Avenue de Breteuil, all the better.

computer is acting crazy..
trying to reply or bookmark...

canal saint martin area
check out foodie froggie for great intineray
Marché d'Aligre
http://afoodiefroggy.canalblog.com/archives/2007/02/21/4081006.html

contact paris greeter this is a partial list of what we did
Here are the main spots were we went :

. The cemetery : ''Cimetière St Vincent'' with graveyards of Marcel Carné, Maurice Utrillo, Steinlein, Eugène Boudin, Marcel Aymé

. Studio of Cathy Deotto, Rue Caulaincourt : it was the 1st time I went at her studio with visitors & she was wonderful

. Avenue Junot : Private courtyard

. Villa Léandre : with little houses & gardens

. We crossed the ''Hameau des Artistes'' (private)

. the windmill ''Moulin de la Galette'' / Rue Lepic (see painting by Renoir)

. Private courtyard named ''Cour aux Juifs'' (the courtyard of the Jews) with 2 flights of stairs

. Rue Lepic : little passage with an artist in her little studio (her painting was in the passage) in front of the house where Van Gogh lived with his brother Theo before going to Auvers-sur-Oise

. Lunch at La Mascotte

. Le ''Castel de l'Escalopier'' : neo-gothic house with wooden gargoyyles ...

. Le Café des 2 Moulins : bar of the film ''Amélie''

. We got a chance to cross the secret ''Villa des Platanes'' with different houses and greenery and arrived in another world : Pigalle and its sexshops

. Place des Abbesses with its brick and concrete church ''St Jean des Abbesses'' and the ''Guimard'' style underground station

. The grocery of the film ''Amélie

. The Bateau-Lavoir, former home of Picasso, Modigliani etc. Place Emile Goudeau

. Statue of the ''Passe-Muraille'' which represents Marcel Aymé who lived nearby

. le Musée de Montmartre : oldest house in Montmartre & former artists studios (Renoir, Utrillo, Valadon ...)

. La Maison Rose (also painting by Maurice Utrillo)

. le Lapin Agile (cabaret with the rabbit)

. Place du Tertre on the top of the hill with painters

. The oldest church Saint-Pierre de Montmartre

I enjoy walking the full length of the Parc de Bercy from the Sports complex where it's fun to watch them cut the grass on the steep slopes, through the tiny vineyard and the lovely gardens, to the end which is a series of former wine storage buildings now renovated to house restaurants and shops.

<progol,
"The 16th Arrondisement. A stretch of remarkable Art Nouveau building exteriors along one street, Le Corbusier villa (it was closed when we went by, but hey, we got to see it) on another...for anyone with an interest in architecture, this region is a must-see">

Thanks for this tip. DH and I are thinking about checking this out in Sept.
Is it walkable from metro or boat stop?

thanks


*****

<pjsparlor536
Rue Lepic : little passage with an artist in her little studio (her painting was in the passage) in front of the house where Van Gogh lived with his brother Theo before going to Auvers-sur-Oise>

PJ,
We would be interested in seeing van Gogh house.
We are going to Amsterdam before Paris and will be visiting Van Gogh Museum. This would be a great follow up.
Do you know what metro stop is it at?

thanks

In Paris, he lived with his brother and his wife for a few months, Theo rented an apartment in Rue Lepic number 54, where Vincent installed himself and his paint study. From that apartment he had a nice view of the city he painted in a few occassions.

Vincent met many important artists, like Toulouse-Latrec, his good friend Paul Gaugin and other impressionist of the time in a shop in the Rue Lepic where Père Tanguy used to sell art supplies to all these young artist. He was like a father for all of them that's why they called him Père (father in french). In the back room of the shop of Tanguy he had a small gallery where he exposed paintings and tryed to sell them in order to help the painters.
The city gave new inspiration to paint to the artist, different landscapes from the countryside in Nuenen.
http://www.lifeofvangogh.com/VincentVanGoghBiography2.html

thanks for the very interesting info. I have been to Van Gogh museum 3 times and cant wait to take DH.

If I have my direction straight, I would include this when I visit Sacre Couer? Is this correct or am I confused?

Van Gogh never disappoints.

On the day you go to Musee Jacquemart-Andre, walk over to the Parc Monceau area. It has a real "neighborhood" atmosphere and I think it's the loveliest park in Paris.

http://tinyurl.com/dbwxwq

Ditto to JeanneB's recommendation. I loved the Parc Monceau! It's a good companion to visiting the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, which is also a wonderful small museum.

jetsetj-I remember that we did walk from a metro stop to the area, and I'll check which stop we got off.

Paule

You might want see if you can pick up the book Parcs et Jardins de Paris ...à pied which offers 23 walks through various neighborhoods of Paris. The book seems to be a collaboration between the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre and the Mairie de Paris. FNAC might have a copy or might be able to tell you where to get it.

there was a really interesting article in today;s Washington Post (hope you don't need to be registered):

http://tinyurl.com/dxo7x6

about off beat and avant garde arts venues

So much great information. thank you all so much.
Momliz, that was a really good article--very avant garde. We'll see if we have time.

yes the walk to Theo Van Goghs house in Montmartre by Sacre Cour

Adding to others' suggestions about visiting the 16th arrondisssement (where I used to live), I will suggest the following (I apologize but I didn't read every post so I'm not sure these details have been mentioned):

- Musee Marmottan (closest metro stop is La Muette on Line 9): great collection of Matisse's paintings (the real version of the copies you see at Giverny) in a charming mansion that looks out over a park.

- If it's a nice day, walk around the two lakes in the Bois de Boulogne (cross over to the park at Passy).

- Rue Passy is a good shopping street for "women of a certain age" (well, 30 something to 60 something). Teenagers will hate it, and there isn't much to interest men. But last time I was there, I bought two lovely cocktail dresses (less than 150 euros each) and a distinctive suit for a wedding in 40 minutes. (I'd spent months shopping in New York and failed to find anything that wasn't sleazy, old ladyish or outrageously expensive.) I like Gerard Darel (women's clothing) and several of the shops whose names I can't remember on the same side of the street for a few blocks. There is also a Darjeeling, which has nice lingerie.

- One of my favourite restaurants in Paris is a wine bar called Le vin dans les voiles. It's in the southern end of the 16th. It may only be open for dinner; I'm not sure - but it does have a website. Small room, short menu, but charming owner with a nice selection of wine and good food. The restaurant is patronized mostly by locals, so you'll feel like one, too.

- I'm not a fan of La Gare (former train station converted to bar/restaurant) at La Muette, but it is atmospheric.

- One of my favourite shops for children's clothing is also near Rue Passy (right by La Muette metro stop). It's called Du Pareil au Meme and it has stylish, colourful, affordable clothes for babies, boys and girls. My niece loved the clothes we bought her there.

- The Musee du Vin is also in the 16th (google it to find the website and address).

I would go the opposite route and explore the ethnic neighborhoods of Paris.

Château Rouge metro for a taste of Africa.
Barbès-Rochechouart for a taste of Algeria.
Olympiades for a taste of China.
Maisons-Alfort for a taste of Armenia.
etc.

Hi kerouac, are there any other metro stops/neighbourhoods you can think of, to add to your list?