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You haven't seen the City of Lights until you've seen the city at night. Throngs pour into popular streets, filling the air with the melody of engaged conversation and clinking glasses. This is when locals let down their hair and reveal their true bonhomie, laughing and dancing, flirting and talking. Parisians love to savor life together: they dine out, drink endless espressos, offer innumerable toasts, and are often so reluctant to separate that they party all night.
Parisians go out weekends and weeknights, late and early. They tend to frequent the same places once they've found spots they like: it could be a wine bar, a corner café, a hip music club, or, more and more, a chic cocktail bar in an out-of-the-way neighborhood. A wise way to spend an evening is to pick an area in a neighborhood that interests you, then give yourself time to browse. Parisians also love to bar-hop, and the energy shifts throughout the evening, so be prepared to follow the crowds.
Inside the magnificent, historic Hôtel Lutetia, Bar Josephine has been restored beyond its former glory. The vast Art Nouveau frescoed ceiling, wrought-iron balcony, and colorful, carefully selected spirits—all lit by abundant natural light coming through the vast window facing Boulevard Raspail—make this beautiful space the place to see and be seen. There is live piano music from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm most evenings.
Bookcases on the wall and the glossy central piano recall this jazz bar's earlier incarnation as the Café Tabou, when Paris's postwar artists and intellectuals argued and partied the night away to the strains of New York jazz. Nowadays, the plush seating and low lights still draw a crowd of die-hard jazz lovers. Just note that there's no live music on Saturday.
Sir Terence Conran's makeover of a 17th-century Parisian jeu de paume court features a stylish mezzanine-level bar under a greenhouse-glass roof. DJs and "sound designers" spin mixes into the wee hours Wednesday through Saturday. Saturday night themes such as "Love Night" include a late-night, three-course meal with cocktails, followed by partying with burlesque dancers.
Waiters wearing red overalls and revolutionary gavroche hats serve drinks every day of the week at this local institution (they demonstrate particular zeal around happy hour). With bottles of wine at about €25, it draws a quintessential Rive Gauche mix of expats, fashion-house interns, and even some professional rugby players. Sit outside on the terrace and enjoy the prime corner location.
Chez Georges has been serving red wine, pastis, and beer for the past 70 years in pretty much the same caveau that still packs in devotees today. Older students and locals fill sofas and crowd around tiny, candle-topped tables in the cellar bar before grinding to pulsing world music every night until 2 am.
After jump-starting the Paris cocktail bar scene, the partners behind the Experimental Cocktail Club applied the same winning formula to this hybrid wine bar–nightclub. Plush surroundings, an extensive wine list, and a tasty tapas menu draw a crowd of hip young Parisians who can hone their wine-tasting skills on classics in every price range.
The hushed Baroque bar at L'Hôtel is ideal for a discreet rendezvous. Designed in typically opulent Jacques Garcia style, the hideaway evokes the decadent spirit of onetime resident Oscar Wilde.
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