I have been to Paris a number of times and was looking for something a little off the tourist path, so on my trip in July I headed with a guide to Belleville and had a great day. I was especially impressed with the great cultural diversity and the very impressive street art (aka graffiti).

(cont.) There were neighborhoods that had become gentrified, which weren't nearly as interesting as those with diverse populations from Eastern Europe and Africa. In those neighborhoods, the markets were especially colorful.

I was also very impressed by the graffiti. This was art, not defacement. My guide explained that some of the artists responsible for the placement had sold some of their works in some of the famous auction houses. For an off the beaten path walk while you are in Paris, I would highly recommend Belleville.

Belleville is indeed one of the most fascinating areas in Paris, but please don't tell too many people. ;-)

I read someone's trip report or thread on walking tours and had found a small walking tour of Belleville on Wednesdays but, of course, now I cannot locate the information - my iPad had a lobotomy. If you know of a walking tour of this area, please let me know. Thanks.

I found it! I searched on "walking tour of Belleville Paris on Wednesday" and viola! www.hidden-paris.com

Well, except it is on Monday but I could have sworn it was on Wednesday.

Bumper: Belleville sounds like a great place to explore! Thanks for sharing.

Ronda: thanks for the link for Hidden-Paris. I plan on reserving the Belleville tour when in Paris next March.

We did a street art walking tour which I'd recommend.
http://undergroundparis.org/street-art-tours-paris

Wtb- which one did you do? The link shows 2. Thanks!

When we did the tour they only did one, the tour around Belleville and Menilmontant. I really enjoyed it. We walked around the area in the 13th on our own too.

We've done these street art walking tours in a lot of places (Berlin, London, Paris etc.) what I like about taking a tour is learning about the artists both the local and the internationally known ones too. You can of course see the work on your own and that's fun, but it's also nice to learn about local crews and the local graffiti scene as well as the better known people.
Instagram is a great way to learn about the street art scene and even to interact with artists.

I wrote this blog post before we went on the Underground Paris tour but it has some photos...

http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2013/...-in-paris.html