Good places for walking in Paris outside the tourist hot spots.
May 27th, 2002, 09:32 AM
#1
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Good places for walking in Paris outside the tourist hot spots.
I have explored the areas of the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th arr. closest the Seine, but would like to wander arround other neighborhoods as well. I espcially like outdoor markets, pedestrain streets, or just charming streets where the locals prefer to stroll. Any suggestions? Thanks<BR>
May 27th, 2002, 11:46 AM
#3
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Second Gretchen's suggestion. Be sure to also walk above the street level on the Promenade Plantee or whatever it's called--the urban park above the Viaduct des Arts on the Ave. Daumesnil. While you're in the 12th head on over to the Aligre market also. <BR><BR>Eyewitness Guidebook on Paris has a nice walk in the Auteil area of the city. Lots of Art Nouveau and post modern buildings including the house that Corbusier designed.
May 27th, 2002, 02:11 PM
#5
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Try the canal St. Martin, There's a small park by the locks where the canal goes underground. It's located above Place de la République. The Sunday market on the Avenue Richard Lenoir (I believe) near Place de la Bastille is very nice, as is the one Place d'Aligre (daily). The Viaduct des Arts is close to the Bastille, hence clsoe to both markets.
May 27th, 2002, 03:58 PM
#7
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I stayed in Paris for a month in the 7th and loved the area for just walking around. Very residential with lots of street markets. I stayed around the corner from rue Cler which had anything you desired for a stay. I used Rick Steves' book for walking tours along with Access Paris. I also used Daytrips France by Earl Steinbicker for outside Paris trips. This book has inside Paris walking tours which are easy to follow. I followed Rick Steves tour of Montmartre which I thought was great as it pointed out sites (like the last vineyard) that I probably wouldn't have noticed.
May 27th, 2002, 06:33 PM
#9
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Agree with Lori, try the La Muette metro area around the Marmatton Museum, <BR>or the Passy Metro stop also in the 16th. Also, the Parc Monceau area is very elegant, and the park is beautiful. Two beautiful small museums near there - the Jacquemart-Andre and the Nissim Caimondo. The Jacquemart-Andre has a lovely garden restaurant where locals seem to go for lunch.
May 27th, 2002, 11:34 PM
#11
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Another vote for the 16th. By the Michel-Ange Auteuil metro stop (hint: in this case, it's pronounced Mickel, not the usual Michel, as it refers to Michelangelo) is a wonderful food market that takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Some very nice shops in the area, too and a little bit of U.S. history--John Adams stayed in a building on the rue d'Auteuil. A few hundred years ago, the then village of Auteuil produced some of Louis XIV's favorite wine.<BR>From the Place Michel-Ange, walk about a block down rue la Fontaine to Ave. Mozart, turn left and walk up Ave. Mozart. You will pass many beautiful apartment buildings, stores, etc. At 124 Ave. Mozart is an excellent store for high quality women's second hand clothes and accessories. Around the Jasmin metro stop are several nice cafes. They make an excellent cafe creme at Royal Mozart (not to be confused with the nearby Le Mozart) and serve good, well-prepared light meals. Continue up Ave. Mozart until reaching the La Muette metro stop, at which point, turn left and head over to the Ranelagh Gardens and the Marmottan.<BR>BTilke (Brussels)
May 28th, 2002, 12:26 AM
#12
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These are all good suggestions. We spent last weekend in Belleville, in the East of paris. This is a very funky immigrant neighborhood, sort of what the east village used to be like. Lots of street markets, Chinese restaurants, fun wine bars and cafes and artists. You'd think you were in a totally different city; a great place for those who are getting bored with the west side of Paris. Just go to Metro Belleville, Jourdain or Menilmontant.
May 28th, 2002, 07:32 AM
#15
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rue d'Aligre for an incredible outdoor market; down rue Faubourg St Antoine (where the revolutionaries marched to the Bastille), then north around the little streets of the 11eme for artists galleries, cabinetmakers, furniture maker studios...<BR><BR>Parc de Bercy, then east into Bercy Village (oldest inhabited part of Paris - like Stone Age old).<BR><BR>14eme around Parc Montsouris and the University - the University for the architecture (each of the student housing buildings done by different and famous architects) and the area around Parc Montsouris for wonderful buildings and "villas".<BR><BR>15eme St Lambert area/Parc Georges Brassens for a totally non-tourist neighborhood, beautiful houses, slice of Paris real life.<BR><BR>
May 28th, 2002, 09:04 AM
#16
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IMO, the best English language book on this issue is Time Out's Walks in Paris.<BR> <BR>There are lots of off the beaten tracks new parks/urban gardens: the already mentioned parc de Bercy, also in the Belleville area, les Hauts de Belleville with a stunning, touristless view over Paris, parc Andre Citroen, at the very Southwestern tip of the city (RER C Javel) is a gem. For a glimpse of hip Paris, stroll down the rue Oberkampf. There are lots of market streets: rue de Levis in the 17th, more ethnic and "real Paris" rue du Ruisseau in the 18th, rue du Commerce in the 15th, "bobo heaven" rue Daguerre in the 14th; try the Butte aux Cailles in the 13th, even if it's been a bit "Ameliepoulainized" by the former mayor. Until fall, on Sundays (and every day from mid July to mid August) the "voies sur berge" (banks of the Seine, normally transformed into an outrageous urban expressway)are reserved for pedestrians and cyclists.
