Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Paris arrondisement info-updated 11-20

11th Includes the Bastille area (used to be the closest thing to Soho in Paris), a nice place for young people (eg. under 25) to hang out. Rue de Charonne is a nice street to walk along at night and wine-bar hop. Place de la Republique is also also lively and somewhat less touristy. Lots of fun bars, some with character. 12th This is the new Paris with lots of renovated areas, most quite successful. The Viaduc des Arts is interesting to walk along on a weekend afternoon, lots of artisans showing and selling their crafts, the old elevated train tracks have been turned into a unique strip park. At metro Clos St Emilion there is a small Faneuil Hall (sp?) -type mall with high-end stores and a good microbrewery next to the lovely new Parc de Bercy. The Bois de Vincennes borders the 12th and is a huge park and a zoo, good for rollerblading or biking. 13th Has one of the two Chinatowns in Paris, lots of concrete skyscrapers (well, tall buildings anyway), and new construction. There are many Chinese restaurants, but if you come from Hong Kong, Toronto or NYC you won’t be impressed. Not much for visitors to see except les Gobelins (a tapestry-making museum) and the brand-new Grande Biblioteque. 14th The old Montparnasse is nice, with many cute little restaurants; the best area is around the rue Daguerre and between blvds Raspail and de Montparnasse. The new Montparnasse, surrounding the tower of the same name, is not so special (lots of chains, traffic, neon signs-- you could be anywhere) 15th Completely residential. A nice place to live ; ) but you wouldn’t necessarily want to visit there! The Parc Andre Citroen is very interesting, if you have already been to Paris many times and want to see a new park. Try going up in the tethered balloon for a great view of Paris. 16th Also very residential, though much richer than the 15th. Leafy, like a suburb. Not much for visitors to do here, except go to place du Trocadero for a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Rue de Passy is a nice shopping street. The Bois de Boulogne, a huge park and one of the most beautiful green areas in Paris, is part of the 16th. 17th There is a good 17th (west of the train tracks) and a not-so-nice 17th (east of the tracks, the place de Clichy area). Not much for visitors to see, mainly residential with some charming neighborhoods, like the rue de Levis street market and the Parc Monceau. Place Maillot is a boring and rather ugly business district. 18th Yes, Montmartre is touristy but it is really worth a visit. Wander around, avoiding the place de Tertre, and see the old Montmartre, especially the avenue Junot. The Barbes and Pigalle areas have bad reputations but are mainly just not very interesting for visitors. 19th Largely down-market residential area, not much reason to visit, certainly not for first-timers. For people who have been to Paris several times already, the La Villette complex has a music museum, a science museum and great outdoor movies in the summer. And the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is beautiful and different. 20th The new “Soho” is Menilmontant, it’s along rue Oberkampf and blvd de Menilmontant. Belleville (it used to the Jewish quarter, then the Arab quarter, now sort of a general Asian quarter) is there, too. There are many, many Asian restaurants, though how many of them are good is anyone’s guess (see the 13th). Pere Lachaise cemetery is worth a look, it’s very beautiful and there are many famous people buried there.