Undiscovered Places in Paris
 

Hello, I am a teenage girl going to Paris in less than a month. I want to know the best places to go in Paris that are undiscovered by the typical tourist. Restaurants, Boutiques, Coffee Shops, Perfume stores..ect. (really anything). The more "local" feeling to it, the better!
Thank you!

OK, your "undiscovered" theme is coming through loud and clear. May I ask why you would want to go to Paris (presumably for the first time) and do nothing but what the locals do? In reality, what locals do is take out the garbage, do laundry, go to doctors' appointments, shop for food andother necessities, fill out tax forms, stand in line at the préfecture, wait at bus stops, clean their apartment bathrooms, and all the mundane things people everywhere do. There is nothing romantic about doing what locals do. There is also absolutely no generalizing about what "local" means.

Don't you want to see all the iconic sights of Paris?

If you want a really "local feeling," take the bus to the Belleville market around 7:30 am one day.

Yes just get out of the dense area in central Paris where most tourists go - anything on the outer ring of arrondisements should be local as you get. Take the metro several stops out of the center in just about any direction and find local neighborhoods - muchof Paris would fit this -

but if asking other tourists where un-touristed restaurants is pointless - if we, most of us are tourists, know about it they are not undiscovered.

Locals like kerouac may be the most helpful here if he sees this.

There isn't any place that probably hasn't seen a single tourist, or very few.

But you are missing the point of travel -- if you personally want to go to untouristed spots and be in the corner tabac where no tourist has been for some reason, you need to do it yourself, not ask others to give you a list of places to go. Supposedly you should discover things for yourself during your travels.

And I don't agree with Palenq that no one on Fodors knows about places in Paris with few tourists, I think I know of some but don't agree with this whole idea of telling someone to go to xyz.

Thank you StCirq!

lisamariana: you are going to <i>Paris</i> . . . why do you think you only want to visit places other tourists don't?

You may enjoy spending some time on this website for Adele's "secret" places.

http://parisadele.com

Lisamariana's request makes a lot of sense. Paris is full of restaurants which serve overpriced mediocre food adapted to the palate of American tourists.

First rule: Avoid the squares and boulevards which are right near the main attractions. Menus with photographs of dishes in four languages are especially suspicious. Also three-course menus for 18 Euros.

Second rule: Use the Red Michelin Guide (also available online: www.viamichelin.com, click on restaurants). Especially the Bib Gourmand is always recommendable.

We've visited most of the places featured in the book "Unexplored Paris". Mostly sites, neighborhoods, and buildings
http://www.amazon.com/Unexplored-Par...explored+paris

I just received an e-mail from the publication France Today about gourmet food stores - some of them "out of the way".
http://www.francetoday.com/articles/...e871-294275677

Paris boutiques from France Today
http://www.francetoday.com/travel/pa...boutiques.html

This looks interesting too - from France Today
http://www.francetoday.com/articles/...n_as_sopi.html

Also in the South Pigalle area
http://www.francetoday.com/articles/...h_pigalle.html

Just follow the links on the France Today web site to see more "out of the way" stuff (assuming you somewhat know the Paris "layout").

Take the 52 bus west from the Arc de Triomphe through the 16th to "pass by" many stores that don't see a lot of the "typical" tourist who wants to stay close to the 4th/5th/6th/2nd/1st Arr.

Stu Dudley

Thank you so much!

To traveller1959, thank you for your info! I knew my ideas weren't crazy!

Believe it or not, Parisians actually LIVE in Paris and they go to their local restaurants and shops in their neighborhoods. Even the much maligned by some rue Cler is a neighborhood market street for locals--as well as others.

Check out the book Paris, Paris by David Downie from the library or buy a copy online. It has lots of places and details overlooked by tourists about the streets and canals.

Very helpful websites Stu----positive feedback is always welcome.

lisamariana: you are going to Paris . . . why do you think you only want to visit places other tourists don't?>

<May I ask why you would want to go to Paris (presumably for the first time) and do nothing but what the locals do?>

Oh Please you two - re-read the OP's post - she did not say she were not going to the major sights too but is interested especially in some undiscovered spots - the real restaurants not oriented to tourists - like all those in the Latin Quarter IME.

A reasonable request IMO. Read the OP questions a bit more carefully before responding???

And I'd say the vast majority of Paris is undiscovered by tourists - I once long ago jogged around half of Paris just inside the Peripherique and saw lots of local neighborhoods but nearly no tourists -kerouac, a Parisian who posts, lives in such a neighborhood - he'll probably post something here hopefully anyway about his hood.

- the real restaurants not oriented to tourists - like all those in the Latin Quarter IME.>

ambiguous as writ - should have been - the real restaurants not oriented to tourists like those in say the Latin Quarter are.

>>Oh Please you two - re-read the OP's post -<<

I did . . . and her other two threads.


(By definition . . . if it is in a book it is no longer 'undiscovered')

Hello, I am a teenage girl going to Paris in less than a month. I want to know the best places to go in Paris that are undiscovered by the typical tourist. Restaurants, Boutiques, Coffee Shops, Perfume stores..ect. (really anything). The more "local" feeling to it, the better!
Thank you!>

janis where do you get out of this post for THIS thread that she is not going also to the mega sights? We don't know about others posts because we don't read and comment on practically every post like some so you should have said, for others, what those other posts said.

So, you have threads for Malta, Sicily, Paris and Munich. What's your itinerary?

Le marche de rungis is a place where not so many tourists go.
It took me some time to go and I could have not seen it.

If you want places where tourists don't go just go a few hundreds meters opposite the main flow. Stop there and have a cafe.

LOL - undiscovered paris.