ualauren

We will be in Paris 2.5 days at the end of June. We went last year and hit the majority of the tourist hotspots. This time, we are looking forward to a relaxed, meandering visit! We love good food and atmosphere, so any unusual suggestions on things to do/places to see are welcomed!

Also I should mention that we will be staying in the St Germain area...

Thanks in advance!

StCirq

La Maison Fournaise on the Ile des Impressionistes.

janisj

>>La Maison Fournaise on the Ile des Impressionistes.<<

Ditto that -- and the restaurants/museum at the Institut du Monde Arabe. https://www.imarabe.org/en/practical...rants-and-cafe

MmePerdu

You might like to meander through some of the Paris passages. Two of my posts in this group show 6 of them, not far from where you'll be, across the river: PortMoresby's 'Fifty Years Later, Paris' | TravelGumbo

travelhorizons

the Marmatton Museum, world’s largest collection of Monet’s art

the Cluny Museum (of the Middle Ages)

Napoleon’s Tomb (in Les Invalides)

the Place des Vosges (Victor Hugo’s House, among other attractions there)

Street Art Tour in the 13th arr.

janisj

You consider those 'Out of the norm' and 'unusual' ideas the OP is looking for??

kerouac

How about an evening picnic at the Parc de la Villette? The sun doesn't set until almost 10 p.m. On a nice warm evening, there will be hundreds of families doing the same thing along the Canal de l'Ourcq. It is a fantastic location to watch real Parisian life instead of what all of the other tourists are doing.

Jean

Who really knows what the OP means by "out of the norm" and "unusual."

I've visited things that are mentioned in guidebooks and Paris websites that are rarely, if ever, mentioned here. So, are they tourist hotspots or not? Perhaps the OP saw them on the previous trip. Or not... La Conciergerie, Musee Rodin, Musee Delacroix, Petite Palais, Fondation Louis Vuitton (if the exhibits on offer don't appeal, just go gape at the building), Fondation Cartier, climb the dome of Sacre Coeur, cruise Canal St. Martin, ride the Dodo Manege carousel in the Jardin du Plantes.

Andee01

I agree with Kerouac’s suggestion. We walked from the Marais district up the canal to Parc Buttes de Chaumont and then onto Parc de la Villette before walking back to our apartment. We embarked on this walk thanks to Kerouac’s great suggestions on this forum. Even if you don’t walk it, it is a lovely park with modern installations...we enjoyed it and have some interesting phtotos from our walk around it.

Macross

The passage cerf is by our apartment and it has some of the nicest shops inside. I love exploring them.

el13207

Yes, what is out of the norm?? Go to the Maille mustard shop on the Place Madeleine. Go to the Musee Jacquemart-Andre (also as mentioned the Musee Cluny & Musee Marmottan). Hard to know where to begin, without knowing your interests and where you’ve already been. One can spend months exploring Paris!

PatrickLondon

The Promenade Plantée, from near Bastille all the way to Vincennes, or you could stop at various points along the way, such as the Jardin de Reuilly. I see kerouac's too modest to mention his photo-essay on it on another site:

The Promenade Plantée | Any Port in a Storm

Macross

My husband did a Resistance walking tour yesterday in the Marais district. He enjoyed it immensely. I want him to take me today.

Envierges

Given the number of tourists in Paris there's hardly any part of Paris that isn't mentioned in one guidebook or another so I will give you a suggestion for a way way way out of the norm visit that I'm sure you haven't tried. You will see an entirely different non touristy part of Paris.
Take the #2 metro
1. Stop at the Barbes market
https://en.parisinfo.com/shopping-pa.../Marche-Barbes
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/the-ba...french-market/
2. Go to a matinee at the restored Louxor cinema
https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museu...lais-du-cinema
3. Have an apero at the Brasserie Barbes
https://amuse-i-d.vice.com/brasserie-barbes/

Trophywife007

We have enjoyed visiting smaller museums. The Musee Jacquemart-Andre originally was a home and was very beautiful. There's a lovely cafe there. Similarly and nearby is the Musée Nissim de Camondo, home of the Camondo family filled with their beautiful collection of pieces and a touching story. Another place is the Musée national Gustave Moreau, French symbolist, also in his former home.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3...art-Andr%C3%A9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3...sim_de_Camondo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3...Gustave_Moreau

Whatever you decide, you can't go wrong.

jpie

I would add the Musée des arts et métiers: Visitor information | Musée des arts et métiers

kerouac

It's funny how different we all are. For somebody who says they have already hit all or most of the tourist hotspots in the past and who now has just 2.5 days to spend in Paris in search of something out of the norm, it would absolutely never cross my mind to suggest spending such limited and precious time in a museum unless it happened to be the most outstanding exhibition of the year -- and these little museums being mentioned don't really have such things.

indyhiker

What would you do and see instead, Kerouac?

Trophywife007

How long might one be expected to sit in a park for a true Parisian experience?

Envierges

And here's the perfect out of the norm hotel

Ice Kube Bar - The only Ice Bar in Paris - Kube Hotel Paris