It was time for another pilgrimage to my old stamping, eating & drinking ground: Paris. The years roll by, stretching & obliterating memories of the 18 years I spent living there. Jobs and boyfriends came and went but overall it’s hard to forget those heady nights and often painful next days. I was in my 20s and 30s – so it was the time to play and of course Paris offered the perfect backdrop – culturally, visually and atmospherically.
Read my post about its brasseries, or this one about the HotelduNord+Paris
Rue du Château d’Eau
On this latest visit I discovered what was virtually a new quartier for me, well let’s say street, not far from where I once lived at La République. This nudged me north a little towards the Gare du Nord – all the better to leap off / on Eurostar. Having found an affordable hotel off the rue du Château d’Eau, I soon discovered that I was immersed in yet another beating heart of Parisian sociability. The street was lined with welcoming cafés, bars and bistros so a perfect area to graze and people-watch – and taken by storm in the balmy evenings. From a classic café-croissant breakfast to a late-night drink, inexpensive and friendly, it hit the spot.
To the Canal Saint-Martin
An added bonus was that five minutes walk away across the Boulevard Magenta was the placid, verdant Canal St Martin – now a swimming hotspot during our recurring heatwaves. Here I met up with a friend for lunch, avoiding the chic but rather pretentious La Marine and instead rendez-vous-ing at Chez Prune, an old favourite. Both are on the quai right beside the canal – the first luring American tourists and the second an assorted bunch of bohemian regulars who suit the quirky interior. That’s more my scene, together with its well-worn walls and furniture plus healthy salads and easy-going waiters. As the temperature was rising, it worked.
What’s interesting about this little enclave is the artisans who still work openly – as in this pastry-chef labouring in the heat with his window wide open. Others make clothes and accessories – all suiting limited budgets.
Le Marais
On another day I was back in Le Marais to visit an artist friend in her studio before we moved on for a delicious feed. Like everyone I love the elegance of this quartier and its many mansions and squares. It seems barely to have changed in years (I left Paris in the mid-1990s so that’s quite some time) and still has a creative buzz despite the soaring costs of living or working there. We headed for Glou, an absolute stunner of a restaurant in the rue Vieille du Temple, bang opposite the Musée Picasso. Their two-course lunch menu at 20-22€ is a winner often featuring beautifully prepared fresh fish. If you’re tempted, make sure you book as it’s justifiably popular. Again, I couldn’t fault the service – both efficient and amenable.
Montparnasse
Between other sorties I also hit Montparnasse where I first lived in Paris. Ghosts of long-dead artists still flit along the boulevard past those iconic brasseries – Le Dôme, La Rotonde, La Coupole and Le Select. Although flashy La Coupole used to be a regular of mine, it’s the more intimate Le Select that wins my heart today. I love the curly script of its pink neon sign and the many decorative features preserved since it opened in 1923. How many writers and artists have strolled in for a drink, lunch or dinner? Think Picasso, Hemingway, Man Ray, Samuel Beckett… and me of course.
Montparnasse is where art deco interiors and architecture blossomed in the 1920-30s so my visit to another friend round the corner was aposite; she lives in a heritage-listed art deco building replete with brass fittings, wrought iron balconies and mosaic lobby – so typical of the era. The views from her balcony sweep west to east from the Eiffel Tower to Les Invalides – quite something.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose? Paris is Paris.
