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France
This is a funky little bar in Montmartre. It's got a laid back atmosphere, lots of comfy cushions, quirky décor and possibly the best mosaic decorated toilet in Paris!
Drinks are reasonable for Paris, this place is well worth stopping in at, on your way up the back streets to Sacré Coeur. Open 4pm - 2am.
24 rue Durantin, Montmartre, on the corner of rue Durantin and rue Burq. Nearest metro: Abbesses
Want to spend a hip afternoon and night in Paris? First you need a cool outfit, so go to Citadium, the Printemps branch for cool kids.
Then head to l'Hôtel Amour where you will have apéritif and dinner in the lovely courtyard. You can also sleep there in one of their stylish rooms.
After that, head over to the restaurant Georges on the top of Centre Pompidou to have coffee while enjoying an awesome view of Paris.
Finally, join the fashionistas for a trendy night at the small but hip Paris-Paris Club, if the bouncer lets you inside bien sûr.
Juilen Aujeau and his wife Claire Barbier run the best wine shop I've ever visited in my life. They don't really have a 'passion' for wine, it is more like a joy which they feel compelled to share!
My wife and I spent over two hours there during our honeymoon (and my wife is only mildly interested in wine). Julien even gave us a bottle as a wedding present! Incredible people.
You can find "Julien Caviste" at 50 rue Charlot.
When recently in Montmartre we found a tiny shop called Manani, Rue des Trois Frères, selling bags made with the most beautiful African prints before making our way down to Fuxia which is such a simple and beautiful deli.
If ever you find yourself on Rue des Martyrs take a peek at their amazing array of wine, pastas, salads and vegetables. The beautiful waitresses are also very knowledgeable about the best bars and places to dance in Paris. Try happy hour at Fluid (same street), charming waiters and beautiful music, the perfect place to become a regular.
The sites during the day, then Lily La Tigresse at night! A respectable seedy bar right in the heart of the tourist red light district. It has become a popular, and quite trendy, night-spot, and they have started charging an entrance fee on busy nights.
Set on two levels, you quite often catch a glimpse of the topless dancers passing from one level to the other via a ladder resembling something seen in a fire station. Meanwhile the beat pumps away, but not too obtrusively.
98 rue Blanche
75009 Paris
Harry's Bar in the opera quarter has to be the most unique bar I've ever been to. It has entertained many famous people over the years, well worth checking into!
Rue Vieille du Temple - a classic Marais stomping ground. Kick off with a flinty sancerre in the bar/bookshop/coffeshop La Belle Hortense, before perusing both kitsch and cutting-edge in the boutique shops dotted about.
Congratulate your good fortune with a coupe of Veuve Clicquot from Les Etages, a scruffy, scarlet salon for the tragically hip, before lining the stomach with some classic bistro dishes in Les Philosophes. Take your coffee on a terrasse seat and watch the people parade, parade, parade, all night long.
Then, how about a midnight embrace in nearby Place des Vosges? Pourquoi pas.
For an interesting night, grab a bottle of wine and head to the steps of Sacre Couer after dark -lots of people gather on the steps, with wine and guitars and it's a great way to relax and meet locals.
Les Limonaires is a Parisian must. Battered decor and disheveled waiting staff simply add to its charm.
A three course meal for around a tenner and the best grub we'd sampled in the city followed by three acts of entertainment (comedy, drama and chanson) where a hat is passed around for tips afterwards.
This local hangout exemplifies what bohemian Paris is all about - culture, charm and cheek (sic).
Les Limonaires is on Citè Bergère in the 9th arrondisement. Tel number 0145 23 33 33.
The Champagne region is only a £15 journey from Paris (Gare d'Est).
Reime is a beautiful city and gives you an opportunity to sample a few bottles from this fine region. Stay in the heart of the city and leave the car behind.
Worth a trip to Paris just for this tiny gem. Les Papilles, 30, Rue Gay Lussac, 75005 Paris.
Paris food not as good as it used to be? Well if anyone actually was seriously considering the answer to that question, this little restaurant wine-bar tucked away behind the Jardin du Luxembourg is it. The three-course menu for under 30 euros tickles the tastebuds (les papilles) every time, but the real secret about this restaurant is the wine.
Leading a double life as a wine shop, Les Papilles offers wine at ridiculously cheap prices, just add a corkage charge. Guaranteed to make heads turn!
Visit La Refuge Des Fondues in Montmartre, where you have the choice of meat or cheese fondue, and red or white wine - the latter served in a baby bottle complete with teat!
If your raison d'etre is for fine wine and cheese, when in Paris a trip to Rue Mouffetard is a must.
Secreted away in the 5th arrondissement (or Latin Quarter), this open street market offers a wealth of treats for the gourmet-minded.
Look out for top-quality goats' cheese in all shapes and sizes, and enjoy snuffling in bin ends for bargain bottles. And once you have splashed the euros, relax in one of the many restaurants or cafes - located at the far end of the road, opposite a church, Le Pain Quotidien's delicious cappuccino and outside seating gets my vote.
Shakespeare & Co is full of over priced tat, and all the cool kids known that the cool bookshops are the blocks of comic book stores just south of it.
Why it isn't recognised as an international mecca of bande dessinees is beyond me!
Il Forme bar in Montmartre - alternative Indie style venue that never appears in any guide books as far as I know!
One drink in every bar on the discrete and trendy Rue de Lappe, Bastille and take in 265 meters of world bar and pub culture, from Chez Paul up to Café Iguana.
But mind out for the endless amounts of dog poo left by little lap dogs.
Go to Mariage Freres in Rue du Bourg-Tibourg order Marco Polo tea and taste the world.
Worth the Eurostar journey just on its own, especially in the colder months, is La Charlotte de l'Isle - a tiny but extremely captivating and bewitching 'Salon de The' on the tranquil and beautiful Ile st Louis.
The hot chocolate is to die for, rich and sensuous and almost thick enough to stand your spoon up in!
It is open only Thursdays to Sundays, 2pm until 8pm and is situated on 24, rue St louis-en-l'isle. Metro Pont Marie.
For the height of urban cool visit the Buddha Bar 8-12, rue Boissy d'Anglais.
Subtly lit and lorded over by an enormous buddha, this temple-like establishment stays at the forefront of Parisian cool.
While folks come to indulge in the Asian-inspired cuisine, many take advantage of the ambience at the cocktail bar, checking out the beautiful patrons and their style-conscious activities! Tres Bon!
There are lots of secret gems in Paris, but Chez Paul’s wine bar and brasserie on Rue de Lappe, near the Bastille, is without a doubt the most Parisian.
This enthralling little place is invariably packed with genuine locals of the bizarrely-dressed-cigarette-in-hand variety.
Paul himself is normally there behind the well-stocked bar, in his thick round lunettes. He might serve you a little grudgingly if you aren’t French (something I personally rather treasure), but the food is stunning and you will soak up both the atmosphere and the beautiful wine long into the night.
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