Our Readers Discoveries in Paris

While everyone knows the well known sites of Paris such as Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower it’s sometimes nice to get away from it all and discover more to the city you’re visiting such as an unique boutique hidden down a small street or local family restaurant that has the best French food you’ll ever taste.

To find the best that Paris has to offer, we asked our readers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers for their favourite or lesser known places to visit. Read on to discover our travellers recommendations, so you don’t just have to take our word.

Food

• Okay, so the Pompidou centre may not be a little secret spot hidden away for you to discover but Sarah on Facebook says The George at the top of the building is well worth a visit. It boasts stunning panoramic views across the city and offers a comfortable spot, surrounded by modern art, to sit with a light bite to eat and watch the world go by.  For a little teaser of the views take a look at the Pompidou website which even has some live webcams to sneak a peak at: http://is.gd/biMwX
• One of our readers, Jane R, suggested visiting Cafe Danton in the centre of Paris just behind Odeon metro station. We’ve heard that it’s very good, and well worth a visit if you’re in the area, but other than that there’s very little information about it why it’s good and what makes it so special. In a way it’s quite nice that the internet isn’t littered with reviews about it because it remains a bit of a mystery. Who knows, it may be one of those little gems that you discover and don’t want to tell the world about!
• Joni strongly recommends a restaurant near the Institut du Monde Arabe called L’aoc. The friendly owners take pride in serving up selections of finely roasted meats from the rotisserie and their customers will often return time after time. We haven’t been fortunate enough to visit L’aoc but reading some of the reviews and glancing at the pictures on their website has got our mouths salivating with hunger!
• Sweet tooth? Then Jane A says you should get yourself down to Rue de Rivoli near the Louvre for some of the city’s very best desserts. Apparently this place gets pretty busy, especially on the weekends, so you can expect to queue. Mind you, when you hear about hot chocolate so thick and creamy that you need a spoon to eat it, you might not mind queuing a little!
• Speaking of desserts, we have word that Pierre Herme is the ‘absolute star’ of macarons but we’ve also been told  not to miss the macarons at Laduree. Well that just sounds like the perfect excuse to do a taste test between the two! Thanks for the suggestion Jane A!

Art

• Like the Pompidiou, the Fondation Cartier is a well known museum of contemporary art, recommended by Joni. Although it’s not a secret little somewhere to get away from the crowds, if you’re an art lover it’s well worth seeing the exhibits for yourself.
• Another favourite place to visit from our Eurostar customers is Le Musee d’Orsay but much of it is currently undergoing major transformations and will re-open in 2011. Until then, it remains partially closed with the anticipation of it opening fully next year.
• If the arts in general take your fancy and you’d like to experience great music, film, art and dance then Joni can recommend checking out the Insitut du Monde Arabe.

Shopping

• Jane A suggests a leisurely walk down Rue Montorgueil, a street popular with local Parisians in the Châtelet-Les Halles district. It’s dotted with well known restaurants, quaint cafés, bakeries, fish stores, cheese shops, wine shops and flower shops. It’s often frequented by stylish Parisians who come to socialise while doing their daily shopping. At the southern end of Rue Montorgueil you can find The George at the top of the Pompidou centre for a well deserved pit stop after shopping until you drop!
• If strolling the markets for authentic locally produced tasty delights is your thing then Jane A also recommends having a visit to Boulevard St Germain on a Sunday to peruse the Organic Farmers Market. It’s full of top notch quality foods at reasonable prices. If you’re not a French speaker then talking to these friendly farmers will be a great way to get in some practice too!
• Thanks to Jane A we’ve discovered Le Palais des Thes. It started life as a small, relatively unknown, shop specialising in high quality teas. Now it has grown across the world and has 5 stores in Paris, 2 stores in Belgium and more in other counties including as far as Japan. They have such a vast range of teas that you can select your choice based on type of tea, type of leaves, country of origin, time of day, flavours, vitamin content and more! To read more about Le Palais des Thes, or if you want to check out their Tea School, click here.
• Another great tea place to check out is Mariages Freres where Jane A strongly recommends the utterly delicious Marco Polo variety of tea.
• Stella suggests Les Galeries Vivienne in Paris. It’s a covered shopping street which was converted from presidential mansions in 1826 and is much like a shopping mall that you find in all major cities but this one is much smaller, prettier and has a cute and dainty feel about it. Being covered means that it’s warm in the winter and cool in the heat of mid summer so you can shop longer and harder! There’s also a couple of nice places to grab some refreshments along the way. Learn more about their history or admire the gallery here.

According to Emma, boulevard de Montparnasse is also another great place to take a stroll but simply must be completed with a hike up to the top of the Montparnasse tower to take in some of the stunning views that will apparently take your breath away.

A big thank you to everyone who sent in their suggestions and helped contribute to this post.  If you would like to share your favourite places with us, please feel free to tell us about them in the comments section below