11th near Nation - vous connaissez?

[tallyhotravel]

I'm embarking on an adventure in an area that is totally unknown to me - a month's stay in the 11th near the intersection of rue de Montreuil/blvd Voltaire. Do you have experience around there? Are you familiar with cafés, parks, bistros, stores, food, sights, markets, etc that I shouldn't miss? Anywhere I should steer clear of? What about a bus number whose route is a good one for seeing the area or getting from that side of the city to another?

Sure, I know I can pop in places that look interesting and that the exploring will be half the fun, but if you know personally of wonderful places and things I should not miss, I'd love you to share the info here. Hopefully a dedicated thread will keep lots of good info on this area together where it can be more easily accessed by many rather than just lumping it in with other threads. (I secretly wish there were a thread for each of the 20 arrondiseements. ^o^)

Thanks in advance for taking the time to share your vast knowledge!

[hwinpp]

Je ne connais rien de ce banlieu ;D

[Jazz]

Vous connaissez?...un peu. Great that you found an apartment in an area that will be fascinating. I like your idea of having a thread for each arrondissement. (this for the 11th, and French Mystique with his glorious thread on the 12th). Others will know far more than me, but here are few sites to begin with. In 2005, I spent a month in the 11th on rue de la Roquette and loved it. I tend to think of the 10th, 11th, 12th almost as one. It is all so walkable. It’s good to search out this personal input…the month I spent there I was totally unaware of all of the small passages, furniture makers etc. This October I will visit them.

This is an old article, 2001, but valuable. The author was born and raised in Paris and it gives a good introductory sense of eastern Paris.
www.travelandleisure.com/articles/undiscovered-paris-je-taime/1

Three great markets are close to you, each with a different character,

Richard Lenoir (Bastille) is a food market in the morning…delicious and each stand is like a painting! I went every weekend. Then, mid-day, the artisans arrive.
www.artistesparisbastille.fr/?lng=en

Marché Aligré, 12th….love this market!
afoodiefroggy.canalblog.com/archives/2007/02/21/4081006.html
I recommend lunch at La table d’Aligré, a restaurant within the market.
www.latabledaligre.com/accueil

Puces de Montreuil. There is little online about this market but it is well worth a half day.
www.aparisguide.com/alternative/index.htm

a very good site,
parisisinvisible.blogspot.com/


When I’m less tired, I’ll write some more personal experiences.

[bjd]

Over the past ten years, Boulevard Voltaire has lost most of its small shops and now houses Chinese-owned clothes wholesalers ( who buys this stuff is beyond me), so that has killed a lot of the atmosphere. It is completely dead in the evenings, and even during the day it's not very lively.

However, if you go westward, the area near Faidherbe-Chaligny is rapidly yuppifying and has lots of cafés, bo-bo shops and restaurants. The closest market to you seems to be Aligre.

There is a little restaurant on Rue de Montreuil, whose name I don't remember, but it has checkered tablecloths, lots of people at lunchtime and is cheap and good. Not far from the intersection with rue Faidherbe.

A few years ago there was bus 56 that went up Blvd Voltaire all the way to Montmartre -- not that scenic, but it had an open back where you could stand and smoke, or breathe in the exhaust. Don't know if those open buses still exist though.

If you have a month, you can easily walk to many places. We calculated 25 minutes from our place (close to St Antoine hospital to Notre Dame). You can also go for picnics at the Arsenal port (beside Bastille station) in the evenings.

[Deleted]

I am not an expert on the "Nation" area, but it is still a quite authentic non-touristy part of Paris. I went through there recently while working on an upcoming photo report, so if we're lucky, some of the photos might be useful.

[tallyhotravel]

Mar 20, 2011 20:29:07 GMT kerouac2 said:

a quite authentic non-touristy part of Paris

Now THAT'S what I live for!

[frenchmystiquetour]

tallyho - I did do a trip report about the 12th that you'll find posted here in the Paris forum. I covered some areas in the 12th that are very close to Nation. Since that part of the 11th is right on the border with the 12th you may find a few streets that would interest you near there. I'm thinking specifically of Rue du Rendez-Vous, Blvd. de Picpus and Ave. de Sainte-Mandé and adjacent streets. Lots of food stores here. The two restos near there that looked decent (I only had a small lunch at one of them, however) are Le Picotin on Rue Sibuet and Taverne de la Voute on Rue de la Voute. One of my upcoming projects is to do a trip report for the 11th so maybe I'll have that done by the time you get here.

[tallyhotravel]

Mar 22, 2011 0:14:43 GMT frenchmystiquetour said:

tallyho - I did do a trip report about the 12th that you'll find posted here in the Paris forum. I covered some areas in the 12th that are very close to Nation. Since that part of the 11th is right on the border with the 12th you may find a few streets that would interest you near there.

FMT, I finally had time to read that fine report of yours yesterday afternoon. I was saving it until I was home alone with no risk of interruption. I will be keeping all the info you reported at the forefront of my notes.

Greedy as I am, I will however be awaiting your 11th report with baited breath! ;D

[tallyhotravel]

I am happy to report that after 10 days as tour guide spread between London, Paris, and Orléans, I have taken possession today of my rental flat, picked up groceries and baguettes, wine and dessert and am in the process of cooking dinner. It must be criminal to be this happy!

Just my limited foray in the vicinity of the apartment tells me I've got LOTS to learn about this quartier.

[mich64]

Good for you Tallyho! Looking forward to reading all about the 11th.
Cheers,
Mich

[Deleted]

Still waiting with bated breath!

[frenchmystiquetour]

tallyho - If you're at all a mild cycling enthusiast I'd be happy to lead you on a Parisian bike ride. Next year I'm going to be offering bike rides in Paris as part of my business and I'd like to have a guinea pig or two to test with. If you feel like being my guinea pig I'll give you the grand tour of the 20th, an area where I'm working on a report right now.

[tallyhotravel]

fmt - thanks so very much for your generous offer. How I'd love to take you up on it, but I haven't been on a bike in about 100 years.

kerouac, you may have to wait a bit longer. The rue de Montreuil in either direction from my apt. is turning out to be disappointing to me thus far. Lots of restaurants that I'd read about have closed up shop. Lots of bars operating, but I'm not into bars. Even the boulangerie that was next door has closed. I've tried a couple of others around but haven't happened upon one where I feel a particular affection. On the upside, I have been on a cooking frenzy though, and that is one of my favorite past times during my monthly séjours.

Maybe soon I will develop a sense of belonging here, but for now I feel a bit alienated. I will continue trying because all in all, this might be the most perfect apartment for my situation.

[Deleted]

Restaurants and shops change a lot more rapidly than one might expect in Paris, so it can be quite tricky to do up-to-date research on an area.

A few years ago, I made a long report that is still on serveral internet sites call "an ethnic stroll from Gare du Nord to Montmartre" where I provided all sorts of names and addresses of Indian shops, Chinese restaurants and African artisans. I would say that about 50% of the places are now something else, which could create a lot of disappointment for anybody wanting to follow the route of that report.

I hope that you will manage to find some suitable replacements in your neighborhood -- it often means just extending your search about 200 meters.

[tod2]

I sincerely hope I have not missed your report on the 11th FMT? I have found a wonderful apartment in Rue Saint-Sebastien -

Kerouac, whats is this place? "The nearby MERCI is one of the most unique retail venues anywhere. Rue Saint-Sebastian is both well located, convenient, and quiet. All in all we had a great time ".

[bjd]

Tod, I saw a report on the place on the France24 website a few weeks ago. It's a fancy/cool store to buy things like clothes and decoration items. It was part of a report on Parisian chic.

Just found it: www.france24.com/en/20110812-ines-de-la-fressange-anne-valerie-hash-jessica-michault-merci-paris-parisian-chic-woman-en-culture

[tod2]

Thanks! Nice to take a wander through but I doubt I would be tempted to buy anything.....
certainly not high spikey heeled shoes ;D

[hwinpp]

You should, Tod2, sparkling red ones !

[lagatta]

Those are bixa's!

[frenchmystiquetour]

tod2 - I haven't even begun a report on the 11th yet and probably won't for some time to come. I'm going to be very busy for the next several weeks doing work on my website and tackling a comprehensive plan for marketing my business. When I get around to it I'll actually be doing a report on the 20th first. I've got all the photos (of just about every street in the 20th) but I don't expect I'll be able to do any work on it until sometime in November.

[tod2]

No sweat FMT - we are still in the planning stages of our 2012 trip for May!