Coffee & tea

The Faitout is a cozy, ramshackle sort of place popular with Belleville types who return time and again for the laid-back atmosphere and the great food.

The café I-Pod is usually handed round for the customers to choose the music, and free popcorn circulates in the late afternoon.

The menu’s varied and not expensive, including meat and fish based French classics as well as big salads and some delicious vegetarian options like courgette lasagna. All are consistently well prepared and presented. There is also a good selection of wines and they do various ‘formules’ or menu deals where you get 2 courses for € 16.50 or 3 for a € 25 in the evening – there are others at lunch too so check the website for details.

A book shelf along one wall contains novels, guide books and odd miscellany in a selection of languages (mainly French and English) as well as board games. The attraction of the Faitout is easy to conceive, and for me this really lies in the comfort of the large leather booths where many happy hours can be spent reading, eating, drinking…indeed if it’s lazing about you seek, then the Faitout is just the place.

The bar and terrace fill up later on with an artsy local crowd. Blankets on the terrace ensure smokers may take their time on cold evenings.

P.S. Try the syrup with coffee but be careful, it’s not to everyone’s taste as I lately discovered after pushing a friend to try it.

A friend of mine once described the Hôtel du Nord as the sort of place you take a date you really want to impress because it seems a bit posh, but also cool and not too expensive. Crude? A little perhaps, but true none-the-less.

The dining room is carefully and beautifully arranged, it has the feel of being both new and old without seeming overdone. In fact it is quite old – the hôtel featured in Marcel Carné‘s 1930s film and has since become something of a Parisian institution.

The seasonal menu is small and very good, with both traditional and more modern dishes (such as a crispy Chinese style three cabbage salad – delicious).

The Hotel du Nord is rather an elegant little place but never pretentious or excessively formal. Ideal for a romantic meal, with its low-lighting and candlelit dining room, but also perfect for a coffee or a glass of wine on the shady terrace.

Once a café-theatre frequented by Maurice Chevalier and Edith Piaf (then local residents), Aux Folies embodies perfectly the spirit of the quartier, so cram yourself onto one of the tiny street-facing tables and watch local life pass-by in all its color and chaos.

The drinks are cheap-ish and the service is super-humanly efficient; late afternoon even finds the terrace (a rare sun-trap amid narrow shaded streets) bathed in somnolent rays.

Aux Folies is usually packed out at all hours, the clientèle is made up of the local bohemian populace, Chinese and North African residents plus a selection of foreign students and artists too. Very cool, very Parisian. Aux Folies also featured in Cédric Klapisch’s 2008 film Paris. Naturally.

Le Marché des Enfants Rouges is reputedly the oldest food market in Paris, built under the rule of Louis XIII around 1615. The name, which literally means the Market of the Red Children, refers to the red uniform worn by the children of the orphanage that was located nearby.

Still marked out by a small iron gate off the rue de Bretagne in the now rather chic upper Marais district, today the market is alive with the rich, vibrant colors and smells of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers and the sounds of market clatter and chatter. Olive oil, charcuterie, wine, cheese and other such wholesome delights are also available.

The market is an ideal spot for lunch too. Freshly cooked dishes can be bought from the various stalls (Moroccan, French, Italian, sushi, cheeses, meats and so on) and eaten at the communal trestle tables at either end of the market.

There are also a couple of small restaurants, such as L’estaminet which serves simple, homely French food such as Parmentier (shepherd’s pie). A plentiful Brunch is available on Sunday for € 22.00 too. The market is closed on Mondays.

The winter months may be upon us but the canal is still worth a visit. Come rain or shine, urban picnickers descend upon these concrete banks to enjoy Paris’ natural charm. Current climes have generally driven people into the bars that line the canal where vin chaude is served and outdoor heating allow you to remain outside. 

By night the whole area throngs with people and the atmosphere is easy going and great fun. Food can be bought in all the bars and cafés, and for picnickers in need of more cheese and wine, a number of shops remain open late too.