Travel across Paris with an expert!.

Bel Canto

Are you fond of opera? Then you definitely have to visit Bel Canto. Just imagine: you are sitting at a table covered with a white tablecloth, in the midst of a pompous interior, and enjoying the dishes of traditional French cuisine. At this moment, the waiter stops beside you and starts singing an operatic aria with a perfectly trained voice. Or maybe, you will hear a voice part from the doorman or the administrator? The restaurant employs only music conservatory students who perform operatic arias professionally.

Le Refuge des Fondus

France and Switzerland are still arguing about who invented fondue. Parisians share a single belief: you can only try authentic fondue at Le Refuge des Fondus. The interior here is very peculiar: all the walls are covered with tourists' written wishes and thanks, and the free spaces have banknotes from all over the world glued onto them. Who knows, maybe you will be able to find a little space for your own inscription? A huge serving of fondue and a bottle of wine with a funny pacifier will cost you about 22 euros.

Merci Used Book Café

Are you fond of spending your time with a cup of fragrant tea or coffee? At Merci Used Book Café, you will find over ten thousand books to suit any taste! Truth be told, they are all written in French. Still, if you do not speak the language of Dumas, illustrated editions will be interesting to leaf through. The menu includes tea, coffee, juices, and various sandwiches. Besides, up until lunch, you can also order cottage cheese with toppings or an omelet. A breakfast in the secondhand bookseller's dream will cost you 15 euros.

Ice Kube Bar

You are in Paris in the summer and would like a cooler atmosphere. Go straight to the Ice Kube Bar! The average air temperature here does not exceed 6 degrees Celsius, so the menu abounds with French vodka cocktails to instantly warm you up. You will be given a jacket and mittens at the door, and employees will monitor how much time you spend at the bar: no more than a half-hour per person. Booking seats in advance is obligatory: there are always queues at the entrance to Ice Kube Bar.

Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette in Paris resembles a beautiful fairy-tale palace under a glass dome with stained glass windows, bathed in illumination lights, marble, and gilding. The area of over 30,000 square meters houses wine supermarkets, cafes and restaurants, fast-food and delicacy shops, but most importantly, hundreds of stores with various goods.

Printemps Haussmann

This department store is located a quarter away from Lafayette, at 64 Boulevard Haussmann, and presents a sight just as spectacular. One can walk through it like through a museum admiring the fascinating decor and interior, the mirror dome of 3,185 colored glass elements and the panoramic view of the city seen through the windows. Founded in 1865, the store was devised as a place for people with a sophisticated aesthetic taste partial to elegant clothes.

Les Quatre Temps

At 15 Parvis de la Defense, one can find Les Quatre Temps, one of the capital's most popular department stores. Its name translates as "4 times." Go to the business district of La Defense, which looks so different from the rest of the city, to understand its appeal to Parisians. Instead of antique buildings with quaint architecture, you will see a futuristic world of glass with a mirror surface reflecting and multiplying the surroundings.

Forum des Halles

At 101 Porte Berger, your attention will probably be drawn to glass arches and galleries. This is the entrance to the unique Forum des Halles department store placed almost completely underground safe for the upper floor. Tourists like to explore it because it stands close to the Louvre and other attractions. As for the locals, however, it does stir up warm feelings but due to a different cause. Once, this place was occupied by Les Halles, the gigantic grocery market aptly described by Émile Zola as "le ventre de Paris."

Porte de Vanves

Parisian flea markets appeal to many tourists. If you even find yourself in the French capital during the weekend, visit the Porte de Vanves Market, situated close to the similarly-named metro station. Here, there are many locals and few tourists, and the prices are lower than in the "hyped" market at Clignancourt.

Marché d'Aligre

Of course, today, you can buy anything you need at a supermarket, but if you would like to feel the atmosphere of an authentic French market, pay attention to Marché d'Aligre (metro station Faidherbe-Chaligny ou Ledru-Rollin). Tourists are much fewer here in comparison with the Bastille Market; flowers and the freshest produce abound. There are also several inexpensive restaurants and cafes.

Mouffetard Market

Mouffetard Street (Rue Mouffetard) is an antique and permanently busy street at the heart of the Latin Quarter, in the 5th administrative district of Paris. It accommodates numerous cafes, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, and stores, as well as one of the city's most famous grocery markets. Its history dates back to the Middle Ages. At this one place, one can find a cheese shop (fromagerie) with hundreds of cheese types, the wine boutique "Repaire du Bahus" with a large collection of French regional wines, the oldest chocolate shop, a typical pâtisserie (confectionery) and boulangerie (bakery) with long morning queues for the fresh-baked baguette, large vegetable and fruit stands, and a seafood stall.

Marché des Enfants Rouges

In the past, this district accommodated an orphanage where children wore red clothes. The color of their clothes gave the district its name, "the Quarter of the Red Children." The name went over to the local grocery market. This is the oldest and one of the most popular food markets in Paris. There are a lot of shops with traditional food and snacks from different parts of the world.