A market stall selling saucisson in Paris

Best Markets in Paris

By Stuart Bak

Paris’s markets can be dated back to Roman times, when the city was known as Lutetia and a single market operated in the Île de la Cité district. Nowadays, there are nearly 100 to choose from, with traders hawking everything from fresh produce to antiques, knick-knacks, plants and pets. Atmospheric, photogenic and well worth a visit, here's our pick of the 10 best markets in Paris...

Marché Bastille

Best Markets in Paris

Marché Bastille

One of Paris’s biggest open-air markets, Marché Bastille is a riot of scent and color that runs from the soaring Colonne de Juillet monument on Place de la Bastille all the way down leafy Boulevard Richard-Lenoir every Thursday and Sunday. Here, local producers showcase the finest foods the region has to offer. Wander among the stalls and immerse yourself in the heady aromas of freshly harvested herbs, fragrant fromages and fungi, and just-baked bread. Pick up a few ingredients for a special dinner, or grab some snacks and fresh juices and head to nearby Place des Vosges for a picture-perfect picnic.

Marché aux Puces Saint Ouen

Best Markets in Paris

Marché aux Puces Saint Ouen

The largest flea market on the planet, the Marché aux Puces is a labyrinthine treasure trove of streets and alleys crammed with just about any and every antique and knick-knack you could imagine. And don’t let the term ‘flea market’ put you off: this place is a dream ticket for in-the-know treasure hunters. Here’s where you’ll find that rarer-than-hens’-teeth Nirvana record you’ve been seeking for the last 15 years. Or a one-of-a-kind vintage handbag. Plus Art Deco ornaments, old-fashioned toys, period furniture in beautiful condition, scientific equipment, posters, paintings, glassware, rugs and... well, you get the general idea. Open Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Rue Montorgueil

Best Markets in Paris

Rue Montorgueil

Another for the foodies here, Rue Montorgueil is a permanent market street that straddles the 1st and 2nd arrondissements. Fishmongers, bakeries, florists and artisan cheese shops spill their wares (and lush aromas) out onto the pedestrianized pavements from beneath grand, colorful storefronts. Particularly Instagram-worthy is the gold-and-duck-egg-blue confection that is Au Rocher de Cancale, a highly regarded seafood restaurant that dates back to the 19th Century. Pause to admire the ornate ceiling chandelier and sumptuous interiors of Stohrer, the oldest pâtisserie in town, where it would naturally be rude not to leave with armfuls of sticky chocolate éclairs and rum babas.

Marché aux Fleurs et aux Oiseaux

Best Markets in Paris

Marché aux Fleurs et aux Oiseaux

A flower market during the week, selling local and exotic blooms of all shapes and sizes, at weekends this 200-year-old institution on the Île de la Cité comes alive with the sound of thousands of squawking, chirupping and twittering birds. Just be careful your request doesn’t get lost in translation, or you might go in for an orchid and come out with an ostrich. We jest of course, but the wonderful variety of colorful plants and birdlife makes this market a wonderful place to wander around, even if you’re just window-shopping. Combine with a bag of sugary chouquettes from the boulangerie and a visit to nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral for a romantic Sunday morning stroll.

Marché Raspail

Best Markets in Paris

Marché Raspail

This foodie mecca in the 6th arrondissement is certified fully organic every Sunday and is said to be a favorite with French celeb royalty Gérard Depardieu and model Laetitia Casta. It’s not hard to discover why, with a wealth of fresh produce and freshly cooked treats waiting at every stall. Ask for free samples to taste before you buy and whatever you do don’t miss the galettes here: delicious hot savory crêpes stuffed full of cheese, potato, mushrooms and onion. Ooh la la. Serious shopaholics will also be pleased to learn that the market is also just a few blocks from the famous Bon Marché department store.

Brocante des Abbesses

Best Markets in Paris

Brocante des Abbesses

Rummagers rejoice! For here is a manageably diminutive second-hand market in one of Paris’s most beautiful neighborhoods: the atmospheric cobbled lanes of the Montmartre butte. Once you’ve filled up on one of those seemingly endless Parisian Sunday brunches at a local café, this relatively low-key (and tourist-free) market is a great place to pick up antique lamps, paintings, postcards and more, as well as one-off jewelry pieces and knick-knacks from local designers.

Marché Mouffetard

Best Markets in Paris

Marché Mouffetard

Described as ‘that wonderful narrow crowded market street’ by Ernest Hemingway in his 1964 memoir A Movable Feast, Rue Mouffetard – known locally as la Mouffe – is one of the oldest streets in Paris. Dotted with quaint buildings that retain much of their medieval authenticity and charm, it’s a picturesque and atmospheric place to pick up fresh charcuterie, pâtés and breads from the bustling stalls and stores that line its cobbles. Look up to spot amazing sculptures and frescoes on the buildings, and don’t miss The House of Androuet, with its decoratively painted exterior and hundreds of different cheeses to choose from inside.

Marché du Livre

Best Markets in Paris

Marché du Livre

Booklovers make a beeline for leafy Parc George-Brassens in the 15th arrondissement where, every Saturday and Sunday, dozens of booksellers come together under the covered market halls to ply their wares. Here you can browse thousands of books from antiquarian and long out-of-print editions to modern classics. Once you’ve bagged a few bargains, grab a coffee and find a shady spot beneath the trees to enjoy a good read.

Marché des Enfants Rouge

Best Markets in Paris

Marché des Enfants Rouge

The name of the oldest covered market in Paris – literally ‘the market of the red children’ – derives from the red clothes worn by children at a nearby orphanage way back in the 16th Century. Four hundred years on, it’s a foodie favorite in the heart of the Marais district, a small but perfectly formed market with oodles of fresh produce and some of the best street food in town. Follow your nose (and the queue) to local fave Chez Alain Miam Miam for messy, belly-busting pan-fried sandwiches, then – in the unlikely event you still have room for it – get stuck into a honey-sweet baklava and mint tea from Le Traiteur Marocain.

Puces de Montreuil

Best Markets in Paris

Puces de Montreuil

A younger, more brattish sibling to its better known counterpart up in St-Ouen, Montreuil’s flea market is both less well-known and slightly more off the beaten track, making it well worth the pilgrimage for the increased likelihood of bagging a genuine bargain. Expect a little bit of everything, from vintage fashions, retro comics and old vinyl LPs to bike parts, light fittings and endless piles of antique cutlery. You’ll find the best stuff at the little square at the end of the alley. Bring your best haggling game (in French, if you can) and you never know: you might just leave with that original RAF pilot’s jacket you always dreamed of.

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The Louvre Museum in Paris
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Best Art Galleries in Paris

The birthplace of Impressionism, Paris is a veritable paradise for artists and art lovers. It’s a city that has inspired and produced a disproportionate number of household names over the centuries – think Matisse, Modigliani, Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec. It’s no surprise then that Paris is where you’ll find some of the world’s finest galleries and museums as well as, of course, arguably the most recognizable (and certainly the most visited) painting on the planet. Read on to be inspired by our selection of some of the best art galleries in Paris. The Big Hitters The Louvre Museum Of course, no visit to Paris would be complete without passing through the Louvre’s iconic glass pyramid and entering its multi-level labyrinth of galleries, corridors, stairways and escalators. With nearly 40,000 works of art on display at any given time, covering painting, sculpture, antiquities and much more, the Louvre is the world’s most-visited museum and contains many of its greatest and most famous artistic treasures. Come for the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, stay for the ancient Great Sphinx of Tanis, French crown jewels and the decadent pastries and fancies served in the museum’s Café Richelieu Angelina, where the Mont Blanc – a grand confection of meringue, whipped cream and chocolate shavings – is something of a work of art in itself. Musée d’Orsay More compact, easier to navigate and significantly less crowded than the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay’s collection of 19th and 20th-century art packs a real punch. Here, in what used to be the Gare d’Orsay train station, you can view world-class pieces including Van Gogh’s mesmerizing Starry Night over the Rhône and Self Portrait, perhaps the greatest selfie of them all. French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism is particularly well represented here, with a great variety of Toulouse-Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge-inspired pieces and many Monet masterpieces, including one from his Water Lilies series. Don’t miss the original station clock, which hangs in the impressive main hall, and head to fifth-floor Café Campana by the Impressionist Gallery, where a giant clock-face window affords enchanting views across the Seine to the Louvre and Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Musée de Montmartre Montmartre’s cobbled streets, bohemian vibe and awe-inspiring views across Paris have attracted a great many artists over the years, among them – deep breath – Renoir, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Picasso, Miró and Modigliani, many of whom are represented here at the Musée de Montmartre. Housed in one of the district’s oldest buildings, the Musée de Montmartre was once a mansion containing artists’ studios used by the likes of Renoir, Charles Camoin and Suzanne Valadon. The peaceful surrounding gardens are named in memory of Renoir, who painted several of his greatest masterpieces when he lived here in the 1870s, including the Bal du moulin de la Galette and Jardin de la rue Cortot, depicting this very garden. Top Paris Museums for Kids Centre Pompidou Paris has stacks of fab museums that children will love with many, including big hitters like the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, offering free entry for under 18s. The huge Centre Pompidou has an entire floor dedicated to kids aged from 2-16, offering informative tours, exhibitions, hands-on workshops and bags of interactive fun. Better still, workshops for kids aged nine and over don’t require parental supervision, leaving you free to explore the center’s National Museum of Modern Art, which boasts a collection including Picasso, Pollock, Warhol and many more, that’s rivaled only by MoMA in NYC in terms of its variety, scope and quality. Musée du Quai Branly Kids will adore the Musée du Quai Branly’s quirky exterior: a towering green wall of foliage that looks like a giant garden flipped on its side. Inside, there’s much for bright young minds to discover among the vast collection of indigineous art from around the world. Highlights that are sure to entertain include dramatic ceremonial masks from India and Africa, Aboriginal tree-bark paintings, a brightly mosaiced Volkswagen Beetle from Mexico and a massive medieval Moai head from Easter Island. Kids here can also shrug off uncool parents and fly solo in fun arty workshops for ages 6-12. Single Artist Museums Musée Rodin Arguably France’s greatest ever sculptor, Auguste Rodin is celebrated here in a fine collection that also includes a few paintings by fellow Gallic luminaries such as Renoir and Monet. Indisputable star of the show here though is the sedate seven-acre sculpture garden, where many of Rodin’s best-loved creations – including The Thinker, Monument to the Burghers of Calais and The Gates of Hell – can be found scattered among perfectly sculpted box hedges and ornamental pools. Musée Picasso-Paris This collection of over 5,000 works by the father of Cubism is among the world’s finest. His offbeat and unsettling world is represented here by around 700 paintings and surreal sculptures, plus thousands of drawings, notebooks, photos, engravings and other ephemera. Explore the four stories of this delightful 17th-century palace to discover pieces including his Self-Portrait and La Celestina, painted during Picasso’s Blue Period, as well as later works from his Cubist phase and works depicting scenes from the Spanish Civil War from his harrowing war paintings series. Musée National Gustave Moreau Dedicated to the life and works of 19th-century Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, this fascinating museum was the Moreau family home until the artist’s death in 1898. Among its many highlights are a quite extraordinary spiral staircase and some fairly out-there compositions featuring unicorns and other mythical creatures, hallucinatory visions, bizarre plants and more. Printed guides containing extensive and often rambling commentaries from the man himself are available to take around the museum with you, and you can even visit his old studio and top-floor apartment. Save on the best art galleries in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Children looking at a map by the Eiffel Tower
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Things to do in Paris With Kids

An efficient public transport system, a relatively compact center and oodles of parks, museums and family friendly hotels and restaurants make Paris a great choice for a city break with your little adventurers. We’ve put together a selection of our favorite things to do in Paris with kids, from climbing the Eiffel Tower to magic shows beneath the streets. Park life With over 400 green spaces, you’re never very far from a park in Paris. Many are close to major attractions like the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, providing ideal opportunities to break up your sightseeing itinerary with some ultra-kid-friendly activities. The Jardin du Luxembourg’s central location is far from being its only draw. Over 56 acres kids can enjoy pony rides, puppet shows and one of the city’s biggest playgrounds. The Grand Bassin lake in front of the Palais de Luxembourg is particularly charming. Here, kids can rent old-fashioned toy wooden sailing boats and push them out into the water. On Sundays, members of the Luxembourg Nautical Club add their eclectic selection of (silent) motor boats, sailing vessels and submarines to the mix. On the banks of the Seine, the Jardin des Plantes is home to the Ménagerie – one of the oldest zoos in the world. Its 600+ inhabitants include ferociously cute red pandas and endangered species such as snow leopards and giant Aldabra tortoises. Wander the wooded pathways to spot the animals in their log-cabin homes. If the Ménagerie’s critters are feeling particularly camera-shy during your visit, there's always the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution, a natural history museum on the edge of the park, where taxidermy beasts share space with giant dinosaur fossils, meteorites and thousands of plant species. Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a little off the beaten track in the 19th arrondissement, but well worth the pilgrimage. Less crowded than the city center parks, it contains 60+ acres of hilly terrain and woodland that’s perfect for little explorers. Kids can feed the ducks in the pond, enjoy a picnic with superb city views, run the 63-meter length of the Eiffel-designed suspension bridge and discover the secret grotto with its magical (albeit artificial) waterfall. Natural highs Kids love to climb, right? Great news! Paris is full of opportunities for natural highs that will keep them entertained. Why take the lift all the way up the Eiffel Tower when there’s a perfectly good set of stairs that goes all the way up to the second floor? That’s 674 steps in total: a dream come true for energetic kids everywhere. Footsore parents will be relieved to learn there’s a glass elevator to shoot you the rest of the way up to the observation deck on level three. And a bar when you get there. The Arc de Triomphe is a little more forgiving, with a mere 284 steps to reach the summit. Up here, kids can get snap-happy with arguably some of the finest photo opportunities in Paris, including uninterrupted views down the broad Champs-Élysées boulevard to Place de la Concorde. There are also great views of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré-Cœur basilica, balanced like a little fondant-icing decoration atop Montmartre. To reach the basilica, take the easy way up: Montmartre’s funicular railway takes you all the way to the top in just 90 seconds and your kids will love it! Once at the top, grab a well-earned chocolate crêpe and sit on the steps watching the street entertainers and admiring the views. Kids can also pick up a unique souvenir here: a caricature of themselves by a local portrait artist. Also recommended is a short tour of Montmartre’s atmospheric streets aboard the adorable petit train: kids love it and it’s an absolute godsend for foot-weary parents. Museums and shops Paris has a number of dedicated children’s museums. Musée de la Magie is a mesmerizing treasure trove of magic and illusion in the Marais district. It's set in the cellars of the Marquis de Sade’s former home, but don’t let that put you off! Kids will love the weird and wonderful exhibits and free magic show. Entry also includes access to the adjacent Musée des Automates, with its fascinating (and occasionally creepy) collection of around 250 antique automated puppets and toys. The Cité des Sciences (CSI) is Europe’s biggest science museum and counts a planetarium, an IMAX theater, and even a submarine among its many attractions. Here, kids from as young as four or five years old can get involved in fun interactive exhibits and play areas across six thematic zones. You could easily spend a day here and in the surrounding Parc de la Villette. This sprawling playground has dozens of sculptures and themed gardens to explore, as well as open-air cinema and live music in the summer months. The higgledy-piggledy high shelves and Harry Potter-esque interiors of iconic English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company will appeal to little bookworms everywhere. A huge and eclectic selection of books for kids, teenagers and young adults means there’s something for everyone here. Continue the, ahem, educational theme with a trip to Le Bonbon au Palais, a classroom-themed candy store in the 5th arrondissement. Here, presented in apothecary-style jars, are tempting French candies in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors. Children will be like, well, kids in a candy shop. It’s a guaranteed hit and may just provide the sugar boost everyone requires to get back to the hotel without a toddler-style meltdown. Save on things to do in Paris with kids Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Café des 2 Moulins
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Quirky Things to do in Paris

Looking for quirky and unusual and quirky things to do in Paris? Then look no further! We’ve compiled a wealth of weird, wonderful and downright wacky suggestions to help you swerve the tourist traps and experience Paris at its most offbeat, from sightseeing in a Citroën 2CV to riding a dodo, visiting Édith Piaf’s private apartment and making an absolute cochon of yourself with all-you-can-eat chocolate mousse. Quirky Things to See and Do For a Paris sightseeing experience with a difference, book a private tour in a vintage Citroën 2CV, truly the Rolls Royce of classic French cars. Well, sort of. Tours last up to three hours and itineraries cover all of the major landmarks, Paris by night, Montmartre and more. Cost is per vehicle and you can reduce your share of the fare by cramming in three people, like sardines in a tin can. Albeit a very chic Parisian tin can. Take the edge off any discomfort caused by the 50-odd-year-old suspension system by adding a bottle of bubbly to your package. You’ll regret nothing about a visit to the fascinating Musée Édith Piaf (tours by appointment only). This tiny apartment in the 20th arrondissement was home to the legendary Parisian chanteuse just before her career went stratospheric in the early 1930s. View personal belongings including photographs, fanmail and Piaf’s birth certificate, platinum records and famous black dress, and pick up a souvenir CD of Piaf favorites such as La Vie en rose and Non, je ne regrette rien in the little shop. Coincidentally, the museum is just a short stroll from the Little Sparrow’s final resting place in the vast Père Lachaise Cemetery, a fitting spot to complete your Paris Piaf pilgrimage, and where you’ll also find the tombs of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, Chopin and many more legendary entertainers of yore. Dead Interesting Paris could give the Mexicans and ancient Egyptians a run for their money in terms of its fascination with the dead. Celebrity-crammed cemeteries aside, there’s no dearth of death-related attractions in Paris, if that’s what floats your bateau. Perhaps closest to the bone are the Paris Catacombs, an extensive network of underground ossuaries containing the mortal remains of some six million Parisians, displaced here from overflowing graveyards in the 18th and 19th centuries. The experience of walking through these hushed tunnels and caverns, stacked top to bottom with human remains, surely ranks as one of the city’s most macabre. From the dead to the undead, the Musée des Vampires is every bit as creepy as it sounds... and then some. Step inside this house of horrors in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris to explore the private collection of vampirologist Jacques Sirgent, eccentric curator of this roomful of vampire-related imagery, curiosities and ephemera. Highlights include – steel yourself – mummified cats, a 19th-century ‘anti-vampire protection kit’, a crossbow and dozens of frankly terrifying artworks. As with the Piaf museum, Viewings of Mr Sirgent’s private collection are by appointment only via the website. Lust for the macabre still not satisfied? Book tickets for the Manoir de Paris, a heart-stopping immersive Halloween horror experience held annually in the Parc de la Villette’s Grand Halle. Pay your respects at the world’s oldest pet cemetery where permanent residents include Napoleon’s three-legged dog Moustache and – I kid you not – Rin Tin Tin, canine star of the silent movie era. And climb aboard the Dodo Manège, a cute and colorful carousel in the Jardin des Plantes, where kids can choose to ride a dodo, a barbary lion, an elephant bird and other extinct and endangered critters. Quirky activities in Paris Rollerblading has really taken off in Paris over the last few years. They’re everywhere: whirlwinding past as you enjoy a gentle stroll along the Champs-Élysées, hurtling towards you at truly terrifying speed in the Parc Monceau, bowling you over as you step out of your hotel... Get involved in the fun at the mass skating event that rolls through the streets of Paris – with a police escort, no less! – every Sunday. Or join the cool kids on the Pari Roller, a night-time tour-on-skates that kicks off in Montparnasse every Friday at 10PM and concludes in the wee small hours. Fans of quirky French rom-com Amélie can follow in their heroine’s dainty footsteps at locations across the city. Make your way through Montmartre’s charming cobbled alleys to the real-life Café des Deux Moulins. This cute Parisian eaterie still looks much as it did in the movie, but with added Amélie posters, trinkets and ephemera dotted around the place. Picnic on the banks of Canal Saint-Martin and skim stones across the water, just as Audrey Tautou did in the movie, and take a dip in the Piscine de Amiraux, the beautifully restored Art Deco swimming pool where Amélie’s father enjoyed a swim. A scoot around the most interesting stations of the Paris Métro is also worth a couple of hours of anyone’s time. Expect to see some of the city’s finest street art down here, as well as impressive stations including Arts et Métiers, with its steampunk-inspired bronze-clad tunnels, and Palais Royal, which boasts an eye-catching entrance in brightly colored Murano glass. If you’re still on an Amélie tip, there is of course a station for that: Abbesses, where our heroine encounters Nino for the first time. Eccentric eating experiences Adventurous gourmands rejoice! Paris has a reasonable claim to the title of dining capital of the world. So, if you’re ever going to try escargots (that’s right: snails), this is the place to do it. These little morsels of deliciousness are served in the shell, drenched in garlicky herb butter, and with a sizable hunk of bread to mop up every last drop of the juices. Yum. Those with a sweeter tooth may prefer to tackle the bottomless chocolate mousse at Chez Janou near the Place des Vosges. Guests who order this dessert are served a great dollop of the good stuff from an oversized bowl, which is then left on your table for you to help yourself until you can eat no more. Head to Paris institution La Maison Ladurée on the Champs-Élysées for the finest French macarons in every conceivable color and flavor. Feeling extra decadent? Try one of these delicate little pastries wrapped in gold leaf and leave higher in spirits (if somewhat lower in cash) than before you entered. For a truly eccentric dining experience, mosey down to Le Refuge des Fondus at the foot of Montmartre. There are only two decisions to be made here: meat or cheese, and red or white wine. The twist? Your wine is served in (and drunk from) baby bottles. It brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘bar crawl’. Save on quirky things to do in Paris Save on admission to Paris attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak

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