Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Les Invalides is a day rather than night venue, with government ministries
and embassies outweighing drinking venues, but particularly in summer, look
out for bars along
Les Berges de Seine
.
St-Germain
CAFE
LES DEUX MAGOTS
7.30am-1am;
St-Germain
des Prés)
If ever there were a cafe that summed up St-Germain des Prés' early-20th-century literary
scene, it's this former hangout of anyone who was anyone. You will spend
beaucoup
to sip a
coffee in a wicker chair on the terrace shaded by dark-green awnings and geraniums spilling
from window boxes, but it's an undeniable piece of Parisian history.
If you're feeling decadent, order its famous shop-made hot chocolate, served in porcelain
jugs. The name refers to the two
magots
(grotesque figurines) of Chinese dignitaries at the
entrance.
WINE BAR
AU SAUVIGNON
8.30am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 9pm Sun;
Sèvres-
Babylone)
Grab a table in the evening sun at this wonderfully authentic
bar à vin
or head to the quint-
essential bistro interior, with an original zinc bar, tightly packed tables and hand-painted
ceiling celebrating French viticultural tradition. A plate of
casse-croûtes au pain Poilâne
-
toast with ham, pâté, terrine, smoked salmon, foie gras… - is the perfect accompaniment.
COCKTAIL BAR
CASTOR CLUB
Discreetly signed, this underground cocktail bar has an intimate upstairs bar and 18th-cen-
tury cellar with hole-in-the-wall booths where you can sip superb-value cocktails (custom
made, if you like) and groove to smooth '50s, '60s and '70s tracks. Very cool.
MICROBREWERY
BRASSERIE O'NEIL
noon-2am;
St-Sulpice or Mabil-
lon)