Streetlife - Paris e-guide: The Travel Guide with its Own Website - page 148

Streetlife

10 H4

Beaubourg and the Quartier
Montorgueil hipster hang-out
With its pedestrianized streets, quirky shops, good-
value restaurants and eclectic bars and clubs, the area
stretching west from the Centre Pompidou to the place
desVictoires is one of the city's best districts for some
retail therapy and just hanging out. Before 10 or 11am,
try rue Montorgueil, an atmospheric shopping street
that also has a variety of cafés - try Les Petits
Carreaux (the most traditional) or Santi (the trendiest).
From mid-morning, the area around the Pompidou
swings into action: drinks on the terrace at the Café
Beaubourg , opposite its namesake, are a Parisian
institution, and ideal before or after taking in a show.
To the west is Les Halles, a hideous underground
mall that's best avoided (especially on Saturdays, when
it's a magnet for bored suburban youths). Instead,
rue Etienne Marcel and rue Tiquetonne (running paral-
lel and full of cute little shops) are much more attrac-
tive propositions for shoppers. Hightlights are offbeat

women's boutique Barbara Bui (see p65); trendy
second-hand store Killiwatch (see p65) ; Le Shop , a
funky warehouse full of designer concessions; and
NotsoBig , which sells all kinds of items for cool kids.
Further west, everyone who's anyone heads to the
indefinably chic L'Eclaireur (see p63) , while around the
place desVictoires, the scene becomes noticeably
more up-market, with plenty of top designers.
The area's night-time scene is buzzing too: try
trendy Le Café or Etienne Marcel or Wine and Bubbles
(see p211 for all) for fabulous fizz and the best wines.
Other top drinking spots are Le Next (see p135) and Le
Café Noir (see p135) , while clubs include one of Paris's
best jazz spots, Le Duc des Lombards (see p118), and,
on rue Bourg l'Abbeye, the once legendary Les Bains ,
whose slip in status means that mere mortals can
now get through the door. For late-night nibbles,
Au Pied du Cochon (see p24) and La Tour de
Montlhèry (see p25) both keep serving through the
early hours of the morning after the long night before.