Shopping in PARIS ?!

[Nanoushkaïa]

yeah i thought that too. cool, i am sooo excited!is there any other places you can recommend to go to? like restaurants, clubs or bars?

Club
I like to go to MONTANA or LE BARON these two are the 2 best one imo. But you need to be really trendy dressed to go in OR to go during the week (Wednesday night of Friday night) because they are sometimes a bit snob.
Don't go to Duplex, it's very shitty.
If you want to go to a big big big club and enjoy dancing on mainstream techno music you can go to THE QUEEN on the Champs Elyzees. Normally it's fine to go in.
If you are very young there is this club where every 17-22 yo people go it's called LES PLANCHES, not bad when you are young.

To have drinks and enjoy a great interior design you need to go at least once at the BOUDHA BAR near place de la Concorde.
Again for drinks : W HOSTEL.
To have fun in a young and crowded area : canal st martin, everyone is drinking siting on the flor. Near the canal st martin there is this crazy place that I LOVE : LE COMPTOIR GENERAL amazing place, I swear you ll love it. It's decorated with portraits of former African Kings/dictators, giant jungle plants, the cocktails are amzing and not expensive. Anyone can go but this I place is like kind of "secret" yet haha.

Another great place to drink eat dance : BARIO LATINO.

Restaurants : I love any Costes restaurants.
LE COQ at place du teocadero
CAFE DE L'ESPLANADE
LA SOCIETE place st germain des prés
A very good restaurant but expensive : LE RALPH's (ralph lauren's restaurant) on boulevard st germain.

Less expensive but delicious :
NANASHI marrais
CAFE PINSON marrais
LE 88 (vegetarian bit delicious and not expensive an not far away from where you are staying)
LE SALON BY LE THÉ DES ECRIVAINS (so cute and good) marrais
LE TERROIR PARISIEN (they make te vegies grow on the top of the building haha) *20 rue saint Victor 5eme
LES PHILOSOPHES if you like meat go there soooooo good restaurant again in the marrais, rue vieille du temple, but book a table cause it's alway crowded.
The restaurant inside COLETTE, and yea you need to go to COLETTE, rue st honoré. It's a great great amazing conceptstore.

Enjoy !

Ask if you need anything else

 

[Liz]

please please please don't think I'm acting superior I just want to warn you about Paul. Paul... This is the best fake French thing ever. Everything is fake in it, wood tables, pain au chocolat, disgusting baguette sandwichs, sale persons dressed like traditional bakers whereas they receive their croissants and everything in a frozen state from a central and just put it I'm the hovem and know nothing. And they sell at the same price than in REAL traditional places... Now they are in Londn too, like on King's road, trying to make people believe "this is French tradition so give us your $$$$". (sorry I don't like them)

I'm not exactly a fan of Paul either (I worked there...)
But the chocolate I liked.

 

[esharpe59]

Club
I like to go to MONTANA or LE BARON these two are the 2 best one imo. But you need to be really trendy dressed to go in OR to go during the week (Wednesday night of Friday night) because they are sometimes a bit snob.
Don't go to Duplex, it's very shitty.
If you want to go to a big big big club and enjoy dancing on mainstream techno music you can go to THE QUEEN on the Champs Elyzees. Normally it's fine to go in.
If you are very young there is this club where every 17-22 yo people go it's called LES PLANCHES, not bad when you are young.

What are the dress codes for the nightclubs? Like, how do the 'trendy' dress?
Because I have a feeling that the difference between the dress code here and in Paris will be very different ha

 

[ExtraShot]

I always shop in the marais' boutiques, there are lot's of vintage shop in here, you just stop at the metro station St Paul (line 1) and then cross the Rivoli street and you are in it ! Ask for Kiloshop : there you choose the clothes, they weight it and you pay with a rate €/kg. Fun...

If you want, there is also the rue de passy (station Passy on line 6) which I really like because they have those expensive shops but also 2 or 3 trendy shops which have amazing outfit for a bargain.

I won't mention Tara Jarmon, The kooples and so on, since I bet you already know that bunch of folks, if you can afford the Kooples, this is the best French mainstream brand right now in my opinion.

But here are some French labels that are mainstream here, but I don't think foreigners know these brands. But you need a good eye because some items are fucking ugly, but you can find items at very good prices that you can style with your warderobe :
- sinequanone (kind of trendy)
- naf naf (cool and not too pricy)
- monoprix (honestly, this is a "pricy" food shop but they sell some good looking stuff and very good quality, mind you)
- etam (cheap)
- pimky (very cheap but you can find good looking stuff, just don't look at the items screaming "I'm cheeeeap")
- kookai (good stuff)

I hope you'll do great here ? How long are you staying here ?

Really helpful post xx

 

[Elisa]

those restaurants sound so good! and i bet my sisters and me will be having blast at one of those clubs !
thanks so much again @Nanoushkaïa! you really helped me a lot!

 

[Nanoushkaïa]

Really helpful post xx

Thank you and to the other girl who also gave me some karma for these posts coz I wrote them on my iPhone while atending a lecture and the professor actually busted me and asked in front of everyone who have I been " texting for 1 fucking hour and half " I blushed and said I was so poor I couldn't afford pen so I'm taking notes on my 700€ iPhone haha. Seriously I was so embarassed....
So thank you to you both, a bit of karma soothed my shameful moment.

 

[Nanoushkaïa]

What are the dress codes for the nightclubs? Like, how do the 'trendy' dress?
Because I have a feeling that the difference between the dress code here and in Paris will be very different ha

It's very different on the week days and the weekend days.

Week days
You don't have to try too hard, just like in any high standard club : you need to look good (either because you are skinny either because you are pretty either because you look classy sexy either because you look very very very cool either because you buy a table...)

Weekend days
Trendy dressed for Le baron or Le Montana is like you just kidnaped any of the French vogue stylists (saglio alt or marie amelice, just pick yours haha)
You don't have to wear a dress skinny jeans and high heels boots are almost better if you wear a dress it's better if it's more edgy than sexy.
And even then you are not sure to get in.

Hey are you going this weekend ? Because I'm definitely going Saturday night, maybe we are gonna dance together without knowing that this hot girl is @esharpe59 !

 

[Nanoushkaïa]

those restaurants sound so good! and i bet my sisters and me will be having blast at one of those clubs !
thanks so much again @Nanoushkaïa! you really helped me a lot!

you are very welcome, I was happy to help and above all I really hope you'll have maximum fun.

 

[Silent Night]

sale persons

I thought for a second, that's rather rude

 

[Nanoushkaïa]

I thought for a second, that's rather rude

Hahahaha ! I like the "rather" I can hear it from here, with your British accent "that's rather rude..."
ps : I love British idea of proper/unproper. You guy are so better educated and polite than us. @Silent Night, that must have been a chock especially in the south where there is a Mediterranean set of mind which give this loosy atmosphere : nothing matters, everything is cool.

 

[Silent Night]

Hahahaha ! I like the "rather" I can hear it from here, with your British accent "that's rather rude..."
ps : I love British idea of proper/unproper. You guy are so better educated and polite than us. @Silent Night, that must have been a chock especially in the south where there is a Mediterranean set of mind which give this loosy atmosphere : nothing matters, everything is cool.

No, on the contrary, French people seem very (weirdly, baroquely, suspiciously) polite to me - Je vous prie, Monsieur, d'agréer l'expression de mes sentiments les plus distinguées... J'ai l'honneur à porter à votre connaissance.... Je vous prie de croire, Madame, dans l'assurance de toute ma considération... Vous en remerciant par avance.... Never quite sure how to react to that...

The main proper/improper culture shock I got when I first moved to France a few years ago was that people stand REALLY fucking close to you... and the kissing... oh, the kissing... in England we don't touch faces

 

[Nanoushkaïa]

No, on the contrary, French people seem very (weirdly, baroquely, suspiciously) polite to me - Je vous prie, Monsieur, d'agréer l'expression de mes sentiments les plus distinguées... J'ai l'honneur à porter à votre connaissance.... Je vous prie de croire, Madame, dans l'assurance de toute ma considération... Vous en remerciant par avance.... Never quite sure how to react to that...

The main proper/improper culture shock I got when I first moved to France a few years ago was that people stand REALLY fucking close to you... and the kissing... oh, the kissing... in England we don't touch faces

Hahaha you crack me up.
You know you can rebelle against the kissing thing. Lot's of people are trying to stop this crazy tradition. On the reverse, some boys who think they are cool began to do the kissing thing between them whereas normally it's only fir girls/girls and boys/girls and boys/boys are supposed to shake hands.

 

[esharpe59]

It's very different on the week days and the weekend days.

Week days
You don't have to try too hard, just like in any high standard club : you need to look good (either because you are skinny either because you are pretty either because you look classy sexy either because you look very very very cool either because you buy a table...)

Weekend days
Trendy dressed for Le baron or Le Montana is like you just kidnaped any of the French vogue stylists (saglio alt or marie amelice, just pick yours haha)
You don't have to wear a dress skinny jeans and high heels boots are almost better if you wear a dress it's better if it's more edgy than sexy.
And even then you are not sure to get in.

Hey are you going this weekend ? Because I'm definitely going Saturday night, maybe we are gonna dance together without knowing that this hot girl is @esharpe59 !

Thank you for all your tips!
I'm not sure about Saturday because we'll be up since 4 that morning and apparently have to trek around Paris the first day so maybe i'll only go out for a drink or two! We'll probably walk by each other one of the days and not even realise!

 

[Silent Night]

Hahaha you crack me up.
You know you can rebelle against the kissing thing. Lot's of people are trying to stop this crazy tradition. On the reverse, some boys who think they are cool began to do the kissing thing between them whereas normally it's only fir girls/girls and boys/girls and boys/boys are supposed to shake hands.

So the girl's face is basically a public right of way . In fact I'm all up for the kisses, but I realised I put people off with my involuntary English shudder and expression of trepidation when some stranger lunges in and I realise I can't remember if I'm going left or right.... Plus obviously I don't want to kiss anyone ugly...

 

[Silent Night]

I blushed and said I was so poor I couldn't afford pen so I'm taking notes on my 700€ iPhone haha. Seriously I was so embarassed....

Smooth

 

[Nanoushkaïa]

So the girl's face is basically a public right of way . In fact I'm all up for the kisses, but I realised I put people off with my involuntary English shudder and expression of trepidation when some stranger lunges in and I realise I can't remember if I'm going left or right.... Plus obviously I don't want to kiss anyone ugly...

All of this
public right of way
trepidation
ugly
this all I want to remember from your post

 

[sore]

so, i hope the following places haven't shut down yet, i never managed to go back to paris since moving away two years ago.

restaurants:
one of my favourites is creposuk (rue galande) where you can have the most delicious galettes in a lot of different variations. and it's not as pricy as many other parisian restaurants.
Au pied de cochon is a slightly touristy, but fun place to go. The restaurant's open 24/7 and they are famous for their onion soup. (I highly recommend eating the onion soup only, as I personally can't afford any of the other dishes ... )

A few additions for shopping:
I really like shopping at galleries lafayette, printemps and bon marché, the three big department stores. while bon marché is the most beautiful one, they focus very much on designer pieces - not really affordable. the other two, however, do carry lower priced stuff by brands you won't find on every high street.
Close to Le bon marché is Le mouton à cinq pattes (rue saint-placide) where you can buy designer clothes from past seasons for incredibly low prices. I never really like those 'sale shops' though, i like the clothes to be nicely presented.

Something we don't have (or which is at least not as easy to get): Princesse Tam Tam for lingerie. It's a little bit on the pricier side (at least when you normally buy your underwear at h&m), but they have so many cute things. If you go shopping in the marais, they have a store there as well.

Speaking of le marais: The cutest place to stop for a coffee is l'institut suédois. they have a lovely little courtyard where you can have coffee and home-made cake.

Another store you absolutely must go to when coming from germany is Uniqlo. I don't know if you have heard of them, it's a japanese high street chain with price ranges like zara or maybe a little bit above zara. their clothes are minimalistic and simple (no coincidence jil sander designed for them) and soooo cool.

i'll maybe add clubs and bars later, gotta rush to work now.

 

[Elisa]

tomorrow i'll be in paris!! whohooooo! i am so happy right now! thanks again girls for your great tips!