Entertainment in France
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Angelina
Take a break from the long trek along the Tuileries gardens and line up for a table at Angélina, along with lunching ladies, their posturing poodles and half the students from Tokyo University. This beautiful, high-ceilinged tearoom has exquisite furnishings, mirrored walls and fabulous fluffy cakes. More importantly, it serves the best and most wonderfully sickening ‘African’ hot chocolate in the history of time (€7.20), served with a pot of whipped cream and carafe of water, that prompts the constant queue for a table at Angelina. Buy it bottled to take home from Angelina’s small boutique.
reviewed
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Le Piano Vache
Down the hill from the Panthéon, this bar is covered in old posters above old couches and is drenched in 1970s and ’80s rock ambience. Effortlessly underground and a real student fave, here bands and DJs play mainly rock, plus some goth, reggae and pop.
reviewed
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Moulin Rouge
Immortalised in the posters of Toulouse-Lautrec and later on screen by Baz Luhrmann, the Moulin Rouge twinkles beneath a 1925 replica of its original red windmill. Yes, it’s rife with bus-tour crowds. But from the opening bars of music to the last high kick it’s a whirl of fantastical costumes, sets, choreography and champagne. Booking advised.
reviewed
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Les Deux Magots
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.
reviewed
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O’Neil
This micro brasserie brews its own: Taste all four with a palatte en dégustation (€5.90) or pick the colour to suit your – blonde (blond), blanche (white), brune (brown) or ambŕee (amber) – poured straight from the barrel. Weekday ‘Happy Hour’ (6pm to 8pm) spells good-value drinking, as does O’Neil’s mighty 1.8L pitchers of beer (€16/20 before/after 6pm). Beer cocktails (€4 to €9.60) and les chasse-bières (beer chasers; €7.50) are its unusual specialities.
reviewed
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Le Pure Café
A classic Parisian haunt, this rustic, cherry-red corner cafe was featured in the art-house film Before Sunset but it’s still a refreshingly unpretentious spot for a drink or well-crafted fare like veal with chestnut purée.
reviewed
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Le Violon Dingue
A loud, lively bar adopted by revolving generations of students, the ‘Crazy Violin’ attracts lots of young English-speakers with big-screen sports shown upstairs and the flirty ‘Dingue Lounge’ downstairs. The name ‘Crazy Violin’ is a pun on the expression le violon d’Ingres, meaning ‘hobby’ in French because the celebrated painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres played fiddle in his spare time.
reviewed
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Lizard Lounge
A quality outpost of Anglo-Saxon attitude in the heart of the Marais, this relaxed pub has beer on tap, cocktails, and grub along the lines of club sandwiches and burgers. Its Sunday brunch is a real hit, as is its cellar space with stone walls where DJs spin tunes on weekends. Happy hour from 8pm to 10pm sees 1.5L pitchers of beer cost a bargain €12.
reviewed
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Irish Times
A congenial and genuinely Irish pub that attracts a very international crowd. There's live music (including lots that's Irish) from about 21:30 to 00:30 on Friday and Saturday; Thursday may be karaoke night; and Sunday features a trivia quiz with prizes (21:00). Major sports events - shown on the two wide screens - often push Saturday and Sunday opening back to kick-off time.
reviewed
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Le Loir dans La Théière
Its cutesy name (Dormouse in the Teapot) notwithstanding, this is a wonderful old space filled with retro toys, comfy couches and scenes of Through the Looking Glass on the walls. It's dozen different types of tea poured in the company of excellent savoury tarts and crumble-type desserts ensure a constant queue on the street outside. Breakfast (€12) and brunch (€19.50) too.
reviewed
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Le Crocodile
This green-shuttered bar has been dispensing cocktails (more than 200 on the list) since 1966. The ’70s were ‘epic’ in this bar, and the dream kicks on well into the new millennium. Arrive late for a truly eclectic crowd, including lots of students, and an atmosphere that can go from quiet tippling to raucous revelry. Hours can vary.
reviewed
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Chambre Neuf
Cover bands, raucous après-ski drinking and Swedish blondes dancing on the tables make Chambre Neuf one of Chamonix' liveliest party haunts. Conversations about epic off-pistes and monster jumps that are, like, totally mental, man, dominate at every table.
reviewed
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Absolut Lounge
Absolut Lounge is a sophisticated joint serving good food and yummy cocktails along with plenty of room to chill to the electro-jazz wafting out of the sound system. Don't wear turquoise and red or you'll blend in with the decor.
reviewed
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Le Seven
Hip hop, R&B and house dominate the decks at this central club. Though crowds teeter on prepubescent and drinks are pricey, it still throws a decent party and, as its name suggests, stays open until 7am.
reviewed
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La Terrasse
Race the clock for cheap drinks (5pm €5, 6pm €6 etc) and take position on the strategically placed terrace on Chamonix' main square. There's live music nightly.
reviewed
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Les Trois Diables
Music is a mix of trip-hop, house and electro at this small club. Thursday is student night (show your ID); Wednesday is karaoke.
reviewed
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Les Deux Garçons
Cézanne and Zola once lingered in this classic brasserie/cafe, but it rests on its laurels. Still, it buzzes with people-watchers despite its elevated prices and mediocre food.
reviewed
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Bar'd Up
Snowboarder fave with themed parties, big-screen sports and cheapish drinks.
reviewed
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Cannibale Café
In fact ‘Cannibal Café’ couldn’t be more welcoming, with its grand rococo-style bar topped with worn zinc, decrepit mirrors, peeling mouldings, wood panelling, Formica tables and red leatherette bench seats. It’s a laid-back, almost frayed alternative to the groovy pubs and bars of rue Oberkampf and the perfect place to linger over a coffee or grab a quick beer at the bar. There’s an extensive menu with popular breakfasts (€9 to €12), and brunch (served between noon and 4pm on the weekend) is €18. Oh, and the name of this place isn’t suggesting that you bring condiments if you miss the mealtimes; it comes from a Dada manifesto and a painting by Goya.
reviewed
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MK2 Bibliothèque
This branch of the ever-growing chain next to the Bibliothèque Nationale is the most ambitious yet, with 14 screens showing a variety of blockbusters and studio films, a trendy cafe, brasserie, restaurant, late-night bar, and shops specialising in DVDs, books and comics and graphic novels.
Inside the complex, Studio Harcourt, the mythical 1934-founded Parisian photography studio famed for its black-and-white portraits of film stars, has installed a hi-tech photo booth for glamour portraits at a fraction of the price of its studio sittings. The booth, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, uses continuous light rather than flash to snap glamorous black-and-white…
reviewed
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Grandes Eaux Musicales
In the Château de Versailles gardens’, a truly magical, must-experience are the Grandes Eaux Musicales and Grandes Eaux Nocturnes fountain displays set to the sweet tones of baroque and classical composers throughout the grounds in summer. The grand finale of these fabulous fountain dances to soul-stirring classical music sees the Bassin de Neptune flow for 10 minutes from 5.20pm. Set the soul stirring still further with the fountains’ fabulous summertime performances at night! Brilliantly lit, it is a performance to remember. Reserve tickets in advance at the Billeterie Spectacle in front of the château or on the same day directly at the garden entrances.
reviewed
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Network Café
At Lille's hottest discotheque, you can sip beer and boogie in the main hall, presided over by two 5m-high statues from faraway lands, or in the baroque Venetian room, decked out with velvet settees and crystal chandeliers. A magnet for guest DJs, Network is hugely popular with students (especially on Tuesday and Wednesday) and the 20-to-40 crowd. On Sunday salsa/R & B dominate before/after midnight. From 9.30pm to 11.30pm on Thursday you can learn the proper way to dance to rock music (€5). The door policy is pretty strict – locals dress up – but tends to be a bit more relaxed for tourists. Situated 600m northwest of the Palais des Beaux-Arts.
reviewed
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Harry’s New York Bar
One of the most popular American-style bars in the prewar years, Harry’s once welcomed writers like F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, who no doubt sampled the bar’s unique cocktail and creation: the Bloody Mary. The Cuban mahogany interior dates from the mid-19th century and was brought over from a Manhattan bar in 1911.
There’s a basement piano bar called Ivories where Gershwin supposedly composed An American in Paris and, for the peckish, old-school hot dogs and generous club sandwiches to snack on. The advertisement for Harry’s that occasionally appears in the papers still reads ‘Tell the Taxi Driver Sank Roo Doe Noo’ and is copyrighted.
reviewed
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Café Oz
A militantly Aussie pub at the bottom of sleazy rue St-Denis, Oz tries to be authentic – from its green-and-ochre décor to its strong commitment to maximising your drink intake of Aussie and Kiwi beers. Convivial bordering on raucous, it’s popular with Anglos but the French love it too. The place is packed on Friday and Saturday nights, when it heats up with DJs and dancing. Happy hour is 5pm to 8pm. There are a couple more branches, including Pigalle’s Café Oz Blanche ([tel] 01 40 16 11 16; 1 rue de Bruxelles, 9e; [hrs] 5pm-2am Mon-Wed, 5pm-4am Thurs, 5pm-10am Fri, 2pm-10am Sat, 2pm-2am Sun; [metro] Blanche).
reviewed
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Alcazar
Also known as ‘La Mezzanine’, this hip bar inside Alcazar has got Conran’s name all over it. Narcissistic but alluring, it’s a modern white-and-glass mezzanine overlooking the restaurant (brunch €34, lunch/dinner menu €20 to €34/40) with fancy cocktails, nouvelle cuisine dinners and a fashionable supper-club clientele. Wednesday to Saturday, DJs ‘pass records’ in the corner – this place is famous for its excellent trip-hop/house/lounge music compilations. Next door is Conran’s club Le Wagg. Flyers for all three are posted at www.blogalcazar.fr.
reviewed