Club entertainment in France
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A
Cantina Club
DJs spin everything from deep house to Afrobeat and hip hop at this pumping underground club. The street-level restaurant cooks up Tex-Mex food.
reviewed
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B
Le Dépôt
With a cop shop just next door you’d think this strictly men-only bar and club over three floors would be a titch more subdued. Fat (actually, rather buffed) chance. It proudly waves its gay flag just metres from the red, white and blue ones of the commissariat (police station) and is perhaps just as much of an institution. It’s a major men’s pick-up joint, with theme nights, DJs and notorious backrooms.
reviewed
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C
Metal Café
Another one of Marseille's 'in' choices, Metal Café sits at the foot of the staircase linking cours Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves with rue Sainte. Look for the suitably steely grey door and expect an equally chic-industrial interior. The only thing that's not metal, thankfully, is the music.
Look for the steely grey door at the foot of the staircase linking cours Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves with rue Sainte.
reviewed
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D
Palais Club
'Dance your life' with the world's best DJs is the buzz at this summer club which has taken Cannes by storm for the past couple of seasons - let's hope it's around next year. Electronic music and dance is the sound. A 2600-sq-metre dance floor inside and 1500-sq-metre rooftop lounge terrace with glittering Med view is the space. An affluent crowd of 2500 clubbers is the set.
reviewed
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E
Le Tango
Billing itself as a boîte à frissons (club of thills), Le Tango ushers in a cosmopolitan gay and lesbian crowd. Housed in a historic 1930s dancehall, its atmosphere and style is retro and festive. Dancing gets going when it opens at 10.30pm with waltzing, salsa and tango. From 12.30am DJs play. Sunday’s gay tea dance is legendary.
reviewed
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F
L'Atelier
Anyone who's anyone heads to this spectacular club within the Palm Beach Casino. The interior - a minimalist mesh of Byzantine, Greco-Roman and Oriental - has a restaurant and lounge bar. Recently saved from bulldozers and spectacularly restored, it's well worth a nosey. DJs spin jazz and lounge music early on and R&B later on.
reviewed
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G
Blue Note Why Not Club
This vaulted subterranean discotheque, at the far end of the courtyard, has jazz and blues concerts (€8 to €10) each Thursday (except during school holidays) from 21:00 to 23:00 or 00:00; karaoke on Sunday from 23:30 to 02:00; and, from about 23:00 (02:00 on Sunday), two dance floors, one Latin, the other disco.
reviewed
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H
La Discoteca
La Discoteca has all the bells and whistles you might expect from a club in Cannes, but with considerably less class. If you want that casting director to notice you, ordering a jeroboam of champagne sees your table spot-lit as a gong goes off. On the off-chance Hollywood doesn't beckon, at least you can get very drunk.
reviewed
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I
Raidd Bar
This is a club-bar that takes its cue from Splash in New York, with showering go-go boys behind glass (three times nightly from 11pm) and a terrace on which to cool off. The staff are pretty attitude-y and the drinks aren’t cheap, but that’s New York for you. Happy hour is 5pm to 9pm daily (till 11pm for beer).
reviewed
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J
L'Odace
Odace has inhabited the rather large shoes left by Le Grand Escurial, a dance venue that claimed to be the largest on the French Riviera. Reminiscent of Paris's Buddha Bar, you can kick back for lazy cocktails and nibbles in mock-Asian surrounds while laid-back tunes filter through the air.
reviewed
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K
La Java
A lively bar-dansant with a stylish saloon on the ground-floor and a grungy cellar - decorated like an old mine and the hold of a sailing ship - where you can boogy. Popular with the university crowd, especially on Sunday, when international students start gathering at 21:00.
reviewed
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L
La Chapelle
'Open-minded' and 'a garden of Eden' are labels the Chapel wears. Set in the chapel of a 16th-century chateau surrounded by a vast green park (in which the drinking 'n' dancing spills), the setting is unique. Décor: Art Deco and age-old. Music: house and techno.
reviewed
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M
Le Duplex
Attracting a crowd that is ni fashion ni folle (neither into fashion nor queeny), the (very) long-established Duplex is comatose during the week but fills up at the weekend with ‘boys next door’ from out of town. Looking for a glitz-less shag? Come here.
reviewed
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N
La Scala
A classic cellar discothèque, with pulsating music and gyrating bodies under ancient brick arches. There are frequent student nights (Wednesday and Thursday) and theme nights (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Things get going at about 01:30.
reviewed
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La Nitro
There’s a critical mass of discos outside town in Espace Latipolia, about 10km from Montpellier on route de Palavas heading towards the coast. A major player is La Nitro, which thumps out techno and house.
reviewed
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Le Matchico
There’s a critical mass of discos outside town in Espace Latipolia, about 10km from Montpellier on route de Palavas heading towards the coast. Le Matchico, one of the major players is good for retro music.
reviewed
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O
Le Liqwid
An exclusive bar-cum-club with food to boot (lunch served noon to 14:00), Liqwid cooks fusion cuisine in a steely Art Deco interior which, come late, stages some of Nice's best visiting DJs. Tough door policy.
reviewed
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P
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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Q
Club Oxford & Club Papagayo
The dual discos Club Oxford & Club Papagayo are on the waterfront about 500m west of Tour de la Lanterne. Oxford spins techno and house, Papagayo goes for '70s and '80s, with karaoke on Sundays.
reviewed
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R
La Scène Bastille
The unpretentious Bastille Scene puts on a mixed bag of concerts but focuses on electro, funk and hip hop Thursday to Saturday – the kind of place where local DJs go to relax and listen to music.
reviewed
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S
La Place
La Place, beside the casino and the only disco in Ajaccio proper, is an older person's pick-up joint where the music's mainly techno. Expect to pay in excess of around €7 for drinks.
reviewed
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T
Le Nouveau Casino
This club has a name for itself amid the Oberkampf bars for its live music concerts and lively weekend club nights. The programme is eclectic, underground and always up to the minute.
reviewed
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Le Chalet
This mammoth entertainment complex, a 15-minute taxi ride north of town, has themed bars and two clubs. DJs crank out everything from techno to retro and club classics.
reviewed
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U
Legend
Resident DJs Pierre and Max spin a mix of sounds at this disco adjoining the Metropole shopping centre. Bikinis are obligatory at beach parties.
reviewed
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V
La Belle Époque
Swanky, purple and fluoro-lit, it’s a favourite of happening DJs and students. It’s ’appy ’our is between 7pm and 9pm, with two-for-one drinks.
reviewed
