Entertainment in France
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Angélina
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 (€6.90), served with a pot of whipped cream. It’s a positive meal replacement (though breakfast is €16.50 to €27.50).
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, bands and DJs play mainly rock, plus some goth, reggae and pop.
reviewed
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Moulin Rouge
Ooh la la… Paris’ most celebrated cabaret was founded in 1889 and its dancers appeared in the flamboyant posters by Toulouse-Lautrec. It sits under its trademark red windmill (a 1925 replica of the 19th-century original) and attracts viewers/voyeurs by the coachload.
reviewed
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Les Deux Magots
St-Germain’s most famous where Sartre, Hemingway and Picasso hung out.
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 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 used to play fiddle in his spare 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 serves up to a dozen different types of tea, excellent savoury tarts and sandwiches (€8.50 to €12), desserts like apple crumble (€6.50), and brunch (€19.50) at the weekend.
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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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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Les Trois Diables
Music is a mix of trip-hop, house and electro at this small local 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/café, but it rests on its laurels: best for a drink or small bite.
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 (nine outlets at the most recent count) next to the Bibliothèque Nationale is the most ambitious yet, with 14 screens, a trendy café, brasserie, restaurant, late-night bar and a trio of shops specialising in DVDs, books and comics and graphic novels respectively. MK2 Bibliothèque cinemas show a variety of blockbusters and studio films, so there’s always something for everyone. Don’t miss MK2 Quai de Seine ([tel] 08 92 69 84 84; 14 quai de Seine, 19e; [metro] Jaurès or Stalingrad) and MK2 Quai de Loire ([tel] 08 92 69 84 84; 7 quai de Loire, 19e; [metro] Jaurès or Stalingrad), which face one another across from the canal and ar…
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 pre-war years, Harry’s once welcomed such habitués as writers F Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, who no doubt sampled the bar’s unique cocktail and creation: the Bloody Mary (€12.50). 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 where Gershwin supposedly composed An American in Paris and, for the peckish, old-school hot dogs (€6) and generous club sandwiches. 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
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Le Zéro de Conduite
Originality, if nothing else, ensures that this bijou drinking hole, in the house where Richard Wagner lived briefly in the 1840s, gets a mention. Serving cocktails in biberons (baby bottles) and throwing concours de grimaces (face-pulling competitions), it goes all out to rekindle your infancy. Bizarre, yes, but obviously some enjoy sucking vodka and banana liqueur shaken with grenadine and orange juice through a teat. Board games, dice, cards and Trivial Pursuit complete the playful scene. Advance table reservations are strongly recommended.
reviewed
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The Frog & British Library
A hybrid English pub–French brasserie, this spacious drinking venue around the corner from the Bibliothèque Nationale is propped up by French students who flock here between library visits for food (mains €13.50, lunch menus €15) such as apple pie and custard, weekend brunches, potato wedges and cheese nachos washed down with a pint. The pick of the drinks list is the six beers brewed on the premises. The enormous Frog at Bercy Village ([tel] 01 43 40 70 71; 25 cour St-Émilion, 12e; [hrs] noon-2am; [metro] Cour St-Émilion) is just across the river.
reviewed
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Stade Roland Garros
By far the glitziest annual sporting event in Paris is the French Open, the second of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, held on clay at the 16,500-seat Stade Roland Garros in the Bois de Boulogne from late May to mid-June. Tickets are expensive and like gold dust; they go on sale mid-December and bookings must be made by March. They are only available online or via mail. One week prior to the competition (on the first day of the qualifiers), remaining tickets are sold from the box office at the entrance to the stadium.
reviewed
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Peniche el Alamein
The third in the trendy trio afloat opposite the library, this deep-purple boat is strung with terracotta pots of flowers from head to toe, making it a lovely spot on the Seine to sip away summer evenings – the deck is open from 4.30pm when the sun shines. Sit amid flowering tulips and enjoy live bands playing from 9pm; flyers are stuck on the lamppost in front. Its sound – less hectic than its next-door neighbours, hence the older crowd – embraces jazz, world and Piaf-style chansons françaises (French songs) of 1930s Paris.
reviewed
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Olympic Café
This community bar in the Goutte d’Or neighbourhood is full of surprises. From plays and film screenings to concerts of Guinean griot, Balkan folk, Cameroon hip-hop and so on in the basement (tickets €1 to €5), this is a breeding ground for creative young people bursting with original ideas. The monthly program available at the bar also includes events (tickets adult/concession €15/10) at the Lavoir Moderne Parisien ([tel] 01 42 52 09 14; 35 rue Léon, 18e), another springboard for young talent down the road.
reviewed
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La Pagode
A classified historical monument, this Chinese-style pagoda was shipped to France, piece by piece, in 1895 by Monsieur Morin (the then proprietor of Le Bon Marché), who had it rebuilt in his garden on rue de Babylone as a love present for his wife. The wife clearly wasn’t too impressed – she left him a year later. But Parisian cinéphiles who flock here to revel in its eclectic programme are. La Pagode has been a fantastic, atmospheric cinema since 1931 – don’t miss a moment or two in its bamboo-enshrined garden.
reviewed
