1. Le Marais
Le Marais is definitely my favourite part of Paris. With its narrow cobble stone streets, the numerous boutiques and vintage shops and eccentric people (at least for Parisian terms), it’s great for shopping or just going for a walk. To get there, I always take the metro 1 to Saint Paul and then turn into one of the little streets. To be honest, I’ve been there numerous times and still don’t quite know my way around (I have a terrible orientation sense), but no matter which way you turn, it’s pretty much all worth seeing.The Jewish district is also located there, as well as places des Vosges (a nice little square), and numerous falafel places. You can also go for a (huge) burger at Schwartz’s restaurant – they’re delicious and pretty unique.
2. Thrift store “Vintage Désir” (better known as “Coiffeur”)
Speaking of vintage boutiques in the Marais, this one is my absolute favourite. It’s tiny and usually pretty crowded, but there’s tons of cool and really cheap clothes, bags and accessories. I have found nice leather bags for 5 € on various occasions, as well as tons of oversized sweaters and leather or jean jackets. Prices usually range from 5 to 20 €, although some pieces are slightly more expensive. The address is 32 Rue des Rosiers, 75004 Paris – you will recognise it by the “Coiffeur” inscription right above the entrance.If you couldn’t find anything there, there are also many other great thrift stores in the area, for example the Kilo shops – these a basically boutiques where you pay a certain price per kilogram instead of paying each individual piece.
3. Les buttes Chaumont
Les buttes Chaumont is, as least to me, one of the prettiest parks in Paris. It’s located in the Northern part of the city, where tourists usually don’t go as much, but it’s also much calmer that the Jardin des Tuileries and less crowded. There's tons of green, little lakes, birds, trails and plenty of room to just hang out and enjoy the sun.
4. Le Canal Saint Martin + Le Pavillon des Canaux
While everyone knows the Seine river, this 4.5 km long canal is much less visited by tourists. Locals love it though – especially in the summer. It’s a great place to sit next to the water and have a picnic with wine, baguette and cheese (the French way).If you’re not into that, there are also tons of bars next to the canal. A very cute one is the Pavillon des Canaux. It’s basically a house where you can order drinks and then go sit in the living room. Or the kitchen. Or the bathroom, if you prever.
5. The Arche de Triomphe (preferably at night)
This is a very touristy thing to do, but it’s really worth it! You have to climb up way too many stairs, but you get the most beautiful view of Paris from the top of the Arche de Triomphe. It’s especially cool at night where there’s way less people and you can see the Eiffel Tower light up.I personally would recommend this more than going to the top of the Eiffel Tower: it’s cheaper (because it’s free for anyone under 26), you don’t have to queue as much, and you can see the Eiffel Tower in your pictures – something you don’t get if you’re standing on it.
6. Lucette fait des crêpes
There are tons of « crêperies » in Paris, but not all of them are worth trying. If you’re fine with the typical bacon – cheese – egg crêpe (I should say “galette” – crêpes are the sweet ones), you’ll probably be fine with any of them. But you might be less happy if you order the (only) vegetarian option they offer and get a galette with 2 cherry tomatoes and one mushroom on it – worth 15€, obviously.One of my favourite places to get crêpes in the city centre is “Lucette fait des crêpes”: it’s a tiny, very colourful restaurant with a pretty rich menu.
7. Le Salon du Vigneron
If you love wine, the “Salon du Vigneron” will probably be your favourite place on earth. It’s basically an exposition of tons of different wine productions that happens once every three months. You can get tickets online, and then you go there, get an empty wine glass and start making your way through endless aisles. You can stop and ask to taste any wine you’re interested in. If you find one that you like, you can buy it – but you don’t have to.I honestly don’t know anything about wine (I only distinguish between “gross” and “yeah that’ll do”), but it’s still a very fun experience! I guess you’re not supposed to actually get drunk (there’s buckets everywhere, for spitting out what you just tasted) but you can if you want to. The good thing is, you can buy food there as well. But mostly sandwiches.
8. Walking along the Seine from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower
You can get down to the riverbanks in many places, mostly next to bridges. People go for walks there or just sit and drink wine (and eat baguette and cheese, obviously! These clichés are actually true), especially when it gets warm outside.One of mine and Matt’s favourite walks is from the Notre Dame cathedral all the way to the Eiffel Tower (or the other way around). It’s actually not that long and much more relaxing than walking through the busy streets of Paris.
9. Pause Café
“Pause Café” is the name of the restaurant where everyone at my workplace LOVES to eat (yes, Parisians do take 2 hour lunch breaks sometimes). It’s the kind of restaurant where everyone finds something they like. They have classic dishes like burgers or salmon with rice, and more original recipes like an Asian salad with chicken, soya sprouts and maki, vegetarian burgers, and (my favourite!) a “parmentier de canard”, which is basically just mashed potatoes with duck (but so delicious!). It’s not too expensive (for Paris anyway): most main dishes range from 12 to 15 €. It can get really full though, so you might want to reserve a table (especially if you’re more than 2 people).
10. Shopping on a Sunday (Les Quatre Temps, Champs Elysées, …)
While most stores in Paris are closed on Sundays, some shopping malls tend to stay open the entire day. Examples are the Champs Elysées (which is a street, not a shopping mall, obviously) or the Quatre Temps at La Défense. Stores tend to be a bit less crowded than on a Saturday, and shopping is always a good way to spend a rainy Sunday!
11. Rue de Lappe
Rue de Lappe next to Bastille is a cool street where you can find tons of pubs at night. It certainly has something for everybody! And if you’re hungry, there’s also one of the only places to get potatoes in Paris (I love potatoes, so I tend to go there twice a week): Patati Patata. It’s cheap, too!
12. A Sunday concert at the Opéra Garnier
The Opéra Garnier is one of the prettiest buildings in Paris in my opinion, and it’s really worth seeing from the inside as well. A good way of visiting it for free (kind of) is to go see a Sunday concert at the opera. They’re way cheaper than an actual opera and you can explore the whole building and take pictures if you get there earlier. And this way, you’re less of a tourist and more like actually going to the opera. The concert itself is nothing out of this world – but the whole experience is really nice.
13. See a play in a small theatre (even if you don’t speak French)
A very Parisian thing to do is go see a play in one of the many small theatres all throughout the city. I personally like the comedies best – and one time I went to see a mentalist, which was really cool, too! If you don’t speak French, there are also plays in English: in particular “How to become a Parisian in one hour”. I’ve seen this one and it’s hilarious! You can get fairly cheap tickets on Billetréduc.com.
14. Le dernier bar avant la fin du monde
This is actually the name of a pub. A pretty geeky one, too. You get drinks and food with funny names, a basement that is decorated like a ship, and free board games that you can play with your friends. It’s at Châtelet, right in the city centre, and next to Rue de Rivoli, which is a large shopping street, so you have a good chance of being in the area!15. Getting japanese food in the Rue des petits champs
Japan town in Paris is basically limited to one street, but if you feel like having Japanese for lunch or dinner, it's definetly the place to go! Most restaurants there serve varieties of Ramen, as well as some rice or noodle dishes. It's fairly cheap for Parisian restaurants, too - most dishes will be under 10€.
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