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Drinking in Paris
Each of Paris' 20 arrondissements has its own fair share of bars, cafés, taverns, but there are a some areas where various aspects of nightlife, or afternoon-life are concentrated, like the Bastille.
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Canal St Martin Many cozy cafés and other drinking establishments all around the Canal St Martin.
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The Marais The Marais boasts a large number of trendier new bars mostly in the 4th arrondissement and to a lesser extent the 3rd arrondissement with a few old charmers tossed into the mix. A number of bars and restaurants in the Marais have a decidedly gay crowd, but are usually perfectly friendly to straights as well. Some seem to be more specifically aimed at up-and-coming hetero singles.
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Bastille There is a very active nightlife zone just to the northeast of Place de Bastille centered around rue de Lappe, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine (especially the amazing Club Barrio Latino) and rue de Charonne in the 11th arrondissement. Many of the bars closest to Bastille have either a North, Central, or South American theme, with a couple of Aussie places mixed in for good measure, and as you continue up rue de Charonne the cafés have more of a traditionally French but grungy feeling.
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Quartier Latin - Odeon If you're looking for the nouvelle vague style, student and intellectual atmosphere of Paris in the 60s and 70s, you'll find a lot of that (and more hip + chique) places in the quartier latin and between place Odeon and the Seine. The neighborhood is also home of many small artsy cinemas showing non-mainstream films and classics (check 'Pariscope' or 'l'officiel du spectacle' at any newspaper stand for the weekly programme).
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Rue Mouffetard and environs The area in the 5th arrondissement on the south side of the hill topped by the Panthéon has a little bit of everything for the nighthawk, from the classy cafés of Place de la Contrescarpe to an Irish-American dive bar just down the way to a hip, nearly hidden jazz café at the bottom of the hill.
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Châtelet In some ways the Marais starts here in the 1st arrondissement between Les Halles and Hôtel de Ville but with between all of the tourists and the venerable Jazz clubs on rue des Lombards the area deserves some special attention.
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Montmartre You'll find any number of cozy cafés and other drinking establishments all around the Butte de Montmartre in the 18th arrondissement, especially check out rue des Abesses near the Métro station of the same name.
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Oberkampf-Ménilmontant If you are wondering where you can find the hipsters, then look no further. There are several clusters of grungy-hip bars all along rue Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement, and stretching well into the 20th arrondissement up the hill on rue de Ménilmontant. It's almost like being in San Francisco's Haight-Fillmore district.
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Rues des Dames-Batignolles Another good place to find the grungy-chic crowd is the northern end of the 17th arrondissement around rue des Dames and rue de Batignolles, and if you decide you want something a little different Montmartre is just around the corner.
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Port de Tolbiac This previously deserted stretch of the river Seine in the 13th arrondissement was re-born as a center for nightlife (and Sunday-afternoon-life) a few years ago when an electronic music cooperative opened the Batofar. Nowadays there are a number of boats moored along the same quai, including a boat with a Caribbean theme, and one with an Indian restaurant.
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Saint Germain des Prés Classic. This area boasts two of the most famous cafés in the world: Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, both catering to the tourists and the snobs who can afford their high prices. This part of the 6th arrondisement is where the Parisien café scene really started, and there still are hundreds of places to pull up to a table, order a glass, and discuss Sartre deep into the evening.
For individual bar listings see the various Arrondissement pages under Get around.
Of course there are lots of interesting places which are sort of off on their own outside of these clusters, including a few like the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz which are not to be missed in a serious roundup of Parisian drinking, so check out the listings even in those arrondissements we haven't mentioned above.
Some nightclubs in Paris that are worth it: Folies Pigalle (pl. Pigalle, 18th, very trash, famous for its after, 20 euros), Rex Club (near one of the oldest cinema on earth, the Grand Rex, house/electro, about 15 euros cheap). You might also want to try Cabaret (Palais Royal), Maison Blanche, le Baron (M Alma-Marceau). Remember when going out to dress the part -- you are in Paris! Torn clothing and sneakers are not accepted. The better you look the most likely you will get past the random decisions of club bouncers. Also important to remember if male (or in a group of guys) that it will be more difficult to enter clubs, try to always have an equal male/female ratio.
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