Paris Off the Beaten Path Tips by davequ

One beautiful park worth visiting is "Parc des Buttes Chaumont "

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is actually very popular and not "off the beaten path" but it is a little outside Paris central in 19th Arr and takes a little while to get to.
But it's worth the trip. Very scenic and "hilly" up-down walking landscape, and the view from the hilltop gazebo of the Sacre Coeur and other parts of Paris is a knockout.

Another one of its features is the infamous Paris "suicide bridge."

NOTE: a time saver - Parc des Buttes Chaumont is quite large. On your first visit it would be tempting & seem logical to take the metro to stop "Buttes Chaumont."
But if you're a "type A" cut-to-the-chase person who just wants to see the best part of the park or if your time is limited, take instead ligne 5 to Metro stop Laumiere and walk south down Ave de Laumiere to the north entrance to the park on rue Manin, across the street from the lovely & photogenic Pl Armand Carrel. It will save you much time & walking.

But the whole park is beautiful and worth half a day if you have time.

A little article is at the link below:
Jack-Travel on ButteChaumont

but there's lots of pictures and articles on the 'net about this beautiful place.

Anthony has some great pictures of the park at his website


Anthonys Home Page



on page 6 of his Paris photos.

Park can be found at Rues Botzaris, Manin
19th Arr
Metro: Buttes-Chaumont

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Here is a pic of the "suicide bridge" in Buttes-Chaumont park.

It has earned its nickname with its infamous history.

Anthony version

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I don't much care for Pigalle etc.
but I like the area south of it.

Between Metro Pigalle & Blanche (it's actually in the upper 9th arr. as opposed to the Montmartre 18th) and south of Pigalle / Clichy madness is an area filled with older houses, some parks and pawnshops, mostly around rue de Douai / rue Victor Masse, rue du Fontaine, etc.
It's a relief to escape the "disneyland" of Montmarte & hectic inner arrondisements once in a while.

I used to crawl pawnshops in skid row parts of town looking for used guitars when I was a kid so I liked this area.

Lots of places selling used instruments (some were cool, unique foreign instruments you don't find in the states), bars, actual sex shops (not like the sleazy traps on Pigalle). The area has more personality (good & bad) than a lot of other parts of the city. And as always, beautiful squares / parks in the middle of it all (Sq. Berlioz).

There appeared to be lots of Algerian & Moroccan-lineage french hanging out, and some little african and south-asian places to eat.

Not so many cafes as little shops, as there didn't seem to be many tourists there. Quiet pedestrian traffic, mostly locals... you'll stick out as a tourist and draw a little attention on the street but that can sometimes lead to a new experience or interesting conversation.

Not a large area, but lots of character and very interesting.

see if you can get a peek or sneak into the mysterious, historic & private
Avenue Frochot
(or rent Toulouse-Lautrec's last workshop apartment if you have 1600-2000 Euros / week to spend)

Links:
Sq. Berlioz history
Pawnshop instruments
Pigalle info

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"Vite, Edmond! Warm up the blood."

---

Like most things concerning Paris history, I enjoyed "pouring through" (sic - npi) burp!
Anaïs Nin's steamy & unexpurgated personal diary of her time spent as Henry Miller's lover in Montparnasse.
In her diary I kept stumbling across references to evenings of entertainment with Henry (when not voyeuring in brothels) at the Grand Guignol.

I occasionally had walked by this alley a little SW of Pigalle a few times without giving it a second thought.

---

Another of my Paris fantasies (that never existed) was the Théâtre des Vampires seen in the film
"Interview with the Vampire"

It turns out the Grand Guignol is what supposedly
(sometimes Anne Rice allegedly denies it during interviews) Théâtre des Vampires was based on when she was writing her novel.

The location is still there and looks the same, though nowdays the building is used by the International Visual Theater - an active professional theatre company using French sign language.


If you ever want to learn more about the Grand Guignol and for old photos (some shown here), a couple of books I read and recommend about the Grand Guignol are listed below with a couple fun links:

The Grand Guignol: theatre of fear and terror / [edited by] Mel Gordon.
Le Grand Guignol: le théâtre des peurs de la Belle Epoque/ édition établie par Agnès Pierron

the website listed below, and here is an old Time Magazine article from 1947.

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Phone: +33 (0)1 53 16 18 10
Website: http://www.grandguignol.com/
Other Contact: 7 Cite Chaptal - 75009