Thanks for visiting Messy Nessy’s Cabinet! Here are the keys to my neighbourhood in Paris 🗝️
THE PERFECT TRIO:
After a visit to my boutiue, Messy Nessy’s Cabinet (19 Rue de Bièvre, we’re open Mon-Sat), head for lunch or a snack at Tram: fresh, homemade and located on the street where they filmed Midnight in Paris — all day café, restaurant, part cookbook shop (open Tues-Sat, 9-7pm). It’s next door to a gem of a church that rivals the interiors of Notre Dame; the Eglise Saint Geneviève, where the patron Saint of Paris is buried in a glass coffin to give Snow White’s a run for her money. Head back down the hill, browsing the shops of Rue Soufflot towards Jardin de Luxembourg for a round of Paris people watching!
DON’T BE A TOURIST IN PARIS!
Off-beat museums and cultural experiences…
- Jardin des Plantes – one of Paris’s most beautiful parks is home to multiple time capsule buildings under the Natural History Museum, glasshouses, mazes, plus a Victorian zoo and a restaurant (les Belles Plantes).
- Musée de la Prefecture de Police: just a stone’s throw from my shop, there’s a weird little free museum of crime on the second floor of the local police station – a dystopian brutalist block behind the Place Maubert market square.
- Discover Medieval Paris at the Musee Cluny
- Hotel des Rêves: immersive theatre inside an 18th century mansion
- Institut du Monde Arabe and its world-class cultural exhibitions
- La Nouvelle Seine: Watch a burlesque show on a boat or below deck at the weekends
- Le Son de la Terre: a barge boat (peniche) with a live jazz program almost every evening
- Le Piano Vache: Catch some Django Reinhardt jazz on Monday nights
- Grande Mosquée de Paris: Visit the stunning Moroccan gardens, have tea and pastries in the courtyard with local Parisians or experience an authentic hammam
- Discover Roman Paris at the Arènes de Lutèce, a gladiator amphitheatre unearthed in 19th century
- Tango dancing at sunset on the Seine at Square Tino Rossi in summer. Bring a bottle of wine!
- Taste your way through the local Place Maubert market (Tues, Thurs, Sat) & Place Monge market (Wed & Fri morning).
- If you’re going to do Notre Dame, do it right and make the most of it! Go up to the top of the towers to hang out with the gargoyles and chimeras (with a view), which require a separate tower ticket/ reservation – €16 – and reservations are made through the official Towers of Notre-Dame website. Also take a moment to visit the crypt of Notre Dame, where you can find remnants of ancient Paris as well as plaques, pictures, and even caricatures from Notre Dame’s history, including architect Violett-Le-Duc and Victor Hugo’s Quasimodo and Esmerelda. Free for under 18, 11 euros adult tickets, no need to book.
KEEP SHOPPING THE SHOPS:
My closest recommended shopping streets where you’ll find a concentration of boutiques in one place are:
- Rue du Pont Louis Phillipe (great stationary and specialty artisanal shops just across the river).
- Rue Racine (a street with several specialty clothing stores for men & women, including Bourgine and Hollington).
- Rue Soufflot (mid-range familiar clothing store chains such as Maje, Ba&sh, Claudie Pierlot)
The 5th arrondissement is one of the last neighbourhoods in the city where unique and specialty Mom & Pop shops still thrive in the centre of Paris. There are several really worth seeking out.
- Le Club K7 (@leClubk7): A lost world dedicated to the cassette tape
- Bonbon au Palais: a unique sweet shop elaborately decorated to look like a charming 1950s French schoolroom; a pastel-coloured time machine to childhood. From platters of exotic candied fruits to jars filled with guimauve (old-fashioned marshmallows), it stocks some of the rarest candies in the world curated from small towns all across France. These sweets are so rare that they have their own patents from the age-old artisanal houses that are still producing them in the same little villages where they were first concocted.
- Initiales Bonnie (@initialesbonnie): repurposed French bric a brac (open Weds-Sat).
- Klin d’Oeil ceramics-focused contemporary design shops with lots of cute deco & gifts.
- Bourgine: run by a talented young Parisienne, this grassroots women’s fashion brand is in a whimsical world of its own, creating collections inspired by niche historical figures or subcultures that capture her fascination. Combining quality with quirkiness has gained the designer a cult following in Japan. For a his & hers shopping excursion, Bourgine is nestled amongst several artisanal boutiques of note, including Hollington, creating exquisite men’s clothing inspired by Bauhaus design since 1974.
- La Tuile a Loup: ceramic shop by appointment @latuilealoup
- Jazz corner: record shop
- L’Epee de Bois: selling handmade wooden toys @l_epee_de_bois
- Avanti la Musica: specialises in music boxes
- Au Vieux Campeur: Family-owned chain of adventure gear shops @auxvieuxcampeur
RESTAURANTS:
Casual Lunching…
- Tram: fresh, homemade and located on the street where they filmed Midnight in Paris — all day café, restaurant, part cookbook shop (open Tues-Sun, 9-7pm).
- A l’Escale, at 1 rue des Deux Ponts on Île Saint-Louis, is a café-restaurant that highlights authentic old-school Paris, stuck somewhere in the 70s, with a warm welcome, and a simple home-cooked menu made with fresh products. You’ll find a cool crowd congre at night and one of its main draws is its terrace on the banks of the Seine, just a short walk from Notre-Dame.
- Le Petit Bal Perdu (@lepetitbalperduparis): spectacular hidden terrace spot, delicious French bistro food.
- Roger la Genouille: Care to try frogs legs? Or just some really good old school French cuisine. This is the place to do it.
- La Fourmi Ailée (@la_fourmi_ailee): surrounded by twinkle lights and books, this place feels like something out of a 90s romcom. Long tea menu, good quiches, cosy writer’s spot.
- Rotisserie d’Argent (@larotisseriedargent): the only restaurant in Paris with outdoor dining on a bridge over the Seine! If you’re dining inside, request a table with views over the Seine.
- Saveurs d’Asie (local’s favourote Vietnamese restaurant with a great terrace. Catherine Deneuve eats here).
- Charcuterie Saint Germain (takeaway on the Place Maubert): for the French pizzas and great takeaway picnic food to eat along the river.
- Café de la Grand Mosquée: be transported to Marrakesh in a beautiful courtyard, sampling delicious pastries & drinking mint tea until twilight.
Dinner date…
- Kitchen Terre (@kitchenterre): They do things with pasta that you’ve never seen before
- Cypsèle is a restaurant on Île Saint-Louis whose kitchen is led by an alumni of the Noma team, .with similar ethos, presenting itself as a place for seasonal, ever-changing cuisine shaped by nature and the moment. The restaurant also emphasizes a pared-back but carefully staged dining room charged with history. (11 rue des Deux Ponts)
- Chez Rene (@ChezRene1957): Classic bistro where Parisians and politicians eat under the radar
- Bistrot des Lettres (@bistrotdeslettres): write a letter to yourself at the end of the meal and they’ll post it to you a year later.
- Restaurant AT (@restaurant_at): Michelin-star French & Asian fusion where food becomes literal art on a plate
- Atica (@aticaparis): an immersive cinematic dining experience inside a former cinema
- Bibie: trendy contemporary brasserie with banquette tables and an intimate cocktail bar
- Solstice (@Solstice.paris): Michelin-star excellence with incredible wine
- La Table de Colette (@latabledeColetteparis): blind tasting menu but totally unpretentious
Cozy & Old School:
- 5eme Cru (@5ecru): Wine, charcuterie & drippy candles
- Roger la Genouille: Care to try frogs legs? Or just some really good old school French cuisine. This is the place to do it.
- Chez Rene (@ChezRene1957): Classic bistro where politicians eat under the radar
- A l’Escale, at 1 rue des Deux Ponts on Île Saint-Louis, is a café-restaurant that highlights authentic old-school Paris, stuck somewhere in the 70s, with a warm welcome, and a simple home-cooked menu made with fresh products. You’ll find a cool crowd congre at night and one of its main draws is its terrace on the banks of the Seine, just a short walk from Notre-Dame.
- Au Moulin A Vent (@au_moulin_a_vent): historic brasserie for trying snails & frog legs and oeuf mayo (awarded the best in France).
- Le Petit Bal Perdu (@lepetitbalperduparis): spectacular hidden terrace spot, delicious French bistro food.
BARS
- A l’Escale, at 1 rue des Deux Ponts on Île Saint-Louis, is a café-restaurant that highlights authentic old-school Paris, stuck somewhere in the 70s, with a warm welcome, and a simple home-cooked menu made with fresh products. You’ll find a cool crowd congre at night and one of its main draws is its terrace on the banks of the Seine, just a short walk from Notre-Dame.
- Le Figuier: a woman-owned natural wine bar on the island.
- 5eme Cru: Think drippy candles, sat around wine crates, chacuterie boards @5ecru
- Le Piano Vache: Dive bad where Johnny Depp used to hang out @lepianovache
- Sola Cave: sleek wine tasting cave @sola_cave_ceramiques
- Le Son de la Terre: floating jazz peniche @SondelaTerre
BEST PEOPLE-WATCHING:
- Place Maubert market (you can sit & order oysters right at the poissonerie /fishmonger) 🐟 Tues/ Thurs/ Sat)
- Place de la Contrescarpe and Place Georges Moustaki are both charming roundabouts surrounded by cafés.
- Square Tino Rossi (tango dancing on the seine in summer).
- Place de l’Estrapade (to see the Emily in Paris fans fanning)
- Arènes de Lutèce (a Roman amphitheatre rediscovered in the 19th century and turned into a park)
CAFFEINE CLUBHOUSES:
– Jozi Paris (@joziparis)
– Cafe Revolotion (@caferevolotion) at the Place Monge market 3 times a week.
– Le Bon Moment Cafe Paris (@lebonmomentcafeparis)
– Cafe Nuage (@cafenuage)
– Dalbodree Paris (@dalbodreeparis)
– La fourmi Ailée (@la_fourmi_ailee)
WHERE TO STAY:
– Hotel des Grands Ecoles (@hoteldesgrandsecoles) To feel like you are miles away from a city, in the midst of the countryside, opposite Hemingways old apartment.
– Le 66 (@le_66_lhomond) A very mid nineteenth century atmosphere, carved out of a former antique shop, in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Friendly cats who won’t go to your room unless you invite them in.
– Hotel de Jardin de Cluny (@hoteldejardindecluny) A quiet pedestrian-only street in the Latin Quarter, steps from Notre Dame, one of the best markets in town and of course, Messy Nessy’s Cabinet.
– Le Jardin de Verre by (@lockehotels) An 18th century mansion turned Hoxton-esque nest in the Latin Quarter.
– Hotel La Lanterne (@hotellalanterne) Has a swimming pool in the basement!