{"id":1396,"date":"2016-02-26T11:40:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T10:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.book-a-flat.com\/magazine\/?p=1396"},"modified":"2019-05-03T18:32:15","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T16:32:15","slug":"guide-to-faubourg-st-denis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.book-a-flat.com\/magazine\/en\/guide-to-faubourg-st-denis","title":{"rendered":"Faubourg St. Denis"},"content":{"rendered":"

A multicultural melting pot with a huge array of food choices for eating out or cooking at home, Faubourg St. Denis is one of Paris’s liveliest areas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Faubourg St. Denis exerts an enormous fascination on its residents. From the overlooked architectural grandeur of its twin arches to its teeming, multicultural street life, this square kilometre between Gare du Nord and the Grands Boulevards has an atmosphere that\u2019s unique in Paris. \u201cWhat I like about it is that it\u2019s not just bobo<\/em> French, or Chinese, or African: it\u2019s everything mixed together,\u201d says entrepreneur Daisy de Plume, a New Yorker who lives on the rue du Faubourg St. Denis with her Argentinian husband and three-and-a-half-year-old son. \u201cAll that and I can walk to the Louvre in 17 minutes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Arch
The massive Porte Saint-Denis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rue du Faubourg St. Denis was once the main route into Paris from the north and the way the French kings entered the city in pomp and splendour after being crowned in the Cathedral of St. Denis. The two stone arches of Porte St. Martin and Porte St. Denis were built by Louis XIV after he knocked down the old city walls in 1670 and the royal stables were in the Passage des Petits Ecuries, the present-day home to some of the area\u2019s best gourmet food shops.<\/p>\n

In the 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> century developers carved new cross-streets and filled in the gaps between isolated mansions with six- or seven-storey buildings. These became the apartments and ateliers of craftsmen, although the quartier also had something of a raffish air back then thanks to its proximity to the Grands Boulevards and their many music halls. The music halls are long gone, of course, as are the theatre folk, though there\u2019s a faint echo of the neighbourhood\u2019s colourful past in the form of costume hire shop Sommier<\/strong> at 3 passage Brady.<\/p>\n

\"Passage
Passage Brady, 10\u00e8me arrondissement<\/div><\/div>
\"Food
The best exotic food shops of Paris<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Boulevard
On the corner of Boulevard St Denis, the Bar “Au Petit Pot St Denis”<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Caf\u00e9
Caf\u00e9 terraces in the Faubourg St Denis area<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

From black and white to colour<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yet while the layout of the streets hasn\u2019t change much at all in the last two hundred years, everything else has. These days Turkish, Kurdish, African and Indian businesses sit cheek-by-jowl with art nouveau brasseries and gastronomic French food shops. And sitting on one of the area\u2019s many caf\u00e9 terraces, you\u2019ll see a multicultural parade of passers-by and hear dozens of languages spoken. Artist Jack Vidal has lived here for 40 years and seen some dramatic changes, but he loves it here still. \u201cThe quartier used to be very traditional,\u201d he says. \u201cBefore it was like a black-and-white film and now it\u2019s in colour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back when Vidal moved here, the Faubourg St. Denis, despite its central location, remained a little-known pocket of Paris. Like the now trendy Marais<\/a> before its giddy transformation, the Faubourg St. Denis was sleazy, run-down and filled with sweatshops and peopled by artists and students and theatre folk looking for cheap rentals. Over the past decade young professionals have been moving in and renovating apartments. And after the waves of immigrants who each brought their own flavour, the latest addition to the mix has been urban hipsters. A growing number of late-night bars and gourmet burger joints attract a young, international crowd and keep the streets buzzing into the early hours.<\/p>\n

Spacious apartments and luxurious lofts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The appeal of the area\u2019s apartments isn\u2019t hard to see: many of them are spacious by Parisian standards, with two bedrooms and a decent-sized kitchen, attractive mouldings and point-d\u2019hongrie<\/em> parquet. As demand has increased, there has also been a spate of renovations of what were previously the most run-down buildings, while some top floors \u2013 especially in the sought-after rue Martel or rue Paradis \u2013 have been turned into luxurious loft spaces<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Apartment
125 sq. m. Furnished apartment – Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Terrace
Three bedrooms apartment on the 6th floor<\/div><\/div>
\"Apartment
Beautiful chevron parquet flooring – 10th arrondissement<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Older residents still remember the marchandes des quatre saisons<\/em>: fruit and vegetable carts pushed largely by women. They were here until the 1960s, when they were moved out for causing congestion, and can be seen in the Jean-Luc Godard film Une Femme est Une Femme<\/em>. What remains is a dwindling number of fruit and vegetable shops whose owners still shout out their prices to passers-by. Recently when one shop on the angle with rue de Metz became a restaurant, it put an end to the traditional, friendly shouting matches between the Jewish vendors on one side of the street and the Arab ones on the other, trying to outdo each other on the price of strawberries. There is still an amazing array of different types of tomato on offer at any of the three remaining traditional vegetable shops and organic food fans can have their boxes delivered once a week to the passage des Petites Ecuries.<\/p>\n

Freshly-made falafels and Kurdish pizza<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The gourmet food shops are also burgeoning. There\u2019s the ever-expanding Julh\u00e8s<\/strong> cheese, wine and deli empire, the poissonerie \u00d4 de Mer<\/strong>, and Corsican deli Terra Corsa<\/strong>. Even the popular newsagents Daily Syrien<\/strong> serves up a winning combination of freshly-made falafels and food for the mind from its shelves of newspapers and magazines. Another ethnic takeaway that has broken with the ubiquitous doner kebab is Urfa Durum<\/strong>, alias \u2018chez Selami\u2019, that has popularised the Kurdish pizza known as \u2018lamajun\u2019. The editor of the urban culture magazine WAD, Pierre-Henri Camy, says it\u2019s one of his favourite places because \u201cit\u2019s accessible and a guy boosts the charcoal grill with a hair-dryer.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also the Indian restaurants in exotic passage Brady, which feels like a trip to Mumbai. Though perhaps not as good as the Sri-Lankan spots north of Gare du Nord, there is also a wonderful Indian supermarket just on the right as you enter the passage. It is filled with the smells of spices as they are bagged up by the assistants, and it sells incense too, and trinkets, beauty products and a mind-boggling selection of teas from yogi tea to industrial-sized bags of English PG Tips. Photographer Olivia Rutherford, who lives on the rue du Faubourg St. Martin, recommends the vegetarian curries at Sheezan<\/strong> (84 rue du Fbg St. Denis): \u201cSix euros for a curry with rice, and a great cheese naan. Aside from that, what do I love about this area? It\u2019s chaos, but so entertaining!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Daily
Newspapers and delicious falafels in the Daily Syrien<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Urfa
Kurdish pizza – 10\u00e8me arrondissement<\/div><\/div>
\"Chez
Urfa Durum, alias \u2018chez Selami\u2019<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Brasserie
Art-Nouveau Brasserie Julien<\/div><\/div>
\"Flo
Flo, a classic brasserie <\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Brasserie
Brasserie Flo – Cour des Petites \u00c9curies<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Flo<\/strong>, a popular restaurant in the passage des Petites Ecuries, and its sister brasserie Julien<\/strong>, never fail to wow with their belle \u00e9poque decor, oysters displayed on street-side ice stands and classic dishes like sole meuni\u00e8re<\/em>. Now two new gastronomic bistros are delighting the foodies of the faubourg. The Bistro Bellet<\/strong> serves a \u20ac36 menu full of surprises and ultra-fresh ingredients with a refreshingly friendly and \u2013 yes, parisbymouth.com has it right when they say \u2018gracious\u2019 \u2013 service. And the Bistro Urbain<\/strong> (103 rue du Fbg St. Denis) has everybody raving about its tender meat and great value and a menu that changes every day.<\/p>\n

Jogging and yoga<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For gourmands wanting to wage war on the calories they have just consumed, the neighbourhood isn\u2019t a great bet. With its lack of green spaces the Faubourg is certainly not the best place for joggers, although journalist Nicholas Norbrook says he trains for half marathons by running along the nearby Canal St Martin. There are, however, several gyms nearby: two Club Meds<\/strong> (Waou Grands Boulevards and R\u00e9publique) and the low-cost Club Montana R\u00e9publique<\/strong> are all within easy reach. Yoga practitioners are also well served, with the small and intimate Casa Yoga<\/strong> at the end of a plant-filled courtyard at 4 rue de Paradis and Trini Yoga<\/strong> at 24 rue d\u2019Enghien. At the Red Earth Centre<\/strong> at 235 rue Lafayette, Australian yoga teacher Louisa Raszyk is also a qualified shiatsu masseuse.<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t want to jog or take up yoga, there\u2019s always the near-Eastern tradition of the evening stroll. When the weather is good, the streets here fill with elderly Turks tossing their worry beads, along with African mums buying vegetables. Meanwhile Algerian men greet their friends behind the counter with a \u2018salaam alaikum\u2019 while bobo<\/em> couples promenade their infants in push-chairs.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s surprising that so many couples with children have chosen to live in such a densely-populated, urban area, many say it\u2019s exactly this that attracted them. \u201cI don\u2019t want my daughter to grow up in a place where everybody is just like her,\u201d says Nicholas Norbrook, a Franco-British journalist. \u201cHere she meets all sorts of people. The only downside is that every shop Ella goes into she leaves clutching a small gift \u2013 a plum or a sweet — so we\u2019ve had to start saying no to the sweets!\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing in the streets<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Parents also have the advantage of there being two \u00e9coles maternelles<\/em> in the neighbourhood, one on rue Martel and one on rue Paradis, and an \u00e9cole \u00e9l\u00e9mentaire<\/em> on rue du Faubourg St. Denis. Several lyc\u00e9es are within easy walking distance too. There is also the Rocroy Saint-Vincent de Paul group of schools, which are semi-private, and are consistently ranked among the top 15 in France.<\/p>\n

\"Faubourg
\nEven the neighbourhood\u2019s lack of green spaces needn\u2019t be a problem. Neighbourhood resident Daisy de Plume and her son have discovered several small public gardens hidden away, and, like all the parents in the area, they love the canal-side Jardin Villemin<\/strong> with a large play area and community garden. \u201cThe Passage des Petites Ecuries is a real little haven too. It\u2019s pedestrianised, with trees, and you can sit on a caf\u00e9 terrace while children play together in the street. Growing up in the West Village in New York we had stoop sales and played ball \u2013 the street was ours, so it reminds me a bit of that.\u201d<\/p>\n