Trips To Paris

The challenge I will tell you about is the following: I went to Paris with my wife and our 11 years old daughter. We stayed there 3 days and 2 nights and it was the first journey we did to Paris with our daughter. My plan was to go out every evening and I was very determined to do that!

Even before we started the trip, I made a plan in my mind. I wanted to spend one evening on a boat cruise on the Seine and a Cabaret show at Lido. This was just for the first night. On the second night, I wanted to take a stroll in the Bastille quarter. I had my mind set on my plan!

Most people call Paris – The City of Light. But this beautiful town is not just that. It is also a city of music, accents, images and people faces! And when you think of a night in Paris and the Parisian nightlife, anything you want is at hand.

After sunset, a new segment of society emerges. The same people that by day were into museums and parks, in the night they are all about jazz bars, cafes, disco and house dance clubs and theatres. Paris is all that and even more. Of course, all comes with a price tab.

The second name that Paris has, The City of Light, is an expression you will be able to acknowledge only after the sun sets. That is when an amazing array of neon lights are lit up and they all could light up Times Square. And the amazing thing is that not only the bars and pub are lighted up but also the museums, the monuments and bridges, the streets, even the narrowest ones and all the classic buildings. Of course that all the places to have fun in: bars, pubs, clubs and terraces, probably have a huge electricity bill.

But that’s the Parisian way! If you were in any other place you would probably go to bed around 10 or 11 pm but not if you are in Paris.

You could compare Paris by night to an amoeba that sparkles. For a very long time, the Bastille quarter was THE place to go out at night. Bastille has kept an excellent and eccentric nightlife, with a large number of cafés, restaurants and bars. But another place emerges as the place to go out in the evening: Rue Oberkampf the place of clubbing.

In my mind, I wanted to go to Bastille, thinking that maybe the spirit has “cooled down” a little bit. But what was I thinking? I remember how a long time ago the French stormed the Bastille Prison and started the French Revolution. But right now, nobody is trying to get out of Bastille. It’s a fact!

If you go there, start with the main plaza, Place de la Bastille. There you will find bars, dance clubs, jazz lounges. You have a lot of places to choose from. The Chantier Interdit is part bar, part lounge and part club. The Bar Bat has couches and chairs facing out on the street and a big plasma TV. The Tribar has a nice comfortable lounge. And don’t think you will go home early! Many places stay open till around 5am.

You will see that the spirit in the Bastille is a contrast to Paris by day. And don’t forget to read the weekly Pariscope, an entertainment guide with a section in English. Also, if you are looking for fun, take the English-language bimonthly Boulevard. Both of them are full of information on the nightlife in the Bastille and in general, in Paris. Also, don’t forget to check out the program of theatres and restaurants.

If you ask 10 people to tell you what they like, you could get 10 different opinions. Because Paris is just that: a multicultural city with a lot of places to discover and have fin in. And you will need a couple of hours to get used to Paris nightlife. Don’t resist the temptation to go to Paris. It is an amazing city and you will for sure want to go back, just like I did.