Go east, Jeune homme.

Voici un petit article intéressant que j’ai trouvé dans le magazine de la compagnie Delta Airlines sur un vol Paris New York à propos de l’est Parisien. Il faut préciser que ce magazine est un magazine américain destiné à des américains et c’est ce qui m’a le plus surpris. Je trouve ça un peu dommage qu’il faille effectuer un vol Paris-New York pour lire un article qui parle de l’est parisien et qui nous montre que notre capital bouge et n’est pas une ville musée mais ça m’a fait plaisir.

Voici l’article, en anglais recopié à la main (s’il vous plaît). Enjoy!

 

 Photo: Amber Procaccini

Go east, Jeune homme.

Like NYC’s Lower East Side, the Left Bank has seen its bohemian edge soften. So where do the artistes and academics now gather?

The Left Bank conjures images of bohemian liberalism-Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway pouring drinkers as fast as prose; Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir chain-smoking their way to existentialism. But the arrival of Ralph Lauren’s giant flagship last year dispelled any notions of lingering antiestablishment.

For that gritty, literary air, head instead to the city’s east end, a wide swath of working-class district with an increasingly intellectual feel. While it can still get a little rough around the edges, that hasn’t stopped academic and artist types seeking refuge from soaring rents elsewhere. The neighborhood is a mix of shawarma stands and sushi joint, with creaky public housing nestled up to ateliers housing modernist lofts.

A good walking tour starts at Merci and Bonton on the Boulevard Beaumarchais. These two concept stores and restaurants will get you kitted out in the latest urban-farmer aesthetic, with profits all going to charitable causes.  The head to rue Oberkampf for a handful of antiques, clothing and design shops. Farther up, the street explodes at night into a riot of bars, live music and pool halls. Daytime, take a left on Boulevard Richard Lenoir, up the broad median street where the asphalt eventually gives way to plantings, playground and the Canal Saint Martin emerging from its underground course. Here you can explore the quaysides while the occasional tour boat navigates the locks and drawbridges, past picnicking families, guitar-strumming hipsters and sunbathing young couples. Several bistros offer a spot to grab a drink and nibble, notably Chez Prune, the local watering hole, or Hotel du Nord with a more upscale retro vibe. Stop into Artazart, bookshop for vintage Polaroid cameras and a selection of art and design books. Farther up, Antoine & Lili is a wildly colored minivillage of storefronts, offering bold and exotic printed dresses and decorations. Don’t hesitate to explore the side street, too. Especially rue de Lancry with an array of shops and small eateries.

Head right on rue Louis Blanc past the communist party headquarters to the Buttes Chaumont. Formerly a rock quarry, the hilly English park has broad lawns, towering waterfalls and a view that rivals those from Montmartre. Stop at Rosa Bonheur, a pavilion with cheap eats and drinks that fills up on summer Sunday evenings with a large, trendy (and largely gay) crowd.

To See more photos from Paris’East End, visit deltaskymag.com