Stay out late
Paris gets better after dinner
Drinks
This is how I like to start a weekend night. Somewhere small, a good bottle, and nowhere else to be.
Septime La Cave
Bastille · 11e
My favorite natural wine bar in the city. Small plates, no reservations, and you'll probably be standing.
Arrive before 7pm, or after 10pm
Maps ↗
Le Rooftop de la Tour d'Argent
Quai de la Tournelle · 5e
The rooftops, the bridges and the river all at once. Go for the view and time it for the end of the day.
Just before sunset
Maps ↗
228 Litres
Pigalle · 9e
Named for the barrel. Go for the bottles they're opening by the glass that night.
Early, if you want to sit
Maps ↗
The chickens really do wander among the tables
Hôtel Particulier Montmartre
Montmartre · 18e
The old Hermès house, down a private street. I love it more for the atmosphere than the food, which is why I'd come for a drink rather than dinner. A garden where chickens wander among the tables, and a cocktail bar downstairs. Leaving at night, you get the Eiffel Tower.
Early evening, while it's still light in the garden
Maps ↗
A Paris ritual
Champagne by the Seine
Buy a chilled bottle from a wine shop, bring glasses from wherever you're staying, and find a spot along the river around sunset. That's the whole plan.
This doesn't need to be expensive. A good bottle from a neighborhood cave costs less than you'd think, and the shop will chill it for you if you ask. Bring a bag for the bottle and the glasses, take your trash with you, and keep it to your own company. It's a public riverbank, not a party.
Or take it up to Sacré-Cœur instead. One of my favorite ways to end a day in Montmartre.