Paris Neighborhoods to Avoid, Part 2
There are great places in Paris, France that I would gladly visit for a night on the town, but wouldn’t count on for a good night’s sleep. There are Paris districts that make a nice excursion off the beaten path during the day, but turn sketchy at night. And there are a couple of places in Paris where I just don’t want to be. Now that you’ve read Paris Neighborhoods to Avoid, Part 1, here’s Part 2 of my list of Paris neighborhoods to avoid living in.
Disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions. I’m sure each of these areas has great things to offer, and I’ve never had anything bad happen to me in Paris, even in what I consider the seediest parts of town. I’m making these assessments based on my own comfort level and lifestyle. I strongly advise that anyone who’s moving to Paris get to know the districts of Paris for themselves.
The Loud Neighborhoods
If your Paris guidebook raves about how great the nightlife is, that’s a sure sign that you won’t be able to get a good night’s sleep if you live there. St. Michel and the Latin Quarter neighborhood are a perpetual bar crawl. It’s too loud and there are too many people. Or maybe I’m just old.
Montorgueil is one of those neighborhoods that is lovely to visit for dinner and drinks, but I wouldn’t live in an apartment there. There’s too much night noise from the bars and cafes below. You’ll know when it’s closing time, because you’ll hear the people who have spilled out into the street on their way home. The same goes for the neighboring Beaubourg district, which is the heart of the gay club scene in Paris. It’s too “sceney,” which means there’s always going to be night noise.
Bastille is out for me because there’s always an event going on there. Place de la Bastille is a popular site for protests (and parties) in Paris, so you never know what you’ll have to wade through to get where you need to go. It could be a tent city of immigrant workers staging a protest, or Gay Pride Paris, or an anti-Israel march, or an outdoor concert, or whatever the protest of the week is. It’s a total crap shoot. (I wish I could say the preceding list was random, but those are all events I’ve unwittingly walked right into while trying to get somewhere via the Bastille Metro stop. Living one stop north on line 5, at Breguet Sabin, will save you a lot of trouble and put you closer to a nicer area.)
The Paris Neighborhoods I Just Don’t Like
This is a short list for me, but here goes. I do not like Montparnasse. As I said in my Paris Neighborhoods Overview, it’s tacky and I just don’t like the vibe — at all. It feels unParisian to me, like I’m somewhere else.
Les Halles is not really a residential area, but I’m going to rant about it here anyway if you’ll indulge me. Forum Les Halles is overrun with throngs of teenagers, both inside the mall and out. There’s nothing inside Forum Les Halles that you can’t get above ground elsewhere in Paris. The one exception to that is the Espace Createurs, with boutiques by up-and-coming designers. (I particularly like the funky Ethik Concept boutique on the top floor, with organic body care products, accessories, and African-inspired fashions.) With very few exceptions (Au Pied Couchon restaurant, sightseeing at St. Eustache, or the occasional visit to the biggest FNAC in town), I try to avoid the entire Chatelet-Les Halles area.
For more, see my Chatelet-Les Halles Metro stop rant in Paris Neighborhoods to Avoid, Part 1.
Paris Neighborhoods Where I Feel Unsafe
There aren’t many places where I don’t feel safe in Paris, but Pigalle is out for me. It’s fine during the day, but it’s too seedy for me (a woman alone) at night. The metro exit is right in the middle of a little park on a median on Boulevard de Rochechouart, where a lot of men just congregate and hang out day and night. I often come home alone after dark, and I wouldn’t want to get off the train and have to walk through there or down Boulevard de Clichy to get home. Besides, sex shops and strip joints are not my idea of Parisian charm. I would avoid the areas directly east of Pigalle as well, including anything around the Anvers and Barbes Rochechouart Metro stops.
I know I just recommended Breguet-Sabin as an alternative to Bastille, and it is a much quieter Paris area, but there are a lot of vagrants in the park that runs amid Boulevard Richard Lenoir. (This doesn’t completely rule it out for me, but it doesn’t push it to the top of the list, either.) If I were considering the 11th arrondissement, I would try to go a little further east, toward the hip neighborhood of Voltaire, or a little further north, toward the hip neighborhood of Oberkampf.
A few more Paris neighborhoods where I don’t feel safe: Jaures is a little rough, and has a tent city along the northern part of Canal St. Martin. Nearby Stalingrad is sketchy, too. And between the prostitutes and super-aggressive street vendors, the Rue Aboukir/Rue St. Denis/Port St. Denis corridor is another place that makes me uncomfortable.
That’s it for my list of places in Paris to avoid living in. When you’re looking at pretty pictures of apartments, don’t forget to research things like convenient Metro access, neighborhood noise, and safety. There are plenty of great places to live in Paris, and a lot of them are off the beaten path and away from the city center. Look out for these in future Paris neighborhood profiles.
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