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Bastille (11th district or ‘arrondissement’) is the area bordering the Marais ( the 4th) and the 12th district in Central Paris, and some say, it is where the real Paris begins. If you are looking for a great location to base yourself in Paris , you can’t go past Bastille. Close enough to the main tourist areas of the Marais and across the river from the Latin Quarter, and yet not inundated with hoards of tourists. The area abounds with Cafes, restaurants, wonderful bread and cake shops and the famous Bastille Market. The Metro stop is on the main north south line 1, taking you to the
Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triumphe and also the Louvre. The woods at Vincenne and La Defence are at either end of Line 1.
It is a lively area that offers a bit of everything. The sweeping tree lined Boulevard Richard Lenoir, which offers the
Bastille market (see right) and children’s parks, joins Place de la Bastille to Place de la République.
Bastille and Rue du Faubourg St Antoine are a favourite for trendy cafés, restaurants and nightlife and also have a range of boutiques and galleries. The Oberkampf district to the north is another popular area for nightlife.
The population is predominantly a friendly 30 something becoming more family oriented in the east. There is a real community spirit in most areas of the 11th and it is interspersed with pleasant little squares and parks.
Take the scenic walk from Bastille Square across the Seine and through Ile St. Louis onto Notre Dame. A beautiful walk which takes around 20 mins from Bastille Square.
A wander along Rue du Faubourg St. Antoine will take you
towards Place d'Aligre, The bustling market in Place d'Aligre, with its 19th century market hall, now protected as a national monument, is very typical of the varied and colourful life of this quarter.
WONDERFUL BASTILLE , A GREAT PLACE TO STAY IN PARIS
Bastille has had quite a chequered past and was reborn with the opening of the Opéra Bastille on the bicentennial of the Revolution, to emerge as a trendy area of cafes, bars, restaurants, boutiques and galleries, frequented by a mixture of young Parisians, expats and tourists.
Cross Place de la Bastille and you enter the Marais , walking
down Rue St Antoine , taking Rue de Birague to the right and emerge in beautiful place des Vosges.
Bastille Square
Place des Vosges
Bastille Market
At the end of Rue de la Roquette is Pere Lachaise Cemetery,
a map at the entrance will guide you to the specific
grave sites of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf,
Honore de Balzac and Sarah Bernhardt
to name just a few of the celebrities buried there.
In Rue de Lappe, once occupied by coal-
