5 of the Best Cafés in Paris

The Nemours is located Place Colette, just outside of the beaded entrance of the metro Palais Royal, on the side of Le Louvre. This café is an excellent place for people watching: spot the actors from the Comédie Française smoking on the first-floor balcony and groups of tourists coming and going from the museum. Enjoy a stroll through the Colonnes de Buren, the art installation created by the French artist Daniel Buren in the inner courtyard of the Palais Royal or in the beautiful parc behind it.

In an old 600 square-meter barn is the offbeat “The Comptoir General”, a buzzing Parisian hangout, located in the 10th arrondissement. “As you walk in, the size of the space blows you away – two enormous, shadowy rooms connected by a smoking area formed from a tropical garden in an enormous greenhouse that creates a well of light in the centre of the venue. In another corner sits a cabinet of curiosities, full of neat rows of skeletons, rare bird feathers, and stuffed animals.” Are you intrigued yet?

The Café de Flore is one of the oldest coffeehouses in Paris. It is located in the heart of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, in the 6th district of Paris, at the crossroads of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the rue Saint-Benoît. Over the years, Le Flore has been known for being the meeting point of famous intellectual and artistic figures, from Apollinaire to Sartre, Camus, and Prévert. A must in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the café is a good starting point for a visit of Paris.