Paris is a city best consumed at a leisurely, hedonistic pace, in the dreamy tradition of the Parisian flanêur lifestyle, and there are few better places in the French capital to indulge in people-watching, aimlessly strolling, pure pleasure eating, and cafe and wine bar-crawling than Belleville.
A bit of background
Belleville was a separate municipality until 1860, when it was annexed as the City of Paris expanded, and for that reason parts of the neighborhood retain something of a village-like charm, with cobbled streets and atypical architecture that escaped Baron Haussman’s grand urban transformation.
These days, defining the borders of Belleville is the subject of debate, particularly as Belleville Metro sits at the crossroads of four different arrondissements (or “districts” of Paris) – the 10th, 11th, 19th and 20th – and potentially stretches from near Canal Saint-Martin in the west to Buttes-Chaumont Park to the north and even towards Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the south. But if that all sounds a bit technical, I just want to emphasize how wide-ranging the place is, full of micro-neighborhoods.
That being said, the beating heart of Belleville is one of the few areas in Paris that is truly working class and ethnically diverse. It houses one of the two Chinatowns in Paris, with significant Chinese and Vietnamese populations, as well as large numbers of Tunisians, Algerians, Kurds, and other immigrant communities. This, paired with a growing number of restaurants serving up exquisite modern European food, make it, in my opinion, the best (and best value) place to eat in Paris.
With historically lower rents, Belleville has long been a hub for artists and musicians, including the iconic French singer Edith Piaf in the early 20th century right up to celebrated filmmaker Maïwenn today. But Belleville has changed drastically in the past years. There are now hipster coffee shops and smash burger joints welcoming hordes of TikTokers and Emily in Paris fans. Even so, you may spot sex workers in the area, or men selling counterfeit cigarettes around the metro.
Despite these tensions, Belleville largely remains a place of character and soul. It doesn’t have any major tourist sites – and for much the better. It’s a place where the local newsagent will take the time to gossip with you, where a bar owner might spontaneously pull out a wheel of cheese to share with a glass of red, and where the everyday people still seem to own the streets. It’s my…
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