As spring arrives, so Parisians head to their favourite cafes to while away the day on a sunny pavement terrace - a Gallic ritual that begins with a strong black coffee in the morning, through to a kir or pastis at lunchtime, and then chilled rose or a ballon de blanc for the evening apero. Ever since smoking was banned, pavement terraces have mushroomed and now some worried neighbourhood town halls are trying to enforce strict limitations on how far a terrace can actually stretch across the pavement. The police are even trying to ban the evening picnics that are so popular on the city's most beautiful pedestrian bridge, the romantic Pont des Arts. But rest assured, cafe owners may have to pay a few fines, but this is one Parisian tradition that is never going to disappear. Everyone has their own secret address, but here is a selection of landmark locales, fashionable hangouts and popular neighbourhood cafes.
1. Cafe de Flore
Enjoying a cafe and croissant on a shady pavement table outside one of Saint Germain's great literary cafes is one of the ultimate Parisian experiences, and even though the prices are totally over the top, it is worth splashing out at least once in your life. The great dilemma though is whether to choose http://www.lesdeuxmagots.fr/Les Deux Magots or Cafe de Flore, side by side but perennial rivals to attract the Rive Gauche intelligentsia for over a century. Best choice has to be the Flore, which was the favourite rendez-vous of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and today, its discreet charm is still just that little bit classier than the more ostentatious Deux Magots.
• 172 boulevard St Germain 75006, cafe-de-flore.com, +33 1 45 48 55 26
2. Aux Folies
While the City of Light may not be an ethnic melting pot like London and New York, the brilliant Belleville bar, Aux Folies, offers a dazzling multi-cultural slice of Parisian life. Whatever time of the day or night, there is always a buzz sitting out on the crowded pavement terrace here. Belleville is still nostalgically remembered by the French as being the gritty home of the likes of Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier. But today it has become a far more authentic Chinatown, mixed in with North African food stalls and couscous restaurants.
• 8, Rue de Belleville, 75020, +33 1 46 36 65 98
3. Au Petit Fer a Cheval
The Marais is the oldest part of Paris, with opulent palaces and mansions that date back to the time of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. While tourists flock here for culture and chic shopping, locals know the Marais more as the city's prime gay neighbourhood. Au Petit Fer a Cheval - the Horse Shoe Bar - is a friendly, cosmopolitan locale that attracts a stylish clientele, and the couple of tables out on the pavement are desperately sought out as the rue Vieille du Temple is the Marais' main drag. Just opposite the bar, check out La Belle Hortense, a bookshop that doubles as a winebar.
• 30, Rue Vieille du Temple , 75004, + 33 1 42 72 47 47
4. Le Sancerre
Steer well clear of the tourist-trap bars around the Sacré-Coeur church in Montmartre, especially the Place du Tertre, and instead wander over to the much funkier adjoining neighbourhood, Abbesses. Open seven days a week, from 7am until 2am, Le Sancerre is a feisty mix of bohemian locals, bikers and transvestites, students and bemused tourists. Sitting out on the pavement terrace gives you a brilliant view, though you're better off with a glass of wine or a beer than the over-priced cocktails.
• 35 rue des Abbesses, 75018, +33 1 42 58 08 20
5. Chez Prune
The bars, cafes, boutiques and restaurants that line the bank along the Canal Saint-Martin have transformed what was once a sleepy part of town hidden away off the Place de la République into one of the hippest parts of Paris. Chez Prune has become an institution, looking out over the canal, so arrive early if you want to grab a table outside. Across the water at the Jemmapes Bar, prices are cheaper and everyone sits right on the water's edge, but they don't have the same licence as Prune, so you have to make do with plastic glasses, not the best way to enjoy a chilled rose wine.
• 36, Rue Beaurepaire, 75010, +33 1 42 41 30 47
6. Pause Cafe
There are sprawling pavement cafes all around the impressive Place de la Bastille, but to really put your finger on the pulse of this cool "quartier", search out Pause Cafe, just off the bustling rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. With its sunny terrace, this is the perfect spot to chill out with a lazy breakfast of orange pressée, café au lait and melt-in-the-mouth croissants. Ever since it featured in the cult Parisien movie, Chacun Cherche son Chat (Everyone's Looking for their Cat), the Pause Cafe has attracted a fashionable Bobo (Bourgeois Bohemian) crowd.
• 41, Rue de Charonne, 75011, +33 1 40 21 89 06
7. Le Select
Montparnasse has changed a lot since the decadent days of the Belle Epoque when an explosive mix of chic cafe society and bohemian artists flocked to grand Art Nouveau locales like La Coupole and the Closerie des Lilas. But today, it is still worth grabbing a table on the terrace outside legendary literary cafe, Le Select, once the haunt of Hemingway, Picasso and Henry Miller. The place really hasn't changed much since it opened in 1925 - apart from the prices which are not cheap. For sure, there will be plenty of tourists, but you'll also be rewarded with a delightfully cliched, but authentic, slice of Left Bank life, with students earnestly discussing philosophy, businessmen holding an impromptu meeting or elegant fashionistas taking a break from shopping.
• 99 boulevard du Montparnasse, 75006, +33 1 45 48 38 24
8. Cafe de la Paix
If you really want to see just how crazy Parisian drivers can be, there is no better spectator seat than the front row of the terrace of the historic Cafe de la Paix, which looks right out over the frenetic crossroads at the Place de l'Opera. Sit back and watch the free cabaret, though if you splash out to enjoy half a dozen oysters and a glass of Chablis, expect a hefty "addition" of €31. The Cafe is part of the Le Grand Hotel, which was built in 1858 by the same architect as the sumptuous Opera Garnier, so be sure to at least have a look around the incredible interiors of the cafe and the splendid Winter Garden in the hotel itself.
• 5 Place de l'Opera, 75009, cafedelapaix.fr, +33 1 40 07 36 36
9. Cafe Charbon
Rue Oberkampf is a long, narrow street that runs all the way from near Bastille up to Belleville. During the day it is a quiet laid-back place, but when the sun goes down it transforms into one of the funkiest nightlife sectors of Paris. You can choose between hip locales like the Mecano, Chez Justine and Nouveau Casino, but the place that first began the Oberkampf revolution is the Cafe Charbon, and a table on its pavement terrace is still the ultimate spot to be seen and for people-watching.
• 109 Rue Oberkampf, 75011, +33 1 43 57 55 13
10. Cafe Beaubourg
The Costes brothers are style gurus who have been behind pretty much every trend-making cafe, bar and hotel in Paris for the last two decades, beginning with their seminal Cafe Costes through to the uber-chic Hotel Costes on rue St-Honoré. When the sun is shining, it is difficult to beat their cool Cafe Beaubourg, whose terrace has a prime view over the Pompidou Centre and assorted mime artists, musicians, fire-eaters, puppeteers and comics performing on the Esplanade in front of the museum. Prices are not cheap, but you can linger as long as you want over a chocolat chaud.
• 43 rue Saint-Merri, 75004, +33 1 48 87 63 96
• All photographs by johnbrunton.com
