| Bars in Paris | Restaurants in Paris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Le Bains (Global's Favorite!) 7 rue du Bourg-l'Abbé, 3rd (01.48.87.01.80) Mº Etienne-Marcel. Open 11.30pm-5am daily. Restaurant 8.30pm-1am. Admission 100F Mon-Thur; 120F Fri-Sun. Drinks 70F. Credit AmEx, MC, V. Les Bains remains the venue for star spotting and home to the beautiful people (free Champagne for models ensures that the chairs are always draped with six-foot beauties), but under Cathy and David Guetta's management, the music is right, too. It is packed every night, but tourists with money to spend often strike lucky on the door. A surefire method is to book a table at the restaurant, where the real VIPs hang out. Downstairs, the music policy is surprisingly modern with quality DJs spinning house, garage and hip hop on Wednesday and a successful gay night on Monday. Club Castel 15 rue Princesse, 6th (01.40.51.52.80) Mº Mabillon. Open 9pm-dawn Tue-Sat. Admission free (members and guests only). Drinks 100F. Credit AmEx, DC, MC, V. Classy Castel reeks of wallet. Elitist door policy dictates that you must be nominated by two members to join, but it seems that if dressed like a yacht-owner you can breeze inside. Inside, the plush four-floor joint has relaxed its black-tie dress code since octogenarian Castel passed away, though many of his flush cronies still patronise the place. The saprophytic girls are all stunning; only the sour-faced, liftée wives don't seem to be enjoying themselves. The Duplex 2bis av Foch, 16th (01.45.00.45.00) Mº Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile. Open 11pm-dawn Tue-Sun. Admission 100F Tue-Thur, Sun (girls free before midnight); 120F with drink Fri, Sat. Drinks 60F. Credit AmEx, MC, V. The Duplex caters for young wannabes and marrigeable children of 'Untel' (youth relying on their parent's name and money) often adorned in clothing more suited to their aristocratic grannies. At weekends, there's a queue down the street. A sultry restaurant upstairs serving modern cuisine (spicy prawns, monkfish) from 9pm transforms into a chillout room (or green out when Champagne has flowed too freely for unaccustomed palates). Le Cabaret 68 rue Pierre-Charron, 8th (01.42.89.44.14) Mº Franklin D. Roosevelt. Open 11pm-4am Mon-Sat. Admission free. Drinks 80F-100F. Credit AmEx, DC, MC, V. Eurobabes and wealthy young expats gather at this former cabaret for its trad red-velvet atmosphere. Fussy door staff have been known to allow in regulars but refuse entry to their friends. L'Atlantis 32 quai d'Austerlitz, 13th (01.44.23.24.00) Mº Quai de la Gare. Open 11pm-dawn Fri-Sat, public holidays. Admission 110F. Drinks 70F. Credit MC, V. One of the many French Caribbean clubs which relies on a loyal clientele who dress up to the nines and never fail to show up every weekend. Women wear the tightest dresses possible and men wear suits. Once inside, punters wind down to the latest zouk and soukous but, before asking anyone to dance, check there are no jealous partners lurking. Le Saint 7 rue St-Séverin, 5th (01.43.25.50.04) Mº St-Michel. Open 11pm-dawn Tue-Sun. Admission free Tue-Wed; 60F Thur, Sun; 80F Fri; 90F Sat. Drinks 30F. Credit DC, MC, V. Relaxed and unpretentious, Le Saint is patronised mainly by students, au pairs and backpackers. However, it's cheerful and intimate, with a cute dancefloor in a cellar dating in parts to the thirteenth century, and the drinks won't break the bank. Music is a mix of French pop, disco, house and salsa. Le Queen 102 av des Champs-Elysées, 8th (01.53.89.08.90) Mº George V. Open midnight-dawn daily. Admission 50F Mon, Sun; free Tue, Thur; 30F Wed; 100F Fri, Sat. Drinks from 50F. Credit AmEx, DC, MC, V. The Queen has become so popular it has launched its own magazine, featuring interviews with DJs and personalities alongside the pumped-up pecs. Wednesday's Respect, the only truly mixed night, has moved on to greater things and is currently doing a world tour. It has been replaced by Secret (the same thing, but 30F and more housey) with resident DJs Dimitri from Paris, Ivan Smagghe and Romain. It still gets so packed that buying a drink is a rigmarole. Thursday and Saturday are both theoretically exclusively gay, when full-on erotic podium dancers and drag queens rule the roost, and girls find it hard to get in unless accompanied by cute males. If you're super-duper camp, don't miss Monday's Disco Inferno and Sunday's Over Kitsh. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||