Rather than line up behind the velvet ropes of these famed Left Bank cafes, cross the Seine to some Right Bank gems. Carette, a century-old pastry shop and tearoom alongside the Place du Trocadero is known for its chocolat chaud and homemade macarons. Their newer, 21st-century location, under the stone arcades of the aristocratic Place des Vosges, ups the charm and tosses in some writerly vibes: just across the square is the former townhouse of novelist Victor Hugo, now a museum. Or head to fashionable rue Saint Honoré. Operating since 1880, Verlet roastery serves myriad house-label coffees and teas inside its elegant café-boutique.
Consider alternate routes
Like the old expression implores, when everyone else zigs, you zag. Instead of crushing onto the decks of the mobbed sightseeing boats that ply the Seine, try a cruise up or down the Canal St. Martin, a slim waterway that winds north by northwest from the river and takes you through the trendy 10th and 19th Arrondissements.
Rather than hiking the steep, crowded, souvenir-filled streets of Montmartre to ogle Paris from the high perch of the Sacre-Coeur basilica, you can discover one of Paris’s most lovely parks — Buttes Chaumont — which sports a hilltop house of worship of its own: a replica Roman temple with views over northeast Paris, a bohemian and multicultural area far from the city’s well-trodden tourist zones.
As when others are jamming themselves into the trains that head westward to the overrun gilded halls of Versailles, opt instead to ride the rails south to Fontainebleau and stroll through some of the 1,500-plus rooms of the equally opulent Château de Fontainebleau. Built mainly over the course of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the sumptuous, art-filled royal palace and residence was home to a long succession of French kings and rulers, from François I to Louis XVI to Napoleon.
If your dates are flexible, visit in August
The city empties out in late summer as Parisians depart on their annual holiday and tourist numbers dip, leaving Paris blissfully quiet and calm. (Many locals and expats who hang around say that this is their favorite time of the year.) Museums, monuments and parks generally stay open, as do many hotels, allowing you to enjoy iconic Paris with more breathing room. And though many restaurants and shops are shuttered for a few weeks, those that operate can be reserved or enjoyed with less hassle. Lists of restaurants that typically stay open in August are published by Sortir à Paris and Paris by Mouth.
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