Drinking in a convent garden
Hidden between the Gare de l'Est train station and the canal Saint Martin lies the old Les Récollets convent, now home to the Maison de l'Architecture, a centre for research, and the trendy Café a.
The inside space is huge, great for concerts/performances/exhibitions I imagine, with an urban factory-floor feel to it. But the real selling-point chez Café a is the beautiful garden outside. Large white parasols, trees, flowers, sunshine. And a well. For putting coats on.
I loved the feeling of seclusion, as the garden is entirely walled in from the outside world, and surprisingly you can't hear any of the traffic outside the station. And it's just by the canal, so the perfect place to end up at after a sunday stroll by the water.
A pint is 5.50 €. Good tea is 4 €. Brunch is popular but otherwise the food they serve seems a little expensive, although a waitress walked past with a large cheese plate which looked pretty good from where I was sitting.
A great place to come with a couple friends and soak up the sunshine. They also do DJ nights on Fridays and Saturdays, which I'm going to have to check out. I'm sure the nuns would have loved it
Address: 148 rue du Faubourg Saint Martin
Metro: Gare de l'Est
Open:
Mon - Fri: 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
Sat - Sun: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Love,
Mustard
Labels: 75010, Drinks, food and wine, Friday, insolite, Paris secrets, Spring in Paris, summer ideas, sunday, sunshine, things to do in Paris
