There’s a nostalgia hanging around the boulevards for an idealized old Paris – simple, friendly, idiosyncratic, cheap neighbourhood bars are losing ground to venues with €15 cocktails and painfully hip clientele, goes the dirge. But you can still find them, holding out in odd corners of certain arrondissements. Or you can head out of the city centre for a sure bet at the Grand Bouillon in Aubervilliers. It’s a refreshing dose of conviviality and simplicity for a mixed crowd, with a mix of events, and low prices.
Created and run by the social enterprise group AVEC, the venue mixes generations, culture and opinions around the table. All year round you’ll find concerts, DJ sets, debates, exhibitions, signings and more, to enrich the neighbourhood and the experience of the clientele. A bar with genuine life, then, with great beers on draught and bottles between €2.50 and €5, or a glass of organic wine for €3. The enormous space leaves plenty of room for events – and if there isn’t one on, there’s sure to be good music.