Buzz
Most Vietnamese tourists visiting Paris often allocate time to visit the 13th arrondissement to enjoy a bowl of pho and end their meal with a glass of three-color tea (known as Trois couleurs by the French) to ease their longing for home-cooked food.
Choose Montparnasse for your Parisian getaway.
Similarly, we've frequented the area, strolling from Place d'Italie down to various Vietnamese pho restaurants, Chinese eateries, and more before heading back to our hotel room somewhere nearby. However, since 2004, every time we visit Paris, we opt for a different location, namely Montparnasse.
Montparnasse, located in the 14th arrondissement out of Paris's 20 districts (Arrondissements in French), often referred to as the City of Light or the City of Love, depending on each tourist's sentiment.
Numerous times, upon landing at Charles de Gaulle International Airport, I've purchased tickets for Cars Air France to reach Paris, booking accommodations in the Montparnasse area. I chose this location for several reasons, including its proximity to transportation hubs, vibrant lifestyle, diverse dining options, and affordable entertainment choices.
The terminal of the French airline is situated directly across from Pullman Hotel, adjacent to Montparnasse train station. From dawn till dusk, the station bustles with numerous high-speed trains departing for cities in the Western and Southwestern regions of France. Opposite the station is a bus terminal offering routes to various destinations across Paris. Nearby, tourists can find double-decker buses, the 'hop-on, hop-off' kind favored by international travelers for sightseeing.
Just a 3-minute walk from the station stands one of Paris's renowned landmarks: the Montparnasse Tower, the tallest building in Paris (210m, 59 floors) from the early 1970s to 2011. Taking the elevator, you can reach the 56th floor in a mere 38 seconds to admire Paris sparkling in the night, witness the Eiffel Tower's dazzling lights, and dine at one of the most famous restaurants in the City of Light. At the base of this dark brown tower is a shopping space, offering a range of stores from Galeries Lafayette to CA to Monoprix, providing French products from wine (including champagne), cheese, chocolate to cosmetics, and fashionable clothing, all at reasonable prices.
The spacious area between the train station and Montparnasse Tower is often the venue for culinary festivals, fairs, where you can purchase high-quality fashion items at surprisingly low prices (due to being out of fashion) compared to the prevailing fashion trends, or buy specialties from various regions of France.
While the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery often tops the list of places to visit for many tourists in Paris, they overlook Montparnasse Cemetery, located at 3 Quinet Avenue, where philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre rests. During his lifetime, he was a resident of Montparnasse. His grave lies next to that of Simone de Beauvoir, a French writer, philosopher, and feminist activist. Montparnasse Cemetery is smaller than Père Lachaise but is also the final resting place for writers like Guy de Maupassant, Marguerite Duras, poets such as Charles Baudelaire, Robert Desnos, Samuel Beckett, actor Philippe Noiret, musician/singer Serge Gainsbourg, and fashion designer Sonia Rykiel, who passed away in late August 2016.
Recently, visitors to Montparnasse have an additional, albeit somewhat eerie, experience: descending into the earth at dusk to marvel at the bones of six million people dating back to the late 18th century. The entrance to explore this catacomb lies at 1 Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy Avenue.
And perhaps, during one of your nights experiencing Parisian life in the central bars of Montparnasse, you might encounter Christophe, a talented artist known for many romantic songs that have left a mark on the memories of many young Vietnamese in the 1960s and 1970s. Montparnasse has always been a magnet attracting writers, poets, painters, artists, philosophers, since after World War I until today. Not only French luminaries like Proust, Prévert, Sartre but also American talents like Josephine Baker, Henry Miller, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Spanish figures like Pablo Picasso.
As night falls, Montparnasse comes alive with vigor. Diners flock to a variety of restaurants, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese cuisines. You have plenty of nighttime entertainment options, from catching a movie at one of the 4 or 5 cinema complexes, with Bretagne being one of the largest in Paris, to enjoying theater or trying your luck at the casino. Alternatively, take a stroll along Montparnasse Boulevard and visit some of its famous landmarks along the way.
If number 91 is the Notre-Dame-des-Champs church, then number 99 is the renowned Le Select beer restaurant, open since 1923. Number 102 is another highly acclaimed dining spot: La Coupole, welcoming guests since 1927, frequented by world-famous figures like Louis Aragon, Picasso, Foujita, Radiguet. Next is La Rotonde at number 105, operating since 1911, where Jean Cocteau befriended Picasso; number 108 is Le Dôme, opened in 1897 and a daily haunt for historical figures like Lenin, Trotsky, Hemingway, Man Ray, Henry Miller, André Breton, Samuel Beckett. Then there's number 171, La Closerie des Lilas, pouring wine and beer for guests since 1903, visited by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Dos Passos.
Perhaps because it's a gathering place for many writers and poets, along Montparnasse Boulevard, you'll find a bookstore named 'Mona Lisait' (Mona Reads) instead of Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. See you there in Christmas 2016 or summer 2017!
By Nguyễn Dũng/ Saigon Entrepreneur
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Reference: Mytour Travel Guide
TravelMastery.comDecember 2, 2016
