If you dream of nights of wild abandon in the style of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, the still-turning Moulin is not where you’ll find them: you can’t join in at this slick spectacle.
The nearest thing today is the series of after-parties at Folies Pigalle (see below), where drag queens and latter-day courtesans strut their stuff to tribal house. It starts at 5am, so where to go before?
Elysée Montmartre just up the Boulevard Rochechouart provides a suitably Belle Époque setting. This former cabaret hall is a spectacular location, with some good sounds depending on the night. These range from techno to hip-hop and reggae, with a fortnightly Le Bal drawing huge crowds to rock’n’roll and nostalgic hits.
Techno fans head to the clubbing strip on the Grands Boulevards, with the Rex (5 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, 2nd, 01-42-361-096. Nearest Métro: Clichy) and Pulp (25 Boulevard Poissonière, 2nd, 01-40-260-193. Nearest Métro: Grand Boulevards) close by.
Advertisement
Other fast bpm are found at La Scène Bastille (2 bis rue des Taillandiers, 11th, 01-48-065-070. Nearest Métro: Voltaire Ledru Rollin) and the Batofar (11 Quai François Mauriac, 13th, (01-56-291-000. Nearest Métro: Quai de la Gare), a lighthouse ship moored on the Seine. But fun though they may be, they are not exactly conducive to romance.
Dressed-up clubbing is concentrated in the Champs-Elysées area in venues such as L’Étoile (12 rue de Presbourg, 16th, 01-45-007-870. Nearest Métro: Kleber), where showing off your tan is more important than good dance moves. Mandala Ray (see below) offers a stunning location for a sophisticated night out. A successor to Buddha Bar, the lounge-bar/restaurant holds successful Friday and Saturday night soirées.
The “it” crowd in Paris currently revolves around Le Baron. It is difficult to enter without a personal introduction, so if your French doesn’t extend to blagging the doormen, go to its less exclusive sistervenue Le Paris Paris (see below), where the same young teams programme live rock and eclectic DJs in a setting that has plenty of room for chilling and dancing.
Finally, a good time is always to be had at Favela Chic (see below), where Parisians let their hair down to music from all continents, and dance on the tables till the relatively early closing time of 2am or 4am. It must be noted that most clubs don’t get going until at least this time, so you might consider moving on — the night is young.
L’ELYSÉE MONTMARTRE
Advertisement
72 bd Rochechouart, 18th (www.elysee-montmartre.com 08-92-692-392). Nearest Métro: Anvers. Open Fri & Sat midnight-dawn. Live concerts other nights. Entry €14-€25
This beautiful salle, featured in some of Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters, was a can-can venue at the beginning of the last century and still has its gorgeous stucco ceiling and gallery. These days, it is hired out to individual promoters for concerts and club nights. One of the best is Le Bal on the second and fourth Saturday of the month. A live band excites the twenty to thirtysomething crowd with the 20th century’s greatest hits, from musette music to ska, and French couples relive Sophie Marceau’s La Boum with the “quart d’heure américaine” (the slows). Otherwise, Panik, on the last Friday of the month, has top techno DJs such as Laurent Garnier.
FAVELA CHIC
18 rue du Fbg du Temple, 11th (www.favelachic.com 01-40-213-814). Nearest Métro: République. Open Tues, Wed & Thur 7.30pm-2am; Fri & Sat 7.30pm-4am; closed Sun & Mon. Entry free Tues-Thur; €10 (including 1 drink) Fri & Sat
The booty-shaking Brazilian joint, which now has a London offshoot, is still going strong just north of République. In a long room decorated with Brazilian kitsch and recycled objects, a young crowd gathers nightly to join in the carnival. Shimmy past the tables where delicious waiters in singlets serve large plates of feijoada to get to the crammed dancefloor on which everyone gets down to an eclectic mix that ranges from French chanson to reggae to house. Strong mojitos flow from the bar and the night always ends with people dancing on the tables.
Advertisement
FOLIES PIGALLE
11 place Pigalle, 9th (www.folies-pigalle.com 01-48-785-525. Nearest Métro: Pigalle. Open nightly midnightdawn. After-parties Sat, Sun & Mon mornings 5am-noon. Entry €20 (including 1 drink)
In the heart of saucy Pigalle, this pink-neon-fronted club is a beacon of good times for party people of all persuasions. A weekly schedule of regular nights ranges from R&B on Mondays, to Thursday’s transvestite party, but it’s most famous for its flamboyant afters. Paris’s most beautiful drag queens push the punters off the podium to strut their stuff at intervals, while live drummers keep the tribal house funky. The place is cosy and full to the brim, but you can chill out in front of the air-conditioning machines on the balcony while surveying the scene.
MANDALA RAY
32-34 rue Marbeuf, 8th (www.mandalaray.com 01-56-883-636). Nearest Métro: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Open daily 6pm-2am. Clubbing Fri & Sat midnight-dawn. Entry free (cocktails €12)
Advertisement
A former Art Deco cinema off the Champs-Elysées is the location for this fantastical creation that pays vague homage to the surrealist photographer Man Ray with its stained-glass verrière, gold statues and mosaics. In the mould of Buddha Bar, but still attracting a classy, dressed-up crowd, it has a mezzanine cocktail lounge to start the evening with smooth lounge sounds. At weekends the restaurant tables are cleared at midnight to make way for club nights with their resident DJs. Saturday’s Liquid boasts 128 bpm, while Subliminal Fridays are more laid-back with Pacha DJs among the line-up.
LE PARIS PARIS
5 av de l’Opéra, 2nd (www.leparisparis.com). Nearest Métro: Pyramides. Open Tues-Sat midnight-dawn; closed Sun & Mon. Entry free (drinks €20)
A former hostess club in the centre of town has been converted into this delicious space that hosts a spill-over crowd from the hot but exclusive Le Baron. A fibreoptic-lit stairway descends to the spacious dancefloor surrounded by slinky leather seating. Live rock concerts, electro and up-and-coming DJs are part of the scene, and arty acolytes from the concept shop Colette, independent record labels and the fashion world let their hair down — as far as French people can do, that is: watching Parisians move an eyebrow to Motörhead provides endless amusement.