72-Hour Guide to Paris: Le Comptoir Général
This week I was in Paris for a 3-day meeting with lots of work and hardly any time to play. You already know there is Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris, Le Sacré Coeur, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and other amazing sights in Paris. But this post is not about them but a place that not many tourists and, until recently, even Parisians knew about. It’s Le Comptoir General.
Imagine going to a meeting straight from the train station and ending up in a place that makes you feel like Alice who just felt into the rabbit hole. Le Comptoir General is funky, exotic, bizarre, cool and amusing all at once.
Each room has its own vibe, but the overall theme this summer is 80s cinema. So you will find posters and artefacts from major movies, like Top Gun, Coming to America, Jurassic Park and even Disney’s cartoons.
Le Comptoir General is a multi-functional venue: there is thrift shop with funky trinkets, accessories and clothes, coffee shop and a beachy bar, a restaurant and grocery shop, botanical garden, and even a hairdressing spot.
Mokele Mbembe Room is dedicated to travel, cryptozoology and botany. Funny enough not only you can buy movie posters and animal sculls here but even soaps, seeds and oils.
Make sure to open drawers in the library filing cabinet. You may find some interesting messages from complete strangers!
During the day don’t be surprised to see people working on their laptops and sipping cocktails, sitting comfortably in vintage sofas and chairs (all of which are for sale) and listening to the tunes of a Senegalese singer.
The restaurant/cafe felt like visiting grandma’s kitchen filled with products and kitchenwear that reminded me of the past.
And food was tasty too…
Many rooms can be rented for meetings like mine, but there is a separate co-working area where small start-ups are developing their business ideas. In the evening the venue gets crowded as Parisian hipsters pour in for drinks and some live performances.
So if you want something off the beaten path, I would definitely recommend visiting Le Comptoir General. More information on location and opening hours can be found here.
Finally, what post about France doesn’t end with the food?! Here are few pictures of amazing things I got to try in those 3 days…Au revoire! Bisou, your stylish voyager x
