I would like to visit Basilique St-Denis. I plan to use the metro to get there. Could someone give me walking directions from the metro stop to the Basilique St-Denis please. THanks so much for your help. - Best regards, Ellen
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None needed, actually. Just follow the others and look at the brown/beige signs saying %26quot;Basilique%26quot;.
It%26#39;s just around the corner from the metro (which is in a sort of shoppingcentre) - there is absolutely no way you can miss it.
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thanks - that%26#39;s good to know!!
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http://tinyurl.com/lq8alu
This is a link to the Google map of St-Denis. You may have to drag the picture a bit to the right and down - to see the church. That will explain the location in relation to the metro. It%26#39;s only 4-5 minutes walk, at the most.
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You basically exit and walk to your left.
An fun thing to do at Saint Denis is to go on a market day. It is the largest in Ile de France and the crowd and food are amazing. I go on Sunday when I do this.
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Is the market near the church? Is the %26quot;biggest%26quot; day Sunday? I am trying to put together a market-visit %26quot;tour%26quot; for my sister-in-law, who is a wonderful cook. We will be in Paris for a week in November. I have been to the more often-visited markets--Rue Cler, Mouffetard, Buci, Montorgrueil--but not to any others. I am trying to educate myself and step outside the box a bit. Any recommendations would be appreciated--places, days/times. We will be staying in the 16th and have a small kitchen, and we eat everything.
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When I was in St-Denis for the first time in 2007 there were stalls all the way up the %26quot;main street%26quot; Rue de la République, but it was very African and exotic. Fun to watch, but not the %26quot;classic%26quot; Parisian market.
My favorite markets are:
President Wilson Market (super cozy)
Avenue du Président Wilson between rue Debrousse and Place d’Iena.
Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Maubert Market (very small, but cozy)
Place Maubert.
Tuesday, Thursday, 7 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saxe-Breteuil Market (very %26quot;wide%26quot; + great location, you can shop for a picnic at Champs de Mars)
On the avenue de Saxe
Thursday, 7 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Place des Fêtes Market (the most delightful surprise, in the most unlikely surroundings ! Here are some pictures, if you want to see: http://tinyurl.com/l3llku )
Place des Fêtes.
Tuesday, Friday, 7 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Aligre market (very interesting market hall + bustling openair market)
Place d%26#39;Aligre
Tuesday to Saturday, 8.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Sunday, 8.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
And of course you have to visit the HUGE market next to Place de la Bastille. Very famous, but a tad too big for my temperament and packed with shoppers !
Bastille Market
Boulevard Richard Lenoir between rue Amelot and rue Saint-Sabin.
Thursday, 7 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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St Denis is very interesting. The Church is one of the most important in France (the other is Reims) not because it is beautiful but because the Kings of France are buried there (or whatever bits were saved after the 1789 revolutionary opened the tombs). As a study in contrasts the headquarter of the French communist party is but a few blocks away and, as Gitte mentioned, many of the locals are of foreign origin. This makes the whole area so much more fascinating.
This reminds me of the time I took a bus at CDG, back in the 1980s. The bus driver, a young black man, was cowering in fear while a husky American woman, looking very upset, was shouting at him. I said to her %26quot;no point shouting he doesn%26#39;t speak English%26quot; %26quot;of course he does, he doesn%26#39;t want to talk to me%26quot; ..I said %26quot;lady, he is French and likely doesn%26#39;t speak English%26quot; she gave me a shocked look %26quot;he is black, he got to speak English!%26quot; by then she had calmed down, I told her everything she wanted to know.. she was amazed that one could be both black and French. The bus driver was feeling better too and was grateful. As I suspected he couldn%26#39;t understand a word she said. One hope that by now they have bus drivers at CDG that speak some English..
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Thank you, Gitte, for the market details--now I have a schedule! I have already enjoyed your wonderful postings of your walks, and have seen the Fetes pictures--I can%26#39;t wait to see this market and the others %26quot;in person.%26quot; I had asked you previously about areas you would %26quot;avoid,%26quot; but the St-Denis market is not one, correct? (I explained previously that I was confused about the Barbes and Goutte D%26#39;Or areas because I%26#39;d read somewhere that they were very safe except at night--and I recently found that info again in an article on Our Paris by Kerouac. When I read about your experiences near Barbes, I learned that I should not negotiate those areas/markets without someone who really knew his/her way around. So--just confirming about St-Denis %26quot;ethnic%26quot; market, because I would love that if it%26#39;s safe--and have a side question: What about shopping at Tati-isn%26#39;t that Barbes? Thanks for all info.
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mcal - all I can say is that when I was in St-Denis, it was perfectly OK. As to Barbès, I have to be true to my own experience and to the words of the taxidriver. Also I think you should heed the words of Huggz who wrote a very sensible thread yesterday about these matters:
tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k28310…
Kerouac praises Goutte d%26#39;Or as being smart and bobo - I know he lives up at Max Dormoy himself, so that may have something to do with it. I walked a bit around Rue de la Goutte d%26#39;Or in 2007 and even then I didn%26#39;t like the atmosphere. I had a clear feeling of being on a wrong territory, also got some stares for being so obviously not local. Not nice, that%26#39;s all I can say. But...... %26quot;chacun à son goût%26quot;, right ?
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Thank you, Gitte, and I had read the post by Huggz, which was very helpful and right on point. I am going to visit the markets you so thoroughly described for me, and avoid the ones I was feeling insecure about anyway. Appreciate all the patient answers--thanks again.
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