Last Updated on March 15, 2025
Last week Michael wrote about some of his less crowded sights in Paris. We both love the nooks and crannies of the City of Light, and fortunately there are plenty of them. My suggestions are a little less grim than his—I prefer to spend my time above ground.
Five less crowded sights in Paris
1) Malmaison
The former home of Josephine Bonaparte, this “petite château” sits among beautiful gardens on the outskirts of Paris. It is easily accessible by metro and bus. Meticulously restored with many original furnishings, Malmaison offers insight to the country life where Napoleon spent his weekends away from Paris. History, culture, gardens and a cool chateau in one tidy little package. Far more digestible, and less crowded, than Versailles.
Malmaison was Napoleon and Josephine’s love nest.
2) English Language Bookstores of the Left Bank
For a glimpse into Paris’ literary past, start with a visit to Shakespeare & Co., perched opposite Notre Dame cathedral. It’s a 1950’s-era reboot of the original shop that closed during WWII. The original was founded nearby by Sylvia Beach and provided a literary home to the likes of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and more. It somehow manages to channel ghosts of both the lost and the beat generations. It’s a tiny, creaky old place with tons of great titles. Don’t miss the mini-museum on the 2nd floor. Update 2025: Shakespeare and Company is now a huge tourist destination with velvet ropes out front to control crowds. It’s been rediscovered on social media and is thronged with people, some just buying bags with the store’s logo so they can take a photo outside of the bag with the store in the background to prove they were there. If you can’t get in, amble over to the nearby Odeon neighborhood where you’ll find San Francisco Books and the Abbey Bookshop. A few blocks farther southwest the Red Wheelbarrow is a snug bookstore.
To avoid the lines, plan your visit carefully to Shakespeare and Company.
Shakespeare and Company when you could just stroll right in.
3) Musée Marmottan Monet
This small museum boasts one of the largest collections of Monet’s works in the world. It is the “city sister” of the well-known Monet Gardens at Giverny. Housed in a former mansion in the 16th arrondisement, the Marmottan’s manageable size and bucolic setting enable a slow perusal of some legendary artwork, including paintings by Monet’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist colleagues. An excellent collection of medieval illuminations is also on display.
4) Saxe-Breteuil Market
A street food market in spectacular setting behind the Ecole Militaire with a view of the Eiffel Tower. It is crowded, but not with tourists carrying guidebooks. Open every Thursday and Saturday morning, Saxe-Breteuil is where residents of the 7th and 14th arrondisements shop for groceries. If you don’t have a flat with a kitchen you’ll only be able to ogle the cabbage-sized artichokes, Breton lobsters and fresh duck eggs. But even a visitor with a small hotel room can pick up fresh Normandy cider, ham cut to order off the bone and a hunk of aged Auvergne cheese.
Sniff out a few bargains at the fish counter.
5) Canal St. Martin
This multi-locked canal forms the spine of a neighborhood north of the Bastille. Trees and tiny parks line the 4 km long waterway, arced with delicate iron footbridges every few blocks. The streets alongside house some funky shops and small cafes. There are plenty of spots to enjoy a simple picnic while watching the barges and tour boats float by as they are raised and lowered through the locks.
The canal provides a relaxing setting for a picnic.
I hope you found these “less gritty” and “more pretty” than Michael’s suggestions.
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Can you recommend some other sights in Paris?
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