A typical Parisian night out can mean any number of things. Some people like the club scene, while others prefer a quiet drink along the Seine. Some can knock back shots at the bar, and others look for a cultural infusions via acoustic guitar sets or art gallery openings. To accomplish all of these things in one night would, at the very least, tax your Navigo pass as you zig zag across town. Most likely, it would drive you crazy.

However, Hip Paris readers, I recently visited a place that is so all-encompassing, so varied in its vibe, décor and mission, that you and any number of your difficult-to-please friends can enjoy yourself, no matter what you’re looking for that night — or even that moment.

Entrance to La Halle Aux Oliviers (Kygp)

La Bellevilloise is an expansive, multi-tiered space in the hills of Belleville that, with seeming ease, incorporates every type of good time to be had under one roof. It is a jack-of-all-trades, where bar meets restaurant meets dance floor meets performance space meets brunch spot. Walking into each different area of the space brings a new experience, and I was drawn from doorway to doorway in a pleasant yet mildly schizophrenic frenzy of entertainment.

Kygp

Le Forum

Entering from the street into the Forum drops you into a cavern-like club, dark and inviting. It’s like an Art Deco museum with a pulse. It’s a casual setting, and the various, mostly acoustic sets trade places up on the center stage for a packed room. Multiple floors of seating on both sides of the room allow patrons to watch the staff move with symphonic rhythm through the space, delivering tapas (the salmon wraps caught my eye more than once) and strong mojitos out from behind the imposing bar. The mood, despite the low lighting, is vibrant, cheery and unpretentious. On my last visit, I saw trenchcoats mixing with Nikes and flannels and fitted caps bumping hips with mom jeans…

La Terrasse (Jason Whittaker)

La Terrassee

After the cavernous Forum, emerging onto the Terrace, with its relaxed atmosphere among the Belleville rooftops, is a breath of fresh air. Gorgeous evening light is the setting for another bar, a partially covered deck, abundant greenery and wheelbarrow tables. Reminiscent of a Brooklyn beer garden, this space offers a reprieve from the energy and intensity of the other rooms. The rumblings of upright bass from the Forum are just a whisper out here. Everything about this cozy balcony says: take your time, have a drink. So I did.

La Halle Aux Oliviers (Kygp)

La Halle

Stairs from the Terrace can take you up, or down and around the corner to arrive at La Halle aux Oliviers, which greeted me with soft candlelight and blood-red curtains, chairs, and walls. This space features both fine dining and entertainment, allowing visitors to chow down on duck while DJs spin records and another drink is poured. The immense skylights of the old hangar space, along with the tree trunks sprouting up through the tables, give this room a natural air, perfect for their Sunday brunch. This room alone affords you the opportunity to drink the night away and return the next day to munch and sip away the hangover.

La Halle Aux Oliviers (Kygp)

During my visit, The Loft (on the top floor where movie screenings, art exhibitions and flea markets take place) and The Club (the basement for concerts, festivals, parties, and generally dancing one’s ass off) were closed at the moment. This means there is even more to Bellevilloise than discussed here, with all upcoming events available on their website, plus the ability to reserve these rooms for your own get-togethers.

(Christing O; Kygp)

Perhaps you are like me, and your number one complaint with any bar, café, club, restaurant or art gallery is, “This place is nice—but there’s only one theme going on here. I mean, what does a guy need to do to get a little experimental artwork to go with my steak while I listen to a live samba band before heading to an 80s dance party?” If you have thought this, maybe you and I should hang out because we both have awfully eclectic tastes. Also, you should spend a night exploring La Bellevilloise.

Jason Whittaker

La Bellevilloise, 19-21 rue Boyer, Paris, 20e. For information on hours and to view the schedule of events, click here.

Related Links:

• Looking got switch up your music scene a little? How about hidden concerts? More info here.
• Indulge in a delicious meal before your nighttime excursions at nearby Chapeau Melon
• Or maybe you just want to go dancing under a bridge?

Written by Eric Goldschein for the HiP Paris Blog . Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

In La Ville-Lumière, where the wine can be cheaper than the water, there are times when we forget that there is something other to drink than the humble grape: I refer you to the classic cocktail. Paris is full to the brim of kitsch cocktail bars popular with les bobos, über-cool joints where the process of whipping together a cocktail has more oomph than the finale of the Cirque du Soleil. But sometimes nothing beats going back to basics. And where better to enjoy the perfect Bloody Mary than under the very roof where it, along with other classic favorites, were invented and have been drunk for 100 years.

Harry’s New York Bar is the oldest cocktail bar in Europe, and first opened minus the ‘Harry’s’ prefix in 1911. It’s since become the darling of Parisians and expats alike, celebrated for its extensive cocktail list, beautifully prepared drinks and excellent service. It sits just five minutes walk from the hustle and bustle of Opéra and, in tribute to their loyal expat clientele, a sign outside reads ‘Sank roo doe noo’ – a phonetic transcription of the bar’s address to help lost and thirsty compatriots find there way there.

A warm greeting from the sweetly smiling hostess and a push through the swinging saloon doors, and I feel like I’ve tumbled into New York in the days before prohibition, when the men wore top hats and women feathers and fur. There’s not such stylish attire now, alas – more button down shirts and loosened ties, but the décor and atmosphere still shimmer of debonair early 20^th Century days: smartly adorned bar staff, beautiful dark reddish oak panelling, walls plastered with triangular American state flags and rows upon rows of glittering bottles of all shapes and sizes — alcohols, mixers and syrups, all ready to be whipped up into a perfect cocktail creation. Even the old style hot dog stand on the bar counter pays tribute.

I’d missed lunch, which is the only time they serve anything other than New York style hot dogs; so instead, I sipped mojitos – I’m still une bobo at heart – in the piano bar downstairs and listened blissfully to the jazz pianist work his magic on an upright piano into the small hours.

The lingering taste of that freshly squeezed lime and the memories of old tunes strummed up and down that piano rang long in my ears and carried me on into the night. It’s worlds apart from the outdoor culture of a summer in Paris, but it was lovely to be able to slip back, just for an evening, into old New York.

Harry’s New York Bar. 5 Rue Daunou (1^st arr.), 01 42 61 71 14. Open 10:30am-4am daily; Piano Bar Tue-Fri 10pm-2am, Sat 10pm-3am

Related Links:

• For the latest on cocktails and Paris, check out 52 Martinis
• Some of Paris’ best cocktail bars, courtesy of the NY Times
• HiP Paris friend I Heart Paris recently hosted a soirée at the Curio Parlor cocktail bar

Written by Kate Ross  for the HiP Paris Blog. All photos by Julien Hausherr; Contact: julienhausherr@hotmail.fr. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

photo courtesy of womenmanagementparis.blogspot.com

At first you thought you’d never tire of your pre-dinner kirs or pastis on traditional café terraces. But after one-too-many botched martinis, you’re willing to start considering alternatives. And if those alternatives happen to come courtesy of a group of fresh-faced Parisians enamored with New York cocktail culture, so be it.

Determined to bring Parisians around to the idea of “real” cocktails, drawing on only the finest spirits and fresh-squeezed fruit, the team behind the Curio Parlor first landed on the Paris scene a couple years ago with the Experimental Cocktail Club, an aptly named velour-lined drinking den in the 2nd arrondissement.

Although the two bars share their inclination towards taxidermy, designer’s guild prints, rococo chandeliers and plying Paris’ trendy set with expensive drinks, the Curio Parlor feels like the older sibling; a grown-up, intimate den perfect for whiling away an evening when you’re homesick for a proper Manhattan. The ground floor is anchored by a bar teeming with bottles and vials, with a couple nooks recessed behind heavy curtains ideal for hushed conversing. The downstairs is where the late-night parties happen, with a second bar and a DJ booth for the guest acts that regularly grace the Parlor.

Although there isn’t much about the Curio Parlor that isn’t alluring, the incontestable draw of the spot is the concise yet satisfying cocktail menu (although the people-watching isn’t bad either). The signature “Strawberry Fields” finds its place (and is worth a try if only to hear the bartender slap the mint leaf before delicately setting it afloat on your coupe of fresh-squeezed berries, vodka and champagne) alongside New York standbys of days past and the occasional foray into Tiki. My personal favorite: the refreshing Copa Verde (Tequila, honey, avocado, lime).

The drinks aren’t quick to make and the regular crowd is a thirsty one, so to really have your way of the place, a weeknight aperitif-hour stop is the way to go.

Curio Parlor, 16 rue des Bernardins, 75006, Paris. 01 44 07 12 47

Experimental Cocktail Club, 37 rue Saint Sauveur, 75002, Paris. 0 1 45 08 88 09