Since 1946, this bakery and traiteur has been offering Jewish and eastern European specialties, from cheesecake and strudel to pastrami. One item you can’t miss is their signature Super Sandwich, the “Big-Pletzel,”. You have your choice of pastrami or turkey, which gets layered with eggplant caviar, red pepper caviar, cucumbers, pickles and fresh tomato slices, all on one of their soft homemade onion and poppy seed rolls...BIM

Villa Léandre is a very good place to relax and have a calm moment. Small village street in this charming neighborhood at the foot of Montmartre. It is a parenthesis of sweetness that makes the charm of our city.

I go to the flea market in St Ouen to look for old cameras and expired film. But it’s also a great place to see all the different walks of life from Paris’ extreme social scene. At the top of the ladder you’ve got the aristo-bourgeois crowd acquiring Louis XV furniture at the indoor antiques markets; the thirty-something bobo set paying way over the odds for mid-century designer chairs and formica tables; the banlieusards from the Neuf Trois getting kitted out with the latest sneakers and hoodies along the rue des Rosières; then at the very bottom you’ve got people trying to scratch a living selling second hand food at the Carré des biffes at Porte Montmartre. It’s an eye opener for sure.

Opened in 2011 by the people at Magnum Photo Agency (their Paris bureau is a few streets away), Le Bal is an institutional exhibition space dedicated to the documentary image. For the most part that means lots of photography exhibits but they like to mix up the shows with videos and especially books. They hold conferences with a great line-up of guest speakers and screen documentaries and other films at the nearby Cinéma de Cinéastes. Be sure to check out the bookshop where you can browse through their connoisseur’s collection of high-end photo books and limited edition zines. Le Bal Café is a great place to meet friends for a quick drink or sit down and taste Anna and Alice’s Anglo-French cuisine. And if you’re wondering why it’s called Le Bal, the space was once a dance hall cum brothel in the roaring ‘20s.

Favorite bar/brasserie in Paris close to my apartment.