Picnicking in Paris is a local’s game easily adopted into a tourist’s afternoon. Whether you’re visiting Paris for the first or fiftieth time, it’s one of the best ways to laze around in the most beautiful parts of the city. It’s also a means for travelers to delve into the century-old cheese shops and charcutiers, modern-day bakeries, specialty stores, and the preponderance of natural wine shops in a way that staying in hotels and dining in bistros often prevents. Picnics make a fine excuse for investing in linen or a cutting board from Merci or La Trésorerie. In warm and warm-enough weather, from the banks of the Seine to the green slopes of Parc des Buttes-Chaumont to the Canal Saint-Martin, you’ll find blankets topped with baguette crumbs and wine bottles; locals and visitors alike toasting from midday to long past sunset. Those who live here have their go-to spots to set up, supplies to bring, and favorite recipes to make — or sandwiches to procure. Here are tips on how to picnic in Paris from a few locals in the know, some are hidden gems, others open secrets, all are welcome to join.
Rebekah Peppler, author of À Table
Where in the city do you set up?
It depends on the mood and who I’m meeting up with. Canal Saint-Martin feels like a scene—in a good way—the banks always full on sunny days, the nearby Franprix (on the Quai de Jemmapes near Rue Bichat) always stocked with good chips. Posting up on the steps leading up to Sacré-Coeur is lovely but I especially like to walk around to the back to the Square Marcel Bleustein Blanchet, a small, local’s park with stunning views of the basilica.
What supplies do you bring?
A big—or multiple smaller—blankets. If people bring friends or show up last minute you can fit them all, if not, you can double fold for a modicum of comfort/protection from cigarette butts and bottle caps. I use either a very big piece of raw linen I picked up in Provence a few years ago or throw a bunch of Turkish towels in my bag — thin to sit on, but lightweight to carry. I also always bring Pallarès picnic knives, a cutting board, a little travel tin of flaky salt, and low Duralex glasses for water and wine. One might get broken but it’s a small price to pay for the luxury of drinking out of glass. Landline in the 11th (107 Avenue Parmentier) is a great shop to pick up supplies, such as wool blankets, little glasses, and paring knives — and gifts to bring home.
What are you eating and drinking?
If it’s a quick apéro before dinner, a good bottle of wine (lately, I’ve tended toward light-in-color-and-body Provençal rosés or dry, crisp Alsatian Rieslings) and a bag of chips. If it’s something more elaborate, I stop at one of my favorite, always spot on with recommendations, cheese shops like La Fromagerie Goncourt (1 rue Abel Rabaud, 75011), Fromagerie Beillevaire (multiple locations and home to my favorite butter in Paris — while they have a wide range of flavors from seaweed to yuzu, the rich, creamy, salt-studded Demi-Sel Croquant is my choice), La Crèmerie (41 rue de Lancry, 75010), second-generation Jouannault (39 rue de Bretagne, 75003), Fromagerie Ferdinand in Pigalle (75 rue de Dunkerque, 75009), and Frescolet (42 rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 75009), which has some insane cheeses from a tomme de brebis with piment d’espelette to small crottins chèvre from one of the owner’s family farm in Tarn. For baguettes and sourdough it’s whatever bakery is closest to where we’re picnicking, near the canal, Pain des Amis from internationally beloved Du Pain et des Idées (34 rue Yves Toudic) or a crusty sourdough from Ten Belles (the café in the 10th, on Rue de la Grange aux Belles, sells loaves from their bakery) or a baguette or miche from Mamiche ’s newer location in the 10ème (32 rue du Château d’Eau). If we’re near Sacré-Coeur, a baguette from Pain Pain (88 rue des Martyrs, 75018) or one of the daily-changing sourdough loaves at tiny Shinya (41 rue des Trois Frères, 75018). I’ll pick up a bottle of wine from Folderol (which has incredible ice cream, too) (10 rue du Grand Prieuré, 75011), Verre Volé’s cave (38 Rue Oberkampf, 75011), Le Vin au Vert (70 rue de Dunkerque, 75009) or a newly-opened favorite in Montmartre, Du Vert au Vin (6 rue Ravignan, 75018). For cornichons the French brand Maison Marc is excellent and found all over at specialty shops—even some of the cheese shops listed above. For chips, I’m partial to nicely salted, ridged Lay's Chips Paysannes Nature which you can find at any Franprix or Monop’ (both with stores throughout the city).
Any tips for first-time picnickers in the city?
Don’t overthink it. As long as you have good company, there’s somewhere to buy a baguette, a bottle, and a place to sit close by.
Victor Vautier & Camille Machet, owners of Early June
Where in the city do you set up?
There is a neighborhood I love to go pique-niquer and that is around Canal de l’Ourcq at La Villette. It’s in the northern part of Paris, in the 19th. When the weather’s nice, starting April or May, we usually meet friends alongside the canal to eat, drink, but most of all, play pétanque! You can also rent electric boats to navigate slowly along the canal, while having a sip of pastis.
One other spot, not so far from there but a lot more secretive, is right in front of Les Magasins Généraux. It’s a brand new neighborhood where major ad agencies have set up their new headquarters. During the weekends, you can sit on the waterfront, feet in the water, with very few people around.
What supplies do you bring?
Vintage camping folding chairs from Lafuma that we bought in Saint Ouen at the flea market. Plastic cups, forks and knives from any decent supermarket, because, well, you don’t want to ruin your beautiful wine glasses you have at home. Very, very important: limonadier (aka bottle opener)! If we forget ours from home, we grab one from where we buy our wine. If ever we don’t bring our folding chairs, then we need a light yet strong linen blanket. And for that, there’s only one destination: Merci on Boulevard Beaumarchais. It’s not cheap, but their linen is beautiful and lasts a while.
