Ripping up the République, Paris

Ever been to a place where you felt like you were swarmed with nebulae of hipster creativity?

Slogan tees, wide-legged trousers, black beret and a pipe resting in between the lips. Shabby chic cafés, contemporary art galleries masked by grungy fronts, boutiques of young/cult designers. Chic people sitting at the bistro by the road, with their tousled hair and sunglasses, on the iconic lattice-woven chairs, doing what Parisian do best at 5 o’clock – smoking, people-watching and whispering in their close to aphrodisiac language.

This is République, an area you are bound to miss if you follow the classic, well-trodden path of tourists in Paris.

^ the Place de la République, an intersection of the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. Remember the  violent attack at Charlie Hebdo office? This was the starting point of the million-people rally.

You can spend the afternoon here dipping in and out of boutiques, vintage shops and even chocolatiers. Have a sniff at those hand-crafted leather shoes, caress the linen shirts and try to understand why a white t-shirt can be sold at a perplexing 120€. (If you do understand, maybe you don’t mind explaining it to me.)

After bouts of decoding designs and patterns and possibly some paintings from the galleries, you can plonk yourself down at one of the bistros by the street.

With love x