Paris on Sundays: where people actually talk to strangers
Sunday is the most social day of the week and the worst used. Here is where to go when you want to leave the flat and talk to someone.
Sunday has a rare advantage: nobody is in a hurry. It is the best day for encounters that aren't planned — provided you go where people stay, rather than where people pass through.
Look for places that last
A market, a running club, a bookshop with tables: three formats sharing the same virtue. You're doing something together, so talking isn't an event.
Our picks
Marché des Batignolles
Batignolles
Weekend organic market, chatty crowd
Queues here are social: two minutes is enough to start a real conversation.
€
Buttes run club
Belleville
Sunday morning group run, all levels
Shared effort removes the awkwardness of introductions. You talk afterwards, naturally.
€
Latin bookshop café
Quartier Latin
Communal tables, reading and late brunch
Communal tables make talking normal — a book on the table is enough of an opening.
€€
Guinguette de Bercy
Bercy
Riverside, soft music, mixed crowd
The only place on the list where you can arrive alone at 5pm and leave at 10pm with a group.
€€