PARIS CITY GUIDE

Jun 23

Paid partnership with Kindred, a members only home-swapping app

Paris will forever be special to me. I called the city home for a brief period of time over a decade ago, but those six months became more influential to me than I could have ever imagined.

This trip in early summer of 2025 was my first time back in way too long and bam!, I fell right back in love. Fingers crossed it won’t be another seven years before I return. In fact, I’m not going to let that happen, promising myself that right now.

I recently became a member of Kindred, a home swapping & booking app, and the first wishlist I created was of course Paris. I browsed beautiful Parisian apartments in my preferred neighbourhoods (scroll down for a list), favourited a bunch of them, booked 3 nights in my favourite city, and had the best days staying in a charming Parisian Kindred home, with a balcony for my morning coffee overlooking the streets of Paris.

Scroll down for a my favourite new café, a curated list of interesting museums, 13 charming restaurant & wine bars, and beautiful parks & gardens for a break amongst flowers and palm trees. Also, be sure to save this tip: an absolutely stunning architectural masterpiece by Japan’s Tadao Ando in Paris’ city centre.

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↑ In Paris’ 11th arrondissement, Mokochaya is a laid-back café offering breakfast, lunch and home-baked goods. Omar & Moko behind one of Paris’ latest and most beloved neighbourhood restaurants mokonuts have recently opened this café on Rue Saint-Bernard, light-filled and relaxed with the best breakfast, I’ve had in a good while.

Cafés —

Mokochaya for weekly breakfast and Saturday brunch with Japanese influences, bento lunches, and coffee and homemade cake on Rue Saint-Bernard in the 11th.

Café Singuliers for Paris’ Best Cookie 2025 (didn’t know cookies were a big thing in Paris, but it is!), a lavish breakfast, fresh juices and a small, but perfectly curated evening menu. The space is charming, and it felt very local, young families with kids gathering on Saturday mornings.

Recto Verso is a beautiful Korean-style coffee shop offering speciality coffee & homemade pastries on Rue Portefin in Le Marais.

Institut Suédois has the prettiest backyard & a small café with Swedish pastries, coffee and light servings. Also visit the culture centre for current exhibitions in my favourite area of Le Marais.

Ten Belles is a classic for coffée, close to Canal St. Martin. The space is small, but great for a coffee to go and an aimless stroll around the area.

JJ Hings almost neighbouring Ten Belles is where to get your soft serve or ice cream sandwich during summer in Paris — be patient with the lines, and take your ice cream to the canal down the street.

% Arabica takes Japan’s legendary independent coffee makers from Kyoto to Paris with two beautiful locations; one in Le Marais, one in Oberkampf.

Dreamin’ Man has three very charming, small coffee spots in Paris; 1st, 3rd and 11th arrondissement, pick whichever you want and hang out with Paris’ cool crowds.

Le Peloton Café is a speciality coffee shop in a charming area of Le Marais close to La Seine, offering a small breakfast menu; granola bowls and stuffed croissants.

↑ Breakfast at Mokochaya — if I only had one shot at a café recommendation, this would be it (luckily, I don’t, this is my website, I decide!).

↑ Café Singuliers in the 11th, a neighbourhood favourite open all day.

↑ Handmade ceramics from Japan at Moko Hirayama’s Mokochaya.

↑ At Café Singuliers you’ll find Paris’ Best Cookie anno 2025.

Museums —

Musée de l’Orangerie is a must for me, and although I’ve seen Monet’s Nymphéas a dozen times, I still need to go. It’s busy and small, but worth the wait and the crowds. Also, consider visiting Monet’s garden in Giverny 1,5 hours outside of Paris: it’s the same, absolutely beautiful & busy.

Musée Bourdelle is dedicated to the works of French sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, displaying an impressive body of work in his beautiful ateliers. Don’t miss the in-house café and restaurant Le Rhodia.

Palais de Tokyo is Europe’s largest contemporary art centre with always interesting art on view, located right by La Seine overlooking Le Tour Eiffel. If you’re hesitant about going right into the tourists masses (🙋🏻‍♀️) at the foot of the tower, you can get a great view from here and leave it at that.

Fondation Le Corbusier is a must for architecture aficionados — this UNESCO site offers visitors a look into Maison La Roche, a Modernist house built by Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret in 1923, as well as Le Corbusier’s private home & painting studio.

↑ Paris’ historic Bourse de Commerce has been restored by Tadao Ando, creating a impressive merge of 16th century architecture and modern, poetic minimalism.

La Bourse de Commerce opened to the public in 2021, completely restored by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Inside the old circular rotonda, find small galleries with more than 5,000 artworks of collector and businessman François Pinault, as well as current exhibitions. Ando has merged one of Paris’ historic monuments with his contemporary eye, an impressive concrete cylinder standing inside the original building. As Ando put in an interview about the restoration: “I drew a circle in the circle”.

↑ La Bourse de Commerce

↑ Musée de l’Orangerie in the beautiful Jardin de Tuileries — popular and busy, yes, but still a personal must when in Paris.

↑ Grande Mosquée de Paris in the 5th arrondissement.

Jardins —

Grande Mosquée de Paris in the Latin Quarter is the third largest in Europe but feels far from it; wander around its lush garden with fountains, palms and roses, and take in the serenity and quiet. A note to always be respectful when visiting places of worship (or any place, for that matter).

Hôtel de Sully was once one of Paris’ most extravagant private mansions, today the property of Centre des Monuments Nationaux. A striking 17th century classical building with beautiful parks and courtyards.

Jardin Lazare-Rachline is a hidden garden full of flowers and Paris’ beautiful cone-shaped cypress trees. Venture away from the most popular and busy streets in Le Marais (Rue des Rosiers, Rue de Rivoli) and spend some time in the Archives south of République instead. Quieter, more spacious and with plenty of great spots such as this garden on 9 Rue Payenne, Insitut Suédois next door, small galleries and cosy cafés.

Palais Royal with Daniel Buren’s much Instagrammed black-and-white columns, the just as Instagrammed Café Kitsune, peaceful courtyard and beautiful passages with galleries and boutiques is a perfect break wandering around central Paris.

↑ The hidden Jardin Lazare-Rachlin in Le Marais — get away from the busy streets of the area and wander around the ‘Archives’ in the Northernpart of Le Marais instead.

↑ Hôtel de Sully with its impressive courtyard & gardens, just steps away from Place des Vosges.

Restaurants & Wine Bars —

Le Cornichon is a very relaxed and very popular restaurant and bar in the 11th arrondissement, and my favourite restaurant find on this trip. A menu of shareable finger food, natural wines and good vibes, I highly recommend swinging by — they don’t take reservations, so try your luck and enjoy a glass of wine nearby, while you wait for a table.

Septime is a MICHELIN-Starred restaurant in the 11th arrondissement, also ranked no. 40 at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Paving the way for Paris’ new wave of trendy neo-bistros, chef Bertrand Grébaut serves unpretentious, seasonal food in beautiful, rustic settings. Also check out Grébaut’s seafood restaurant Clamato next door for a perhaps easier booking.

F.o.l.d.e.r.o.l is a great place for ending the night with wine (swing by for ice cream during the day) located on Rue du Grand-Prieuré in the 11th. It’s tiny, but a popular spot for street hangs on Parisian summer evenings.

La Buvette is a cult spot on Rue Saint-Maur, go here for affordable wine glasses from small producers and servings of burrata, oysters, charcuterie and cheeses.

More Paris restaurants & wine bars for your list —

↑ Shareable dinner servings at the popular Le Cornichon, and wine hour in Montmartre (also, a general rule; this is Paris. A place looks nice and charming, and away from the most touristy streets? Just sit down. You almost can’t go wrong).

Where to stay

I stayed in a private Parisian apartment via Kindred, and loved waking up here, enjoying a coffee on the small balcony overlooking Paris (before venturing out in the city for a proper breakfast like we do in Scandinavia).

This was my first time staying with Kindred and the entire process was beyond smooth; browsing, booking, communicating & staying, and having a 24 hour online concierge available to help should any questions arise (they didn’t, but it was a nice security to have).

With Kindred, you can book & swap homes with a vetted community of real people and real homes (no impersonal vacation rentals!).

↑ When looking for a home on Kindred, I’d look at neighbourhoods on the Rive Droite (right bank of La Seine), especially arrondissements 3, 4, 10, 11, 19 and 20. (Totally subjective opinion, there are plenty of great neighbourhoods all over town, I have just spent the majority of my time in these).

↑ One of my favourite neighbourhoods is the Northern part of Le Marais, also called ‘Les Archives’. Look for the area around Rue Payenne, Rue Charlot and Rue du Pont aux Choux and you’re home safe, I’d say.

Another favourite thing about my Kindred stay: they provide new sheets and towels, professional cleaning service, as well as a travel kit of Aesop essentials when you stay in homes, and have people stay in yours. Very thoughtful, and just a small detail that actually matters.

If you wish to sign up to Kindred, use my code NAN.HAG, you’ll receive 5 credits to book 5 nights in Paris (or Copenhagen, Lisbon, London, New York or Stockholm — lots of great destinations to choose from with Kindred) without hosting yourself. When hosting, you earn 1 credit per night, that you can use for staying anywhere you wish.

↑ What I love most about Paris is that it’s almost impossible to get tired of wandering around, discovering new streets, corners and places. On this recent trip, I came across an area of the 4th arr. that I hadn’t spent time in before. Look for the area around La Collective Parisienne and Le Peloton Café.

→ Canal St. Martin in the 10 arrondissement is probably where I have spent the most time in Paris. I lived by the canal, wrote articles about this ‘unknown’ local neighborhood (this was 14 years ago), and have so many memories from this place. Get a little emotional, every time I’m here, can’t help it.

Thank you, Kindred for letting me revisit my favourite city on this dream assignment, and staying beautifully and locally with the app.

 À bientôt, Paris, I'll be back soon.