Paris recommendations #1: Public Wifi
It's been a while. I'm considering starting up this blog again as a way of letting people know what's going on in Paris. For now, I'm going to use it as a place to post some useful information about Paris. At the conference I went to this summer (here), one of my former fellow logic group students mentioned that she'd started to keep a list on her website of restaurant/shop/things to do recommendations in various cities. Since I've gotten carried away writing a novel of an e-mail of recommendations of what to do and where to eat in Paris more than once, I think this sounds like a good thing for me to do.
The subject of today's list is cafés with public wifi. It will, unfortunately, be very short. Hopefully I'll be able to add to it later. The structure of public wifi in Paris has changed somewhat since I last lived here. It seems that all the major internet providers also have means of providing public wifi (using all the various individual connections around the city). So you'll often see a connection called "Free Wifi" or "Neuf Wifi" or "SFR Public Wifi." These, I imagine, are great. For the people who already subscribe to the services of one of these companies. For anyone else, they are useless. It turns out that if you see a 'wifi' sticker in the window of a cafe, it may just refer to one of these networks. This has made it much more difficult for me to find usable free wifi in Paris. The main list of "wifi hotspots in Paris" that I came across appears to be about 5 years old - so, about as useful as my information from the last time I was living here (though much more extensive). So here's my up-to-date, but very short, list.
5th Arrondissement
- La Contrescarpe. Ah, the good old standby. This had free wifi when I was here last time, and it still does. It's a standard Paris cafe. You can order just a coffee or a drink, or get any of the food you usually see on a menu. They have a large-ish terrace (very popular in summer), and lots of room inside as well. The inside is kind of cozy, with bookshelves and dim lighting and dark wood furnishing. Place de la Contrescarpe. Metro Place Monge (line 7) or Cardinal Lemoine (line 10).
- Sugarplum Cake Shop. Meghan, Charlie, and Scott introduced me to this place this summer. The shop is run by three North Americans (two from the US, one from Canada), and their main business is cakes for special events. They also have a coffee shop. They serve delicious pies, scones, cookies, and other baked goods, as well as filtered coffee (3 euros, and you get free refills), tea, and homemade juices. (I once had a delicious blackberry lemonade there...) The owners are very friendly, and will speak to you in either English or French. The wifi is better towards the back of the shop. Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, at Rue Thouin. Metro Cardinal Lemoine (line 10), Place Monge (line 7) or Jussieu (7 & 10).
13th Arrondissement
- Café Premier. More of a restaurant than La Contrescarpe, but you can still come here just for coffee or a drink and to use their wifi. They have many different flavours of kirs; not just the standard cassis. (This is a plus in my book - I love a kir framboise.) Bd Arago, at Rue des Marmousets. Metro Gobelins (line 7).
20th Arrondissement
- Le Zephyr. Sizable wine list. Nice (but smallish) terrace. They are apparently also a restaurant, but I have no idea what they serve. (This is where I am right now. My latest discovery!) 1 rue Jourdain. Metro Jourdain (line 11).
The subject of today's list is cafés with public wifi. It will, unfortunately, be very short. Hopefully I'll be able to add to it later. The structure of public wifi in Paris has changed somewhat since I last lived here. It seems that all the major internet providers also have means of providing public wifi (using all the various individual connections around the city). So you'll often see a connection called "Free Wifi" or "Neuf Wifi" or "SFR Public Wifi." These, I imagine, are great. For the people who already subscribe to the services of one of these companies. For anyone else, they are useless. It turns out that if you see a 'wifi' sticker in the window of a cafe, it may just refer to one of these networks. This has made it much more difficult for me to find usable free wifi in Paris. The main list of "wifi hotspots in Paris" that I came across appears to be about 5 years old - so, about as useful as my information from the last time I was living here (though much more extensive). So here's my up-to-date, but very short, list.
5th Arrondissement
- La Contrescarpe. Ah, the good old standby. This had free wifi when I was here last time, and it still does. It's a standard Paris cafe. You can order just a coffee or a drink, or get any of the food you usually see on a menu. They have a large-ish terrace (very popular in summer), and lots of room inside as well. The inside is kind of cozy, with bookshelves and dim lighting and dark wood furnishing. Place de la Contrescarpe. Metro Place Monge (line 7) or Cardinal Lemoine (line 10).
- Sugarplum Cake Shop. Meghan, Charlie, and Scott introduced me to this place this summer. The shop is run by three North Americans (two from the US, one from Canada), and their main business is cakes for special events. They also have a coffee shop. They serve delicious pies, scones, cookies, and other baked goods, as well as filtered coffee (3 euros, and you get free refills), tea, and homemade juices. (I once had a delicious blackberry lemonade there...) The owners are very friendly, and will speak to you in either English or French. The wifi is better towards the back of the shop. Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, at Rue Thouin. Metro Cardinal Lemoine (line 10), Place Monge (line 7) or Jussieu (7 & 10).
13th Arrondissement
- Café Premier. More of a restaurant than La Contrescarpe, but you can still come here just for coffee or a drink and to use their wifi. They have many different flavours of kirs; not just the standard cassis. (This is a plus in my book - I love a kir framboise.) Bd Arago, at Rue des Marmousets. Metro Gobelins (line 7).
20th Arrondissement
- Le Zephyr. Sizable wine list. Nice (but smallish) terrace. They are apparently also a restaurant, but I have no idea what they serve. (This is where I am right now. My latest discovery!) 1 rue Jourdain. Metro Jourdain (line 11).