The Guardian has named Paris’ Charonne district as one of the top 10 “coolest” in Europe.

In an article focussing on the less touristy neighbourhoods of Europe’s major cities, the British daily highlighted what makes the former working class district of Charonne so special.

Owing its name to the former village of the same name, Charonne was absorbed by neighbouring Paris in 1860 during the great urban renovation orchestrated by Emperor Napoléon III known today as the “Haussmannisation” of Paris. The Guardian wrote that “Circular Place de la Réunion, laid out in 1850, is the heart of this friendly, bohemian quartier populaire, a multicultural area of working families, artists and musicians. The square comes alive on Thursday and Sunday mornings, when it teems with people browsing market stalls set up by butchers, cheese- and fishmongers, and fruit and vegetable sellers.” Though home to a highly-mixed population, Charonne still looks and feels like a village, but, nestled in the heart of Paris’ dynamic 20th arrondissement, it remains a rather atypical one.

See the full article, with the newspaper’s other top destinations, here: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/feb/08/10-of-the-coolest-neighbourhoods-in-europe-paris-berlin-rome