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I thought I hated Paris – this is what changed my mind

Previous visits left Matt Charlton feeling that the City of Light was a crowded, rude and soulless place, but a trip to the We Love Green festival allowed him to get under the skin of the French capital and uncover an alternative side with small gigs, artisan shops and excellent vegetarian food

Friday 16 January 2026 01:00 EST

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The view over Paris from Belleville (Matt Charlton)

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I can’t say that Paris ever got under my skin. Three visits and I was still in the dark about the appeal of the City of Light. The third trip was a joyless ad-hoc disaster punctuated by surly waiters and heated milling crowds a decade ago, where it was revealed to me on day three that the return ticket was car passenger only and they - the driver – had decided to stay for a rugby game. We don’t talk anymore.

Paris has always felt like a giant museum – preserved, stagnant, and without any sense of vitality … nice galettes though.

Never one to stop at a third impression, when I heard about We Love Green at the start of last year, I saw it as an opportunity for a reappraisal. Taking place in the 12th Arrondissement (these are the districts into which the city inside ‘Le Périph’ is split) in the Bois St Vincennes – the largest public park in the city – the festival features local acts, plus, in 2026, the likes of Gorillaz, The XX, Hayley Williams and an inevitable brilliant turn from Little Simz. Its USP, however, is the food: vegetarian only. Every year, a committee of French food experts gather to hand select each stall. Here was my ‘in’ - a chance to meet the kind of individuals who would give me a window into an alternative Paris that might, perhaps, change my perception.

Matt Charlton struggled to fall in love with Paris on his first three visits - could it be forth time lucky? (Matt Charlton)

First of all, it’s fantastic to travel by Eurostar, ecologically from city centre to city centre, enhanced by St Pancras Autograph’s “suite to seat” service (clue’s in the name) which sees me out of the hotel door and on the train in record time. Then, Gare Du Nord to the Pullman Tour Eiffel (clue’s in the name) hotel, with bedroom and restaurant views so close to Gustave Eiffel’s landmark that you just have to crane your neck to see the tip. So far, so traditional … but let that be an end to it.

To get a bit of alternative practice in, on the morning of the festival, I head up to Montmartre to purposefully turn away from the Sacré-Cœur, with crowds so dense that you could barely make out the many steps, and the packed Moulin Rouge. Instead, I type four magic words into my phone: “Record Stores Near Me”. Even if you’re not a vinyl hoarder, these words will lead you to the parts of town where culture thrives – non-tourist cafes, small gigs, artisan shops. This time, it leads me down Montmartre's picturesque cobbled backstreets, past the famous elevated views, and to a delicious contemporary take on a pain au chocolat at The Beans On Fire. Okay, okay, it’s opposite the greengrocer featured in Amélie, but even that was an indie film… we’re getting somewhere. The barista there recommends a place called Ground Control, which turns out to be remarkably close to We Love Green.

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Vintage shopping in Saint Ouen (Matt Charlton)

The 150,000 capacity festival brings to mind the atmosphere of All Points East or Latitude – a convivial, colourful, relaxed air which lasts up to the point Charli XCX arrives on the stage in the evening. The food here almost gets as much of a headline billing, the star turn being Burger D’Amour, a mushroom-based offering which consistently has queues fifty people deep. Slipping around the back, I find its owner, Valentine Davas, who runs catering company Le Réfectoire Traiteur. “We’ve been here eleven years”, she tells me. “Yesterday, we made five thousand burgers in five hours.” She recommends Le Marche Saint Martin in the 10th – to be found on the right bank of the Seine – as her favourite hangout, with its gourmet food stalls, cool bars and restaurants.

I am pointed in a different direction a few stalls down by Tariq and Leila who are the co-founders of La Cuisine De Souad, who offer delicious vegan and organic Moroccan cuisine. They point me to Belleville, a neighbourhood which straddles the 19th and 20th arrondissement, and a place where they happen to have just opened their first restaurant. I add it to my growing list.

Using my record store technique the following day, I stumble across Major Tom, which, predictably, happens to be part of the aforementioned Ground Control, a “curious cultural third place”, reappropriated buzzy industrial building, which offers street food and vintage shopping with a genuine emphasis on community. It’s utterly charming, and a world away from Belle Epoque.

Tour guide and jazz singer Ehran leads groups around the St Ouen flea market (Matt Charlton)

I am now running out of space because I’ve found a thread: follow the creatives, the mis-shapes, and the trailblazers and you will have an incredibly different experience of a city. Once again this is demonstrated in the Saint Ouen Flea Market Guided Tour where jazz singer Ehran winds me through the graffitied-maze of vintage, antique and thrift of this visual feast of a mega-market, or the Left Bank artisan stores offering cheeses, chocolates and caviar as part of my Eating Europe tour… I needed the sustenance after foolishly attempting Musee D’Orsay that morning, almost having a panic attack amongst the Van Goghs in a ram-packed room. That’ll teach me.

I turn back to the alternative and take the metro to Belleville. It feels like London’s Shoreditch or Manchester’s Northern Quarter with a Fin de Siècle twist – colourful graffiti-daubed cafes and boutiques with a youthful energy. I pass Tariq’s restaurant (he must be resting after We Love Green), and head to the recommended Belvédère de Belleville – one of the highest viewpoints over the city. In the picturesque park with an industrial edge, couples bask, louche on picnic blankets with their wine and bread. Amongst an open-air, seemingly abandoned pavilion, the Paris Panorama opens out in front of me with a broken tile mosaic the guide to my view: The Pompidou, Notre Dame, Tour Montparnasse … all at a safe distance, while I get in and amongst it, managing to find a vibrant, friendly, and tasty Paris which has very much changed my mind.

Fourth time lucky, I guess.