Pépites

It’s hard to be unassuming on this well-trodden rue overflowing with tourists in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, but this spot manages to play it cool with both a nondescript facade and by being actually cool (literally—it’s located in a former 14th-century wine cellar, which makes it the perfect place to escape one of Paris’s canicules, or heatwaves). 

Pick from a bottle along the wall and pay the €10 corkage fee, or ask for a glass of whatever’s open that day. That might be a mineral-y white from the Savoie (“natural, but not funky,” says the owner) or an earthy Gamay from the Loire. Then, head downstairs to imbibe like you’re a Lannister in Game of Thrones.

If an underground vault of sorts isn’t your thing, you can stand around the tile bar upstairs where a giant projection screen occasionally shows sport matches, or take a bottle to go for a picnic along the quai or Jardin du Luxembourg.