Scale the heights
Paris has dozens of rooftops crowning the buildings and looking down on the monuments. “Here comes the sun”, so you can spend the Parisian summer here. These places get filled with life, and often with music, starting from the middle of the day until the early hours of the night, delivering wonders, great food, and elixirs. Let us get higher in a shape-shifting and multifaceted Paris where you can appreciate different atmospheres under the same stars.
Rooftops: places of peace and pleasure
The ROOF, one of the most recent places from this list at the very heart of Paris offers a breathtaking view of the city. The Saint-Eustache church, Beaubourg, the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame… There, monuments are everywhere to catch your eye.
Perched on top of the former Louvre post office, an 1886 historical building transformed into the five-star hotel Madame Rêve – named after an Alain Bashung song – the ROOF has a large tree-filled space brightened up by the orange furniture and an Asian menu. Here you can spend some voluptuous time between 3pm and 1 in the morning (online reservation is recommended).
Bringing the countryside to Paris
Established in Passy and decorated by Philippe Starck, the Brach hotel expresses a personal, warm luxury all the way to its terraces and rooftop, which were designed to feel like a parenthesis in the countryside. It has a vegetable garden, a henhouse, and a Norwegian bath – pre-booked only, 4 people maximum. As soon as the weather gets warmer, this green garden with a cozy and raw decoration is open to tourists and locals, from 5pm to 1am – depending on the weather.
Whether you came to lounge in the sun, to have a bite or to have a night-time cocktail, you are assured to get a change of scenery while you relish in the Mediterranean meals and mezze of the chef Adam Bentalha.
A meal without fuss
Pedzouille is a typically French concept developed in several places in Paris such as the 10th and the 2nd arrondissement, but mostly in the 15th arrondissement, with a restaurant high in the sky where you can experience the typical Parisian banters and taste local 100% French and responsible products, seafood or products from the land.
Several bars – including a speakeasy – also allow you to quench your thirst. All in a generous “table d’hôte” spirit with the Eiffel Tower in your sight.
The seventh art in seventh heaven
Created by MK2, the hotel-cinema Paradiso is crowned with a rooftop garden dedicated to film-lovers. Here, each room is equipped with a laser film projector and a 3m wide screen. A cinema in its own right. As for the hanging garden, it also embraces the seventh art magic.
You can sip a cocktail while having popcorn on the soft grass in the shade of the trees, with Paris at your feet. The entrance is free, except for “Sunday film night” as you need to book beforehand. Enjoy DJ Sets while the sun sets during events organized by FIP radio on the 21st of July and 15th of Septembre at 8pm.
High-level rooftops in the department stores
The “Grands Magasins” of the boulevard Haussmann are all on the same page to transcend their walls and occupy their roofs, which are transformed into festive summer terraces facing the calm and iridescent sea of building that stands in the Parisian sky.
The atmosphere at Perruche Printemps might be cosy, romantic, and full of vegetation, the restaurant intends to be a place for ethical food lovers at the Galeries Lafayette, where the chef Julien Sebbag is back with his vegetarian pop-up restaurant “Créatures”, which serves meals from breakfast to after-dinner.
ROOF, direct access at the 43 rue Etienne Marcel, Paris 1st arrondissement.
Pedzouille La Grange, Novotel Paris Porte de Versailles, 4 Av. de la Porte de la Plaine Paris 15th arrondissement.
Brach, 1-7 Rue Jean Richepin, Paris 16th arrondissement.
Rooftop Paradiso, 135 bd Diderot, Paris 12th arrondissement. Booking for Sunday evenings.
Perruche, Printemps de l’Homme, 2 rue du Havre, Paris 9th arrondissement.
Créatures, Galeries Lafayette, 25 rue de la Chaussée d’Antin, Paris 9th arrondissement.