The 12th arrondissement of Paris is one of the largest of the city's districts even without the 2,460 acre Bois de Vincennes, which more than doubles its size. Gare de Lyon in the 12th will likely be your arrival point if you are coming from Switzerland, Italy, or the south of France.

Statues in Bercy Park

Get in

• Gare de Lyon
• Gare de Bercy

By Métro

Map of the 12th Arrondissement

See

Native American Statue in Bercy Park

Landmarks

• Jardin Yitzhak Rabin Nestled in the center of the Parc Bercy (below) is a lovely, and truly peaceful, garden with several waterworks and other high-quality landscape-art pieces. If you are one of the many people visiting the 12th on business it would be well worth an hour of your time between meetings and dinner to explore the mound, the fountain, and the bridges, and to watch children play in complete peace, much like the peace to which the garden's namesake dedicated his life.
• Bercy Village
• Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy

Museums and Galleries

• Musée National des Arts Africains et Océaniens [1], 293 avenue Daumesnil, Métro: Porte Dorée - housed in an amazing Art Deco building, purpose-built for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, featuring an elaborate frieze across the front facade that depicts the achievement of French overseas territories

Do

• Opéra Bastille [2]. Place de la Bastille (Métro Bastille). One of the truly great venues for the performing arts anywhere in the world, Paris' new opera house actually managed to inspire some neighborhood protest during it's planning and contruction. Pretty much everybody is a believer nowadays though. Check out the website for upcoming shows, it might even make sense to plan a trip to Paris around one.
• Promenade Plantée If you were a city planner in one of the great cities of our Earth and you discovered that a railroad right-of-way had been abandoned and would never be used again what might you do? Perhaps if you know your stuff you'd convert it into a 4 mile long park, about half of which is elevated above street level on the old rail viaduc. This long narrow park pretty much allows the visitor to walk in carfree bliss from Place de Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes.
• Parc Bercy. Between the River Seine and the railyards attached to Gare de Lyon and Gare de Bercy is a green space which would seem pretty huge if the 12th weren't also the home of the Bois de Vincennes. The park is a good place to hang out waiting for the line to form for sporting events and concerts at the Palais Omnisport.
• Bercy Expo
• Bois de Vincennes

Buy

There are any number of shops catering to the needs of travelers in and around Gare de Lyon, where you can easily replace a piece of broken luggage or even buy a suit if you suddenly find yourself with a business appointment. Another shopping highlight of the 12th is the amazing number of electronics and computer shops, mostly clustered around rue Charenton near the Jardin de Reuilly, as one would expect the intense competition keeps prices low (for Europe).

• Viaduc des Arts
• Cyclades Electronique [3], 11 Bd Dideriot. +33 1 46 28 91 54. Mon-Fri 9:30am to 6:30pm, Sat 1:30pm to 6:30pm. A cut above the others, and on the other side of the station, Cyclades is the place to go if you need parts. Perhaps you have an out-of-production laptop which needs exactly 18.5 volts? They've got the charger. They've also got a full range of capacitors, resistors, transistors, chips, model airplane electronics and mechanics, tools, and much much more.
• new PC Charenton, 171 rue de Charenton. +33 1 43 07 02 30. Mon-Fri 10am to 7pm, Sat 9am to 7pm. This is just one example out of the many computer shops in the immediate area, included here to help you find them all. Check the prices here, next door, and across the street. When you find the lowest bidder plunge forward and add them here please!
• Marche d'Aligre Cheapest open air market in Paris, on Rue d'Aligre. Produce plus carpets, clothes, antiques. Covered market, Marche Beauvau, is adjacent. North African influence, many food shops surround it. Tu-Sa 8a-1p and 4p-7:30p, Su 8a-1p.

Eat

• l'Ébauchoir, 43-45 rue de Citeaux, at the corner of rue faubourg Saint Antoine. +33 1 43 42 49 31. A typical restaurant of the BoBo (bourgeois - bohème) population of this district. Good traditional cooking with middle prices.

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Allée Royal in the Bois de Vincennes

• Hostel Blue Planet, 5 rue Hector Malot, Métro: Gare de Lyon. +33 1 43 42 06 18. fax +33 1 43 42 09 89. [4] This hostel, within a block of the Gare de Lyon station, has bunk beds in shared rooms sleeping 4-6 people. Some rooms have showers and toilets. A basic breakfast of pastries and hot drinks is included in the price. Tarifs are 18,30€ per bed (1st October - 27th December, January 3rd - March 31st) or 21€ per bed (28th December - January 2nd, April 1st - September 30th). Towels and sheets extra.
• Hôtel Prince Albert, 38 boulevard Diderot, Métro: Gare de Lyon. +33 1 43 43 54 92. fax: +33 1 43 47 39 50. [5]
• Hôtel de l'Aveyron, 5 rue d'Austerlitz, Métro: Gare de Lyon. +33 1 43 07 86 86, fax: +33 1 43 07 85 20.
• Hôtel de la Porte Dorée 273, avenue Daumensnil, +33 1 43 07 56 97. fax: +33 1 49 28 08 18. [6]
• Hôtel Royal Bel Air, 10 Avenue du Bel-Air. +33 1 43 45 26 00. fax: +33 1 43 45 98 88.

Mid-Range

• Ibis Gare De Lyon Diderot, 31 Bis Boulevard Diderot, Métro: Gare de Lyon, +33 1 43 46 12 72. [7] This particular branch of the Ibis chain is a bit more comfortable than most, especially worthwhile if you have just arrived at Gare de Lyon. The website has current price information, and links to their 650 sister hotels across Europe. Breakfast (10 Eur., until 10 am) is the pretty ordinary buffet fare.
• Corail Hotel, 23 rue de Lyon, Métro: Gare de Lyon. +33 1 43 43 23 54. fax: +33 1 43 43 82 55. [8]
• Jardin de Paris Nation-Bercy, 61 rue de la Voûte, Métro: Porte de Vincennes. +33 1 43 45 41 38. fax: +33 1 43 43 04 11. [9]

Splurge

• Mercure Paris Gare de Lyon, 2, place Louis Armand, Métro: Gare de Lyon. +33 1 43 44 84 84. fax: +33 1 43 47 41 94. [10]

• Sofitel Paris Bercy, 1, avenue Terroirs de France, Métro: Cour St-Emillion. +33 1 44 67 34 00. fax: +33 1 44 67 34 01. [11]

The peace fountain in Paris' Jardin Yitzhak Rabin

Contact

Internet Cafés

• Les Meilleur des Mondes, 4 bis rue Michel Chasles, Métro: Gare de Lyon. ph 01 43 46 01 64. fax 01 43 46 02 52. Open 9am - 11pm Monday to Friday, 10am - 7pm Saturday and Sunday. Internet access and office applications. Internet access is 0,10€ per 10 minutes or 5€ per hour.