Near Saint-Francois-Xavier station on Metro line 13 there’s a great place for coffee in Paris (which is actually hard to find).
Coutume Café at 47 rue de Babylone, is run by Tom Clark, a friendly, personable Aussie with a dedicated, international team of baristas and an in-house roaster offering up a wide variety of brew methods (pour over, Kyoto cold-brew drip, Hario halogen siphon, and espresso).
Perhaps after your Poilâne visit, a stop here for some caffeination might be in order. (Visible below was my affogato, espresso & vanilla ice cream, mixture at Coutume.)
Fresh-baked butter crust apple tarts and apple turnovers from Poilâne, tucked away down a small side-street at 8 rue du Cherche Midi, is a must-do for my friends visiting Paris.
Although most famous for their yeast-raised bread (pain au levain) with its signature script P on the large round loaves, I come just for the tartelettes aux pommes and chausson aux pommes, which seem always warm & fresh out of the oven.
An epic photo of La Défense business & residential district from the far eastern end (closer to Paris), looking west across the reflecting pool on the Esplanade with a majestic view of the Grande Arche at the far western end towards Puteaux.
This photo by Antoine Daniel with dramatic post-processing lends to the modern/futuristic feel of the area. Many large sculpture installations are scattered throughout La Défense plus many interesting architectural works. Well worth a visit to this non-touristy part of Paris.
To start at the eastern end take Metro Line 1 (yellow) towards La Défense and get off at Esplanade de la Défense station, then start walking towards the huge square white arch, the Grande Arche. Take detours to explore the courtyards of the buildings along the way. You’ll surely find interesting sights.
To return, take either the RER A at Grande Arche (requires a RER ticket, 2,60€, from Zone 3) towards Marne La Vallée/Chessy/Boissy or the Metro Line 1 (requires regular Paris Metro Ticket) towards Chateau de Vincennes. Both stations are in the same area but have separate entrance turnstiles, one for RER (in the center of the underground mall area) and one for Metro (off the left and right sides of the underground mall plus another entrance at the far eastern end towards the bus station).
This photo by Don Smith looks west from atop Montparnasse Tower, the only significant skyscraper within central Paris, located just beside Gare Montparnasse.
In the distance are skyscrapers of La Défense, a pedestrian district full of mixed residential & commercial buildings, 31 hectares in size (about 77 American football fields).
Metro stations at La Défense: Esplanade de la Défense and La Défense (Grande Arche) both on Line 1, direction La Défense. RER stations: La Défense (Grande Arche) on RER A, direction St Germain-en-Laye, Poissy, Cergy (if coming from central Paris)
In the foreground: Eiffel Tower & its park: Champ de Mars. RER station: Champ de Mars on line RER C.
On the left, reflecting the sunset light, is Paris Metro Line 6 with its green roofed above ground stations.
Eiffel Tower photographed from a far off angle, making it appear in the middle of residential apartments. It’s actually separated from apartments by a long park area called the Champ de Mars. Also the name of the closest RER C train station to the Eiffel Tower: Champ de Mars.
