travelblog

blogger: thomas dalvang fleurquin
profile: festival organiser, 34
subject: favourite hangouts in copenhagen and paris

I’m not the biggest fan of city breaks… If I go away I usually go skiing in the French Alps – but my two favourite cities in Europe are Copenhagen and Paris, and I tend to alternate time between the two every summer. Maybe because so much time is spent in darkness and coldness, Danes really make the most of the longer summer days. One of my favourite parks is HC Ørsteds and after a run through the landscaped grounds surrounding the central lake, I like to have brunch in the low-key café Hacienda.

The beaches in Copenhagen are pretty interesting for a northern European capital. There are nice beaches just to the north of the city, from Hellerup all the way up the coast known as the Danish Riviera. But I like the really urban places to swim and hang out, such as the Amager Strand, which has been redeveloped, or even better the former industrial area, Islands Brygge. It’s a strange and unique spot; a wide concrete promenade on the harbour with grassy areas and a cordoned off swimming spot to dive into. The slightly gritty city centre backdrop makes it supercool.

I like the Latin Quarter of Copenhagen… (Larsbjørnstræde and Studiestræde) for its coffee bars, bars and quaint and unique little restaurants. Atlas Bar is a small cellar restaurant with generous portions of good food at decent prices – pretty rare in an expensive city like Copenhagen. Across town in Vesterbro, Lê Lê is a large and lively Vietnamese canteen where you can get fresh food and cocktails served quickly and at reasonable prices.

I hate the typical tourist thing but… Tivoli is definitely a must: I’ve yet to come across such a charismatic amusement park anywhere else in the world. Louisiana (the modern art museum, around 45 minutes north of Copenhagen) is also worthy of its legendary status.

One of the best-kept secrets in the city is the boat hotels in Nyhavn. I can never seem to find them in any official guides or online, but if you go down there, you can see them and they are very charming.

I love Paris too… Being half French and having spent the first 25 years of my life there, I love the local ways, the passion and the lifestyle. But I dislike the snobbery; this doesn’t exist to the same degree in Copenhagen.

My Paris neighbourhoods are the 14th and 15th on the Rive Gauche but I prefer the Rive Droite (right bank). La Bastille and Montmartre are very charming: Montmartre for walks and La Bastille for shopping (anything on rue de Lappe and rue de Charonne).

I have a little Montmartre secret… the rue Burq, which is a side street in the charismatic Abesses neighbourhood. There is a very cheap and cute hotel called Bonsejour Montmartre and opposite is a bistro called Le Burq, famous for its Camembert with honey and a great house red.

At night the upscale places to go are… Le Paris Paris and Le Baron, but more fun are indie-rock/electro club, La Flèche d’Or and the artsy Point Éphémère.

Thomas’s annual four-day streetlife and nightlife festival, Copenhagen Distortion, celebrates its 10-year anniversary from 4-8 June with an international line-up. For more details, see Globetrotter Top 10, page 8, and www.cphdistortion.dk