An Egyptian spice shop, a much-loved bookstore and an under-the-radar natural wine cellar: this is where we’re heading for some serious retail therapy, Belleville-style
01 September, 2022
Seeking
a souvenir of your Belleville visit? We’d recommend
heading to Rue de Belleville, a bustling artery packed with Asian
supermarkets, North African spice stores and indie boutiques.
Stroll up the slope to find our three favourite neighbourhood
stops.
shopping
Located halfway up the sloping Rue de Belleville, Le Genre
Urbain is more than just a bookshop – it’s a cultural hub,
championing a thoughtful, sustainable approach to city living.
Inside you’ll find a huge range of books and graphic novels, mostly
in French, but still enjoyable to browse. It’s the kind of place
where you could spend hours shuffling around the aisles and nobody
would mind at all.
shopping
Named after Cairo (“Caire” in French), this Egyptian-run spice
shop has just about every Middle Eastern condiment and spice a
person could need, plus goods like leather slippers and savon noir
natural black soap. The densely packed bazaar is run by a local
couple and the prices are super-reasonable. Bestsellers inside
include the hibiscus tea, cardamom-infused coffee and pre-made
falafel mix.
shopping
Natural wine lovers, step this way. Also on the sloping Rue de
Belleville, La Cave de Belleville is one of the city’s best-loved
wine stockists. With its thoughtful selection of bins from small
producers in France and beyond, the Cave is a sign of the changing
times and, to some degree, the hipsterisation of this formerly
very-working-class area, for better or for worse. In the evening,
guests can enjoy a glass with nibbles, and the owners also host
regular tastings and wine events.
