A month in the 12th

The twelfth is quiet, peaceful and in general off the tourist track. There are three marvelous green spaces, the Promenade Plantee with the Jardin de Reuilly, the Parc de Bercy and the Bois de Vincennes.

At the Parc de Bercy you’ll find the Frank Gehry designed film center and Bercy Village which is an outdoor mall sort of collection of restaurants and shops made from restored wine warehouses and crowded with Parisians. The Promenade Plantee and Jardin de Reuilly complex have much coverage on the web. At the Porte Doree is one of the finest examples of French Art Deco now used as the Immigration museum. The Church of the Holy Spirit is also an Art Deco wonder of reinforced concrete with interior painting by Maurice Denis and other Nabis. You also can find lots about the Bois de Vincennes on the web.

The three markets around Place d’Aligre make this area of little streets a prime shopping space. On either side of rue de Faubourg Saint Antoine around the Opera Bastille you’ll find tiny courtyards containing former craft and present craft workshops.

French revolution sites are the Cemetery of Picpus and the sites of the Reveillon wallpaper factory riots that were among the sparks of the French Revolution. Workers from this area stormed the Bastille.

75020 , Wonderful information , looking forward to October .

You have made an interesting choice. I like the 11th and 12th. Once east of Bastille, it lacks big tourist attractions but has a real neighbourhood feel and plenty of interesting dining choices. Food markets are always welcome, and it's easy to find a laundromat. The Promenade Plantee is interesting on street level too, with subsidized workshops for artisans filling the arches (I am always delighted to see an atelier devoted to music stands.) The cinematheque Francais is possibly the least distinct design from Frank Gehry, but he was only responsible for a refit rather than the whole structure.
Train Bleu will knock your eye out, justifying the cost since the menu is competent and the service efficient but very safe.
Place d'Aligre pavilion was under renovations all last year, although flourishing in side streets. Food commentator David Lebovitz has lots of pictures here: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/marche-daligre-aligre-outdoor-market-paris/
The neighbouring Baron Rouge, 1 rue Théophile Roussel, is a uniquely colourful wine-bar, full of locals enjoying themselves so much, along with the staff, that it closes down for a nap after lunch and tout is fini about 10 p.m. On Saturday it skips the nap; Sunday is finished at 4 p.m. Certainly no reservations offered. http://lebaronrouge.net/index_en.php

Southam, oh my gosh your David Lebovitz link was such a good read, thank you!!
Thanks to you, now I’ll be at that marché in a few weeks.
Info I’d read on it in the past kept me from going, didn’t appeal, but good ol’ David changed my mind!

Thank you everyone! These are excellent recommendations and I will start making my must-do list based on your posts. So looking forward to exploring and taking advantage of everything the area has to offer.

We spend yesterday around Lac Demausnil which is a lovely little pond with rental boats and a lot of places to stretch out and picnic just inside the Parc Vincennes at about the Port Doree tram and metro stop. The park is wonderful. On the opposite side near Nogent sur Marne, there is the old ruined site of the 1907 Colonial Exhibition which is interesting and there is also a lake with boats and pleasant picnicking on that side as well Lac des Minimes. The Marne valley on that side of Paris is full of cool things to do. We have visited Nogent to see the only remaining 'hall' from the destruction of Les Halles in the 70s and been to a Guignette and walked along the Marne at Champigny.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/day-in-the-country/
The tomb of Lafayette is in the Picpus Cemetery
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/lafayette-we-are-here/
And the Promenade Plantee is a lovely stroll on a nice day.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/promenade-plantee-turning-discarded-public-space-into-a-pleasant-place-for-parisians/
It is nice to be in an outer neighborhood when you are spending a longer stretch of time in the city. We stay in the 13th which like the 12th has little of tourist interest although we are on the edge of the Butte aux Cailles which is growing in popularity. I suggest you get a book called 'An Hour from Paris' by Simms that includes 20 day trips that are less well known. We have done most of them and found them ver satisfying.

Thank you Janet! Such great ideas and I will be sure to pick up a copy of the book to look through. We love Paris so much but want to be off the beaten path this time. Perfect!

Just to say I was not impressed with Bercy Village when I went there - the kind of international chain stores you can find in a shopping mall in any European city.