rue Cler

If you are there for dinner, I highly recommend Le Petit Cler (not sure of the spelling). We stayed at the Relais Bosquet on Champs de Mars while in Paris this past Dec. and very much enjoyed our dinner there. I also recommend you drop by to make a reservation if there earlier. Not a large restaurant. Good service.

In Paris, most shops are open Monday through Saturday (10:00-12:00 & 14:00-19:00) and closed Sunday (except in the Marais neighborhood and along the Champs-Elysées). Many small markets, boulangeries (bakeries), and street markets are open Sunday mornings until noon.

I recall many places on Rue Cler being closed on Sunday and Monday. It's not like there's much to see there. Restaurants, a few stores and various food market type stores. If you are in the area I guess it's worth stopping there, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. How long will you be in Paris?

We stayed in that area this past September and it was a fun, active area. not sure about Sunday night but others were busy and lively. Shops are food shops - cheese, meat, flowers, produce shops that all were open til about dinner time. If,you are a foodie fun to explore. I second le petit cler cafe on rue clear was fantastic for breakfast and coffee and restaurants all along there for outside dining. Also close to cafe constant, le cocottes Christian Constant and other great restaurants nearby as well. Also fantastic pastry shop les gourmandises right there with best pastries and bread and very friendly. Always Crowded!

Rue Cler is an ordinary market street; there are such streets all over Paris. Generally they are open business hours Tues-Sat and Sunday morning and close on Mondays. There is no point in going out of your way to see this particular market street unless you are there already. Some other similar streets are Montorgueil and Rue Levis. We found more interesting stores on both those streets. They are not generally great evening locations.

I was just in Paris, for my 5th visit; and this time I thought I would go to Rue Cler one day to see what all the fuss is about .
Well, it's one and a bit block of shops, a few Oriental restaurants, and a couple of cafes.
I was disappointed.
There are much better "market" streets in the city.
Rue Montorgueil, Rue Mouffetard, the area in Gobelins with a huge street market and no tourists, Montmartre, just to name a few.
Don't waste a Metro ticket to Rue Cler, go somewhere else.
Just google "markets in Paris", and you will find lots.
And have a great trip!

And to clarify -- a market is something that happens one or two days a week and different days for different markets; some of the big ones are at Richard Lenoir (Bastille), Belleville and Edgar Quinet. There are lists on line of which days various markets occur. Some are tiny -- a couple of blocks and some huge. Food is the primary focus of most of them but there are also some dry goods, clothes etc. Market streets like those listed in this thread function every day except Monday.

My favorite cafe is at the end of Rue Cler, Cafe Du Marche, it's filled with locals most nights, the food is good and reasonable. I always stay at the hotels on Rue Cler because I like the proximity to multiple sites of interest: Eiffel Tower, Napoleons tomb, Invalides Military museum, River Seine, etc. I love Paris, it is so vibrant.

I'll second the recommendations not to go there just because it's listed in the RS books. I stayed there...once. The place was full of Americans with blue Rick Steves' books in their hands, and didn't feel at all like other areas in Paris I have stayed. Don't get me wrong, it was okay, but it just felt like being at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in the "travel" section. If you happen to be there, fine—but don't make a special trip. Just my too sense...

PharmerPhil, you took the words right out of my mouth. Felt like I was in the US, surrounded by Americans. And I got food poisoning at Café du Marche. Spent 3 days on the bathroom floor.
I love Paris, but not the rue Cler area.

Here's a helpful list of what each market specializes in, and its approximate location:
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/paris-markets/#market-15

We took the recommendation and stayed just off Rue Cler. I thought it was a very nice neighborhood to stay in, but wouldn't make this a destination otherwise. We ate at both petit cler and café du marche - both nice. I think I could hang out in café du marche every night with a pastis or negroni.

Twenty five years ago I heard of this guy names Rick Steves and was going to Europe with only carry on. In fact, my bag was the ETBD Original Back Door Bag. My first stop was Paris and he suggested staying close to Rue Cler. While I didn't stay in one of his suggested hotels I stayed nearby.

He spoke up Rue Cler so much I couldn't wait to see it. It was mostly locals doing their daily shopping and a few tourists thrown in. He described it as a little village in the heart of Paris and it was. I remember getting yelled at by a cheese seller because I asked for 100g of cheese and he didn't want to do that.

Fast forward 25 years. It's changed. It should now be called Rue Rick Steves because the locals seem to be replaced by tourists with blue and gold guidebooks.

C'est la vie.

Rue Cler is a good option for people who are elderly and have mobility issues, because it is a flat, wide street. It's not a pedestrian street, however - deliveries and cars pass through.
There really isn't much to see - 1 small supermarket, several cafes where you might enjoy just a drink, one butcher, one fish shop, one very snobby Italian deli, couple of chocolate shops, couple of fruit / veg stands - ice cream and cheese shop on the side street. The cheese shop now sells pre-made little platters of cheese made up to go.
If you plan to go to rue Cler on Sunday, the cafes and restaurants will be open, but around 1 PM, all the shops will close. All the shops are closed on Monday except the supermarket.
There are good bus and Metro connections, though, if you want to go anywhere else.

Thanks for that list, Chexbres.