33 Rue des Abbesses, Montmartre, 18th arrondissement, Paris 75018. Phone +33 1 46 06 02 42. Nearest Metro: Abbesses on line 12, a short walk from the foot of the Montmartre hill.
Le Vrai Paris runs on walk-ins. The terrace is the seat everyone wants, so arrive before the early-evening apéritif rush to claim one. Inside, the red leather banquettes fill up later for dinner.
Le Vrai Paris sits on Rue des Abbesses in Montmartre, and the name is the whole pitch. This is a classic Parisian bistro and terrace bar built to look the part, with red leather banquettes, an art deco interior, and waiters in black and white. Taste of France describes the flower-framed terrace as an eye-catcher for anyone walking the street.
The draw here is the apéritif on that terrace, not a cocktail program. Order a glass of wine, a Kir, or a coffee, take a seat under the pink blooms, and watch one of the prettiest streets in Paris go by. The kitchen runs traditional, with onion soup, snails, and crème brûlée when you want to stay for a plate.
This is a postcard, and it knows it, so expect a tourist crowd rather than a hidden local secret. For more of the surrounding Pigalle and Montmartre bar scene, pair it with the tiki den at Dirty Dick in Pigalle, the natural-wine and cocktail room at Glass, or the agave list at Candelaria in the Marais.
The terrace apéritif move. A glass of French red or white is the order that matches the room, best taken outside in the late afternoon.
White wine with crème de cassis, the classic Parisian apéritif. Simple, sweet, and exactly in keeping with the bistro setting.
Le Vrai Paris opens early, so a morning espresso on the terrace is as valid an order as an evening drink. The seat is the point.