I never really know what’s going to make me like a new working spot in Paris. Sometimes it’s a friendly waiter; sometimes it’s a fantastic poke bowl; sometimes it’s as simple as having a coffee mug I really like (the ones at Season are made of tin, so I’m pretty much sold). At Le Wood, it was the music.
Unlike many of the other spots in Paris where I go to write, Le Wood isn’t an American- or Aussie-style coffee shop. While they do sell coffee (like any self-respecting establishment in France), le Wood more akin to a bar than anything else, albeit with numerous different comfy areas to sit in and bask in the background music.
Unlike many other cafés I go to, Le Wood has somehow managed to curate the perfect selection of working music, as far as I’m concerned. (Either that or they’re listening to my Spotify.) Songs rotate through the likes of Lou Reed, The Cure, Queen, Bowie, Neil Young, and ELO.
This may not sound too out of the ordinary for American readers, but bear in mind that we don’t have the plethora of classic rock music stations in France that exist in the U.S. When I first encountered my husband in New York, he was working as an au pair in Poughkeepsie and, while driving the family’s giant black suburban in and around upstate New York, had excitedly curated a list of his favorite radio stations, bemoaning the lack of anything similar back home.
As a result, le Wood, with its playlist that would be quite at home on Q104.3, has become pretty much the only place in Paris where I don’t put headphones on (I can only listen to so much Ariana Grande).
It’s possible I’ve just been lucky so far, but seeing as Le Wood is located in a hidden little place kind of off the beaten track in the usually buzzing Marais (and also seeing as I tend to go in the mid-afternoon, when no self-respecting French person would be either eating or drinking), there’s usually more than enough space to spread out and enjoy a cup of coffee, the cozy atmosphere, and 80s and 90s rock.
Le Wood – 1, place de Thorigny, 75003