In the family of unusual and secret places, we share with you this little-known yet sublime café! To find your place, head for a medieval building, the Collège des Bernardins, once home to monks!
Part of a former monk’s college transformed into a café-restaurant
This is the café that’ll have you under its spell from the moment you set foot in it! Quiet, charming and splendid, this place is guaranteed to provide you with a most beneficial coffee break in a most atypical setting! And with good reason: long before it was a café, this site was a meeting place for European Cistercian monks.
It was the end of the 13th century, and the Collège des Bernardins had just been built! A renowned training ground for monks, the institution is now a hybrid site, both a cultural center and a theological training center open to all. Since its renovation and reopening in 2008, the Collège has organized a wide range of events (exhibitions, concerts, philosophical debates…) and also boasts its own café-restaurant, the Table des Bernardins.
La Table des Bernardins, splendor and calm on the menu
You’ll find this table in the sublime nave of the Collège! High ceilings, uncluttered decor and a succession of delicate columns and vaults… You couldn’t ask for a more singular and splendid setting to spend a moment of your day! Here, there’s nothing more to add: it’s the place itself that unfolds its magic!
So take the time to enjoy a drink and a treat, or even lunch! From 12.30 to 2.30 pm, the room transforms into a restaurant, serving simple, tasty French cuisine! This is a superb address, full of charm, a little hidden away and, what’s more, it’s free – if that isn’t the definition of a good plan!
📍 Address: Table des Bernardins at Collège des Bernardins
20, rue de Poissy, 75005 Paris
10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (lunch from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.)
🎟️ Admission: free
Further information on Collège des Bernardins