La Cantine Russe
The Cantine is a surreal venue for an evening’s entertainment, transporting diners to a kitsch Moscow-on-the-Seine.
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The cultural interchange between Russia and Paris goes back centuries, but what mark has it left on the city today?
Russia has long had a soft spot for Paris. From literary greats like Turgenev and Tolstoy to composers like Stravinsky, and Diaghilev with his ‘Ballets Russes’, the Russian cultural elite have often gravitated towards the city, first visited by Tsar Peter I on his grand tour of Europe in 1717. The Russian language has picked up many French terms in the years since, and vice versa – did you know ‘bistrot’ supposedly comes from the Russian word for ‘quickly’?
With an impressive new Kremlin-funded orthodox cathedral set to open in October 2016 by the Eiffel Tower, we’ve rounded up the best of Russian culture in Paris to get you up to speed. So indulge in some of the finest vodkas and caviars at the restaurants and bars on our list, get to know your Rachmaninovs and Prokofievs at the Russian Conservatoire, and appreciate Soviet-era sculpture at the Musée Zadkine. За здоровье!
The Cantine is a surreal venue for an evening’s entertainment, transporting diners to a kitsch Moscow-on-the-Seine.
The grandiose neo-Byzantine orthodox cathedral has welcomed all sorts of high-profile guests in its time, including Picasso.
Le Café Pouchkine will delight those gourmets who are nostalgic for the pastries of the days of the Tsar.
For the past 60 years Russian books have filled the shelves of this shop in the Marais.
A soviet style bar with vodka cocktails complemented by communist-red décor and propaganda posters.
The former studio of Russian-born Cubist sculptor Ossip Zadkine, converted into a museum in 1932, has always had a particular charm.
Music lessons, concerts and piano masterclasses in a Russian and French speaking environment.
You’ll find Russian specialities such as blinis, salmon and caviar (at €39 an ounce) from the Petrossian boutique downstairs.
This quaint church with its wooden portico and tranquil garden offers a communal space for orthodox Russians.
A trendy Russian-themed nightclub, attracting a young, moneyed crew into its red velvet, pink-neoned, Byzantine-style interior.
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