11th arr

The 11th arrondissement lies just to the south of the 10th, and shares a lot of characteristics with the up-and-coming parts of that area.  The underground part of the Canal St Martin forms a wide boulevard, and around this there are a ton of trendy places to eat, drink, shop, be seen, etc.  To the west of the 11th is an area called Oberkampf that has a very "new Brooklyn" vibe with young people/student/hipster bars and shops; similarly around the Place de la Bastille farther south there are more cool, diverse restaurants and bars than you can count.  They range from cheap, greasy, quick Chinese to upscale tapas to new fusion French.  The rest of the southern area of the 11th is mostly residential, and this is where a lot of single young professionals live.  It's kind of the area to go when you have some money, but not a whole lot.

Anyway, I'm describing the atmosphere here because there is a dearth of monuments and things to see in the 11th.  There are two important "places" (in the French sense - meaning a circle/roundabout with significance): the Place de la Republique and the Place de la Bastille.

The Place de la Republique is actually on the border of the 3rd, 10th, and 11th arrondissements, and is the junction of seven roads - some huge boulevards and some smaller.  It's always had a great amount of political symbolism.  As is evident, it was made to commemorate the founding of the French Republic, and in the center is a statue of Marianne - the lady who is the embodiment of the Republic - surrounded by allegories of liberty, equality, and fraternity, the founding principles of the Republic. (picture of the statue from Wikipedia)

Back in the 1800's this area was largely working class, and when Paris was redesigned under Haussman many of the poorer people were pushed out.  But the city as a whole remembered the roots of this area, and the Place de la Republique became a meeting point for the socialist/communist/left-wing marches, parades, strikes, etc.  Politically based things that happen there to this day are usually all making a statement aligning themselves with the more radical ideas of republicanism.

Right now the whole circle is undergoing major construction to make it easier for pedestrians to get around, so poor Marianne looks like this for her own protection:

 

Secondly we have the Place de la Bastille - another name you'll probably recognize.  This was the former location of the Bastille prison fortress, where the famous "storming of the Bastille" took place (commemorated on July 14, "Bastille Day" to the non-French).  This was the moment many people point to as the start of the French Revolution, and most historians say was just the start of the violence of the Revolution.  Anyway, on July 14, 1789, Parisians were angry at the government and heard that troops were storing up ammunition and guns to be used against the people to quell recent unrest.  An angry mob (of less than a thousand people) broke into the Bastille - which at the time was only keeping seven old men prisoner - to take the weapons themselves.  The romantic legend goes that they wanted to free the political prisoners kept in the Bastille, since the fortress was a symbol of the state and the monarchy, but that was a secondary goal.

Here is the Bastille area before the Revolution:

And now, with the column commemorating the July Revolution (1830):

The Bastille was completely destroyed during the Revolution, its ruins used both to form other buildings as and powerful symbolism of the fallen monarchy.  Until the end of the 19th century everyone thought there was nothing left of the fortress, but when they were digging for the new Metro stop there in 1899 some remains of the foundations were uncovered.  Some of these are now in the Metro station, and some are in a park a few blocks away (actually in the 3rd arr but I'm putting them here anyway):

The Place de la Bastille is not as pointed a political symbol as the Place de la Republique, as it's more friendly to a wider range of politics.  However, groups that meet here are still generally leftist; when leftist new president Francois Hollande won last spring I could hear his party celebrating there from my apartment.

Moving away from political history, there are just two monuments of note I can think of in the 11th.  Firstly there is this interesting building, the Cirque d'Hiver.

It was opened in 1852 as a place for circuses to perform in the winter, and since has been used for a variety of things: circuses, horse shows, concerts, fashion shows.  It was designed to evoke classical Roman circuses, as it's constructed like a mini, covered Colosseum with neo-classical bas-reliefs.  There usually isn't much to do here but look at the building, but it's kind of an interesting and little-known place.

Then there is, as usual, a somewhat architecturally interesting church, St Ambroise.

It was built in the mid 1800's. and is in that odd neo-Gothic/neo-Byzantine style.

There aren't a lot of museums in this area, but I had to mention one in the 11th: the museum of smoking.  It has pipes from all around the world along with hookah/shisha paraphernalia, snuffboxes, and art of people smoking.  I've never been there, and probably won't go, but it strikes me as one of the more unique ideas for a museum.

So in conclusion for the 11th: don't come here if you're looking for tourist spots, although the area of the former Bastille is a popular stop.  Do go here if you're looking for good shopping, eating, and drinking.