A street art journey of discovery in the 13th arrondissement
Between the Gobelins and the Tolbiac Chinese Quarter, the attractive and colourful streets of the Butte aux Cailles and the magnificent Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, the 13th arrondissement is a district full of surprises. Setting out from the C.O.Q. you can treat yourself to an original and interesting walk in the surrounding streets and encounter plenty of street art...
Dive in immediately…
You won't have to go far after leaving the hotel to start discovering the monumental frescoes that have enlivened the facades of buildings in the area for several years. In the Place Pinel, you’ll come across the three stencil portraits by the Ile-de-France artist C215. They represent characters from the neighbourhood including Papy Dance. On the same square, D*Face offers an astonishing representation of past loves in a comic-book style, featuring a couple embracing, and the man has a distinctly cadaverous face! Then, it’s on to the Boulevard Vincent Auriol, a veritable open-air museum of street art.
An immense variety of street art
Going down this wide, tree-lined artery, you can admire the works of artists as varied as the American Shepard Fairey, the Provençal Maye and the Chilean Inti. From graphics inspired by cartoons or Marvel comics to realism, via calligraffiti, creativity has no limits and colours explode in startling array on these large surfaces. Alternately poetic, like the poem repeated in cryptic writing at 171 Boulevard Vincent Auriol, symbolic, like the Madre Secular 2, at no. 81 and moving, like the fresco dedicated to the victims of the attacks of November 13that no. 141, street art reveals its vitality and creativity.
Street art is everywhere in the 13th arrondissement. Whether you follow the itinerary we’ve outlined or just let yourself be surprised by wandering at will, you will make great discoveries just a few steps from the C.O.Q. Hotel…
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Photo: mehaniq41
COQ Hotel Paris, a unique and trendy hotel in the heart of the 13th arrondissement of Paris