Which arrondissement is considered the most "fashionable"?

Question

(a.k.a: most expensive to live in?)

Answer 1

The first four arrondissements are very expensive to live in, that's true.

However, weekly news magazine "Le Nouvel Observateur" - which publishes twice a year a list with the average rents in Paris and Ile-de-France - states that the most expensive quarters in Paris are the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissement: Quartier Latin, Saint-Germain-des-Près and the area around l'Hôtel des Invalides. Followed by the 8th and 9th arrondissement (Champs-Elysées area and Grands Boulevards).

Boulevard St-Germain area in the 6th is the No 1. There are almost exclusively original "Haussmann"-buildings (buildings from the 1870s) in the quarter, it's central and you can find there a lot of fashion labels (such as Sonia Rykiel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Armani, Versace, etc.), as well as very "high class" furniture shops (especially kitchen and bathroom shops which have product lines that are as expensive as entire houses are somewhere else...) You won't find many supermarkets there. the next McDonald's from Metro St-GdP is at Montparnasse, and instead of H&M there are a lot of small labels. There are a lot of embassies, as well.

It is not really a hip and trendy neighbourhood (4th, 10th, 11th are much more "en vogue" and "branchés"), but it is a very rich one. 16th is expensive, too. But due to the high number of big houses and villas, the price per square metre is relatively "low" compared to the prices in the city's centre.

However, the kind of place you rent is still very important: you can pay incredible rents for a place in a "bad" neighbourhood.

Hope I could help.

Answer 2

What is an "arrondissement"?

I can't begin to answer unless I know that.

Answer 3

The most expensive is 1st, 3rd and sometime ago was 16th.

The last expensive and last fashionable is 20th.