Within 5 minutes on foot are a twice-weekly organic farmer's market, a famous bakery (with a line out the door every morning), old-fashioned butcher, cheese monger, fishmonger, a famous chocolate roaster (!), and several exceptional wine stores. Around the corner is a Michelin-starred restaurant; several others are within a 15 minute walk. For more casual dining, there are several excellent bistros on the same street. A slightly longer walk takes you to the famous (and in my opinion the best) outdoor market in Paris, the Marché d'Aligre, which is active every day except Monday.

Of course food is not the only interesting thing to do in Paris (or so I hear), and my part of the 11th is also famous for parks, for historical buildings (including a convent built in 1412. famous for the invention of lavender eau de parfum), a perfectly-restored antique working carousel, and for a number of excellent music venues - including the Bataclan right down the street from me (also now infamous, sadly enough, for the 2015 Bataclan terrorist attack).

A 10 minute bike ride takes you to the Cirque d'Hiver, one of the oldest remaining functioning circuses. It is largely quiet in summer, but the next-door Clown Bar is famous in its own right. In under 10 minutes you also arrive at Jim Morrison's tomb and other famous tombs in the Père Lachaise cemetary.

The place de la Bastille is a 15 minute walk with its own outdoor market, cafés and newly renovated access to the Canal St. Martin and the Seine.

Line 9 of the métro is steps away, line 8 is a 10 minute walk, and other subway lines are within a 15 minute walk. This is the beating heart of Paris!