Last Updated on 22nd October 2021 by Sophie Nadeau
Hiding on a street corner close to the Mairie of the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, Broken Arm is a coffee shop and concept store that’s worth checking out on your next French adventure. Here’s a café review of a quaint speciality coffee shop and concept boutique clothing store in the middle of Le Marais…
Contents
The Broken Arm Coffee Shop in Le Marais
Small and compact, there can’t be more than twenty seats within the bustling and busy coffee shop on the corner of Rue Perrée. Just across the way from Square du Temple, the exterior of the café is home to just two round tables, with two seats each.
Selling all kinds of cakes, the coffee shop is the perfect location to sit and watch the world go by, as you sip on a tasty speciality latté or cappuccino. During certain times of the year (usually quarterly), the 3rd arrondissement runs a sprawling brocante fair that stretches over several streets and is well worth checking out.
On the menu, you’ll find options for both breakfast and lunch, as well as snacks served throughout the day. Breakfast offerings include avocado toast and granola, while lunch fare includes delights like soups, salads, and sourdough bread. The café is open from Tuesday through to Saturday, 9 AM – 6 PM.
The Broken Arm Fashion Shop in Paris
Vending all kinds of men’s and women’s clothing items, The Broken Arm Paris was founded in 2013 by entrepreneurs Guillaume Steinmetz, Anaïs Lafarge, and Romain Joste. The team had run the lifestyle and fashion website De Jeunes Gens Modernes before venturing into the real-life retail space.
Now, head in store and you can expect to find all of the brands that the team had featured in their online magazine over the years. And fashion isn’t all that you’ll find should you head into The Broken Arm. Instead, shoes, office supplies, and home decor can all be found in equal measure.
Once inside, the layout is inspired by simple yet beautiful Scandinavian design. Expect minimal decor which focuses on the goods for sale. Much like the adjacent café, the brands within the store are on the pricier side of things. The Broken Arm is open from Tuesday through to Saturday, 11 AM – 7 PM.
Things to do near The Broken Arm
Passage de l’Ancre
The oldest passage in Paris is often said to be Anchor Passage in the heart of Le Marais. Home to the most ancient umbrella repair shop in the city as well as several attractive private façades, a wander along this cobbled lane can feel akin to stepping back in time.
Passage Vendome
Barely two streets away from the concept store, Passage Vendome is one of the lesser-known of the covered arcades of the French capital. Covered in 1827 on the site of a once open-air passage, now the arcade can be found on the fringes of the ever-popular and frequented Place de la Republique.
Picasso National Museum
Housed within a former Hôtel Particulier and set over several floors, the Paris Picasso Museum can be found within Hôtel Salé and boasts well over five thousand works (sculptures, paintings, drawings, and the like) within its collections. If you want to visit, purchase your Picasso Museum tickets in advance here.