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This walk is in the Chinatown of Paris. This Chinatown was created around 1975, as many refugees fled the political situation in south-east Asia (Vietnam and Laos war, civil war in Cambodia). They chose the 13th Arrondissement (13th district) of Paris because the skycrapers of the neighborhood had just been built and plenty of appartments were available.

The walk starts at the intersection of Rue de Tolbiac and Avenue de Choisy. You can actually start by having a seat at Pho Banh Cuon 14, a “Pho” restaurant (vietnamese soup). From there, take Avenue d’Ivry. In this street, I recommend 2 restaurants: Hawai (specialty: vietnamese spare ribs, pho), Bambou (Bo-Bun, Pho).

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Continue on Avenue d’Ivry, until you reach Olympiades shopping center. Even though, it is not part of the walk, I strongly recommend to visit the shopping center. The shopping center has another exit on “La Dalle”. It is a kind of platform where there are also plenty of Asian restaurants. “La Dalle” is above Rue du Disque and Rue du Javelot (Rue du Disque and Rue du Javelot are underground), and it leads to Rue de Tolbiac.

At the Olympiades shopping center , you may have a look at the food supermarkets Paristore and Freres Tang (Freres Tang is actually outside the shopping center, just before it).

When you exit the shopping center, continue on Avenue d’Ivry until you reach Boulevard Masséna. There is not much to see on this boulevard, so walk quickly until you get to Avenue de Choisy. If you are not afraid of getting lost, you can make a shortcut through the shopping center “Massena 13”, located between Avenue d’Ivry and Avenue de Choisy.

On Avenue de Choisy, there are again plenty of restaurants. I usually go to Tricotin, Victoria and Solia. But, the other restaurants are also very good. Walk until you reach the place you have begun the walk. You can also walk on Rue Baudricourt, between Avenue de Choisy and Avenue d’Ivry, for other restaurants.