Waiting tables in the shadow of Notre-Dame.

 L'Esmeralda occupies number 2, Rue du Cloître Notre-Dame, a street that follows the north side of the cathedral on the Île de la Cité, in the 4th arrondissement. The name is much older than the café, it recalls the former cloister of Notre-Dame, once a separate little quarter of houses occupied by the cathedral's canons.

There is the obvious literary connection to the name Esmeralda with several businesses around Notre-Dame having borrowed names from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. 

“The terrace is where Paris breathes — unhurried, curious and endlessly alive.”

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Part of the “Terraces of Paris” Series

Every Thursday we take a virtual seat on one of Paris's many terraces — those open-air stages where the city writes its daily stories.

Browse the full series

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