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The Family Guide to BoCoCa: Paris on the BQE

A trip to the City of Lights not in the cards? Head to this Brooklyn 'hood to sample all things French!

By Mimi O'Connor February 14, 2016

“BoCoCa” — AKA, the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens — has long attracted a French-speaking and French-loving population, likely influenced by (among other things) the dual language program at area school P.S. 58. In the past year, a host of new French services and businesses have joined the BoCoCa pioneers, making this Brooklyn spot feel like a far-flung arrondissement of Paris. Click through to see how resident and visiting families can sample its joie de vivre!

To Party Like It’s 1789: Bastille Day on Smith Street

For more than a decade, the French and French-loving have been celebrating Bastille Day, July 14, on Smith Street with Bar Tabac serving as an epicenter of good times. In addition to live music, sampling the food and drink of restaurants both Gallic and non, the fest hosts a serious Pétanque tournament (a French game similar to the Italian bocce), which involves carting in enough sand to create 16 courts on the street.

Online: bartabacny.com

photo: via Bar Tabac Facebook page

Do you have a favorite place to soak up French culture in NYC? Tell us about it in the comments below!

—Mimi O’Connor

cover photo: via Jacadi London Facebook page