Indian businesses and services in Paris, France

The streets around La Chapelle, where the 10th and 18th arrondissements meet just north of Gare du Nord, form the centre of South Asian Paris. Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis and the streets near La Chapelle metro station are lined with Sri Lankan Tamil grocers, jewellers, sari shops and restaurants, and the area is often called Little Jaffna. Further south, Passage Brady, a covered passage off Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, is lined with Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants.

The Sri Manicka Vinayakar Alayam on Rue Pajol, in the 18th, is a focal point of Tamil community life, and its annual Ganesh festival, usually in August or September, brings a chariot procession through the streets of La Chapelle. The Sikh community lives largely in the suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis, where there are gurdwaras in towns such as Bobigny, and many South Asian families live in the north-eastern suburbs more broadly.

France's ties to India also run through Puducherry, the former French territory, and a number of Tamil families from there took French nationality when French rule in India ended. Diwali is celebrated at temples and in community halls. La Chapelle on Line 2 and Gare du Nord are the easiest stations, and the area is at its busiest on Saturdays and on festival days.