Paris is a city that is known for its museums and monuments as well as its low-key treasures.
There are other things to do in Paris besides the Louvre, Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. The best of Paris can be experienced by combining the blockbuster experiences with the local delicacies. There are many things to do.
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Gastronomic dining in the company of the most beautiful city panorama at Le Jules Vernes is a must see. If you want to see the Dame de Fer or Iron Lady at night, you can go to the rooftop bar. You can see the views of the Eiffel Tower from a boat bar or bateau.
The city's latest blockbuster art venue is located in an 18th-century rotunda where the city's grain market and stock exchange used to be. When admiring the contemporary art in this world-class collection by French billionaire Franois Pinault, reserve tickets online, book lunch in the top floor Halles aux Graines restaurant, and keep your wits about you.
The central hall has a replica of a late-Renaissance Giambologna sculpture, which is actually a gargantuan, slow-burning wax candle. The gallery has been designed to shock.
The backstreets of Paris have a lot of markets. Bastille's morning street marché is a great introduction to most neighborhoods. You can find Marché des Enfants Rouges by swinging through the green metal gate on rue de Bretagne, 3e. The oldest covered market in the city is located here and has a maze of food stalls. You can get a stuffed- and sizzled-to-order toast sandwich or crpe from the friendly man at the restaurant.
Metro line 13 will take you to Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen. A village in itself, this gargantuan nine-hectare flea market is where thrifty Parisians gravitate at weekends to hunt down chintzy Louis XVI lamps, rare and wonderful vinyl, avant-garde fitting and furniture, antiques and other second-hand treasures for their city.
The Musée Carnavalet in Le Marais is an enchanting rendezvous with history, with its twinset of htels particuliers smacking of 17th-century Parisian aristocracy. The architecture at the oldest museum in Paris takes you to the Renaissance.
Thanks to a four-year redesign costing more than 55 million, the Musée Carnavalet is a great place to visit. There are 3800 historical pieces in rooms that reflect each era. The Salons La Rivire, Htel Wendel's Art Deco ballroom, and Fouquet's Art Nouveau jewelry shop are some of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
It's not necessary to book in advance for admission to the permanent collection. The cafe has tables in the garden.
It would take nine months to see all of the masterpieces at the Louvre. The palace-gallery was built as a fortress for Philippe-Auguste in the 12th century and was re-built as a royal residence in the 16th.
Hunts are a huge hit with families and will lead you into quieter rooms than the likes of Da Vinci's celebrityMona Lisa or Michelangelo's dying Slave. Take a photo as proof of up to 30 artworks, which are the "pieces of treasure". One of Paris's most mythical cafes with an elegant terrace beneath arches is called Café Le Nemours, where you can get a coffee or an organic peach juice.
Paying respects to the rich and famous buried in the world's most-visited cemetery is a fascinating urban walk. One of the biggest green spaces in Paris is the historic graveyard, which has 5300 trees and shrubs. You can visit on a sunny day after the rain.
If you want to find the graves of 1960s rock star Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, or any other famous person, you can use the QR code on the entrance of the cemetery. His tours are two hours long.
Which artist can resist the water lilies? The Jardin des Tuileries is home to two rooms designed by Monet in the 1920s.
More Monet masterpieces rub shoulders with paintings by Cézanne, Degas, Renoir and Van Gogh in the Musée d'Orsay. The real gold can be found at the Musée Marmottan Monet. The world's largest collection of canvases by Monet can be found at this htel in the 16e arrondissement.
It has been rumored for a long time that Paris would be included on the World Heritage List. Place Royale in Le Marais was the starting point for your rooftop venture. The most handsome is the oldest square. This is a great place to look at Paris' signature roofs from below, originally tiled in slate from the Loire Valley and cheaper sheets of shiny seagull-grey zinc.
Au Top is a hidden rooftop with an insane panoramic view that is a 10-minute walk away.
The viewing terrace of Galeries Lafayette, Perruche above Le Printemps, and Le Perchoir in the 11e are some of the other places to go in Paris.
The medieval city was bulldozed in the 19th century to make way for an elegant, light-filled capital. The left-bank St-Germain des Prés, right-bank Le Marais and Jardin du Luxembourg are some of the best places to walk. You can take a wildly creative themed walking tour such as an opera stroll with a singer in Montmartre or a gourmet walk in Goutte d'Or.
Start at the viewing platform of Arc de Triomphe, walk down Champs-Elysées to Place de la Concorde, and end at Jardin des Tuileries. Admire the Louvre with its striking glass pyramid and then take a ride on the metro-station entrance with 800 glass beads.
Continue into Jardin du Palais Royal and you will find Daniel Buren's signature black-and-white striped columns, upscale boutique-clad arcades, freshly roasted coffee, and a park bench to watch Paris go by.
There is a spectacular view of Paris from the steps of the Sacré- Coeur Basilica or the 300 more steps inside. To get under the skin of this fabled quarter of ivy-clad cottages, windmills and artist cafes, it pays to duck down hidden alleys and squares.
You can reserve a table at a cocktail bar with a walled summer garden. One of the prettiest cul-de-sacs in Paris with flowery cottage gardens fronting 1920s terraced brick houses is called Villa Leandré. The La Cité Pilleux is a dead end lane with old industrial workshops re-spun as little dwellings.
The view from the Arc de Triomphe is better than the view from the Eiffel Tower. The 50m-high (164ft), Roman-style, triumphal arch commemorates Napolon's 1805 victory at Austerlitz is the best spot to get your head around Paris' Axe Historique.
You can see the Louvre, Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysées from the east and west. Cars spinning off along one of eight Haussmannian avenues are a sight to behold.
The importance of grassroots produce in French cuisine has never been greater. Chefs in Paris are working harder than ever to elevate taste and quality to even greater heights.
The untouristed 10th arrondissement is becoming more and more popular with bistronomies such as Les Résistants and L'Avant Poste.
Early settlers arrived on le de la Cité around the 3rd century BC, which is when the Seine began. The experience of cruising the river with Bateaux-Mouches is unforgettable. Take a stroll along the UNESCO World Heritage- listed riverbanks, islands, summertime beaches and 37 bridges.
Hopes are high that parts of the river will be clean by the year 2025. Cool off on hot summer days at Piscine Joséphine Baker. A short walk west along the quay to bohemian barge-gallery Fluctuart is a good place to see contemporary street art. The Off Paris Seine is a floating hotel.
The craft-cocktail scene in Paris is amazing. At Bar Hemingway in the Ritz, British-born bartender Colin Field has been mixing drinks for more than 25 years. According to legend, Hemingway knocked back 51 dry martinis after helping liberate the hotel bar during WWII.
Le Mary Céleste is one of the first bars in Paris to pair cocktails with French cuisine. Le Pavillon Puebla is a party space in a 19th-century mansion in a park.
Shopping in Paris is exciting and exotic, from your own made-to-measure Louis Vuitton trunk to a heavenly fragranced candle from the world's oldest candlemaker. Pick your quartier based on personal style and taste, Le Marais for workshop boutiques of independent upcoming designers and mainstream fashion, or Canal St-Martin for concept stores, pop-ups and alternative design boutiques.
The historic department store La Samaritaine has been restored to it's former glory. The central hall, which was restored by a Japanese firm, is perfectly undamaged.
Paris is a great place to live. It's possible to see behind the scenes of an art Deco movie theater, lose your soul in a silent B&W movie, or follow in the footsteps of Amélie.
During the summer months, deckchairs are scattered on the grass in the park for free film screenings. The Htel Paradiso in the 12e is a cinema hotel with designer rooms and private cinema screens.
Films can be seen on a 24m-long screen in the Louvre's magnificent 16th-century courtyard during the summer.
The article was first published in July of this year.
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