‘Paris sera toujours Paris’, warbled Maurice Chevalier, whereas Rick did his hard-boiled best to comfort Ilsa with the notion that they would ‘always have Paris’; and Oscar Wilde reckoned Paris was the place good Americans go to when they die. Mention the French capital, it seems, and forever-ness – ‘always’, ‘toujours’ – is never far behind.

Well, it’s hardly surprising. When was a city so often filmed, photographed, fêted, painted, hymned, sung about, written up, talked up, dreamed of, reported, coveted? Its museums and monuments are household names all over the world, its way of life – something to do with long lunches, red wine, café terraces, cigarette smoke, illicit liaisons – a byword. Paris? It’s been around forever.

And yet familiarity poses a challenge: to see the eternal clichés for what they are – nice things, but far less than the whole picture. In our view, you should take Paris as you might a detective novel, riddled with all-too-obvious clues. In other words, look again, and look harder. Even on your first visit, you’ll have a strong mental picture of the place; try, if at all possible, to erase it.
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Try to stop thinking of Paris as a tourist destination. And if you don’t get to see Sacré Coeur at close quarters on this trip, don’t worry: it will still be there next time. Instead, stand still and look about you. Shove the map to the bottom of your bag and follow your nose. Venture out from the monument-heavy centre to the outer districts – the villagey parts of the 13th arrondissement, say, or buzzing Belleville at the junction of the 10th, 11th, 19th and 20th.

And another piece of advice: if at all possible, even haltingly, even in pidgin French, talk to the locals. In most cases, especially in the already-convivial setting of bars and cafés, Parisians are much friendlier than their reputation for aloofness suggests. Do all this, and you’ll take home memories and knowledge that your friends and colleagues will never have. Most of the writers of this guide have lived in Paris for years, and each will tell you that new finds and surprises are a weekly, if not daily occurrence. ‘J’ai deux amours’, sang Josephine Baker, born in Missouri and resident for most of her life in the French capital: ‘mon pays et Paris’. Two loves – home and Paris. You won’t have to spend much time in this city before you see what she meant.

Arts and Leisure

Film

Paris belongs to the movies. There are nearly 90 cinemas and almost 400 screens, 150 of them independently owned – and of those, 89 show nothing but arthouse. More tickets per capita are bought in Paris than anywhere else in Europe. And, in any given week, a choice of around 230 movies – not counting festivals. You like cinema? You’ll love Paris.

Even if you’re only in town for a couple of days, it would be a real shame not to visit at least one of the city’s many and varied picture palaces – the glorious faux-oriental Pagode, for example, or the active and innovative Forum des Images. In addition to the multitude of retrospectives and cut-price promotions, there are many Q&A events: if you are lucky, your trip may coincide with a visit from a major international director or actor.

New releases, sometimes as many as 15 or more, hit the screens on Wednesdays. Hollywood is well represented, of course, but Paris audiences have a balanced diet that includes an insatiable appetite for international product and for non-standard formats like shorts or documentaries; then there are the 150-plus annual releases funded or part-funded with French money (the French film industry is still
the world’s third largest).

Classical music & opera

If Gérard Mortier’s first season as director of the Opéra National de Paris had predictable moments of controversy, including a universally despised take on Mozart’s Magic Flute, at least his efforts to introduce the public to unfamiliar work generally made a welcome change from the conservative approach of his predecessor, Hugues Gall. Mortier also takes the trouble to give personal pre-show talks, which appeal to an audience not always entirely free of intellectual pretension. Elsewhere, the recently elected director of the Châtelet, Jean-Luc Choplin, should provide an interesting antidote to Mortier’s elitist sensibilities.

Contemporary composition remains a strong suit in Paris’s musical makeup, thanks to the work of the IRCAM, the Ensemble Intercontemporain and the active presence of Pierre Boulez. It’s matched only by the Early Music scene, led by William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants, with French conductor Emmanuelle Haïm joining other native specialists such as Christophe Rousset and Jean-Claude Malgoire. There’s plenty going on in churches and other venues, too. The Festival d’Art Sacré (01.44.70.64.10, http://www.festival dartsacre.new.fr) presents church music in authentic settings in the run-up to Christmas; Les Grands Concerts Sacrés (01.48.24.16.97) and Musique et Patrimoine (01.42.50.96.18) also offer concerts at various churches, while music in Notre-Dame cathedral is taken care of by Musique Sacrée Notre-Dame (01.44.41.49.99, tickets 01.42.34. 56.10). The main music in summer is the Paris Quartier d’Eté festival, with concerts in gardens.

Many venues and orchestras offer cut-rate tickets to students (under 26) an hour before curtain-up. But be suspicious of smooth-talking ticket touts around the Opéra and at big-name concerts.

On La Fête de la Musique (21 June), all events are free, and year-round freebies crop up at the Maison de Radio France and the Conservatoire de Paris, as well as at certain churches.


Dance

Although Paris is revered for its sumptuous Opéra productions and groundbreaking avant-garde performances of a century ago, its contemporary scene is also impressive: local punters are always hungry for cutting-edge dance. Talent is constantly shuttling between Paris and Brussels; Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and her company Rosas are among the commuters. Superstars Pina Bausch and William Forsythe also visit regularly, drawing healthy crowds.

For would-be performers, there are masses of dance classes – ballet and hip hop being the most popular – and there’s also no letting up of the Buena Vista-inspired Latin phenomenon. And every season sees some kind of contemporary dance festival in or near Paris; Paris Quartier d’Eté and the Festival d’Automne are just two of the biggest.

Theatre

Paris is rich in dramatic history. From moody medieval plays to revolutionary street theatre in 1968, French drama has always mirrored, shaped and commented on French society. Paris has led the pack in the development of new acting styles, popular dramatic movements and landmark theatre buildings. But for the outsider, especially the outsider whose French isn’t fully fluent, the options are limited. None of the legendary theatrical venues subtitle their performances, so even open-minded visitors are unlikely to venture in. Meanwhile, a couple of anglophone troupes cater to the English-speaking crowd. Dear Conjunction Theatre Company (6 rue Arthur-Rozier, 19th, 01.42.41.69.65) is the main source of English-language theatre, in a variety of venues. And Shakespeare in English is performed in June at the Bois de Boulogne’s Théâtre de Verdure du Jardin Shakespeare (08.20.00.75.75) by London’s Tower Theatre Company (http://www.towertheatre.org.uk).

What’s on

For listings, see L’Officiel des Spectacles, Pariscope or Zurban. When it comes to films, take note of the two letters printed somewhere near the title: VO (version originale) means a screening in the original language with French subtitles; VF (version française) means that it’s dubbed into French. Matters musical are covered by monthly magazines Le Monde de la Musique and Diapason, which list classical concerts; Opéra International provides good coverage of all things vocal. Cadences and La Terrasse, two free monthlies, are distributed outside concert venues. Another useful source of information is website http://www.concertclassic.com.



Hotels

Much like restaurants and cafés in Paris, hotels here are being opened, renovated and/or reinvented and reopened almost all the time.
Neighbourhoods fall in and out of fashion, their cachet increased by the siting of some funky boutique hotel or other – for evidence, look no further than the cultish Hôtel du Petit Moulin.
For new hotels in 2006 the Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière Champs-Elysées (http://www.lucienbarriere.com) is a luxury four-star spa job due to open on avenue George-V in October; and, also by the Champs-Elysées, the Hôtel Daniel (http://www.hoteldanielparis.com) is only the second Relais & Châteaux hotel to set up in Paris. Opened in May, the wacky Hôtel Amour takes the art in art hotel to the nth degree.

Whatever your needs, there’ll be a Paris hotel to fit the bill. We’ve found the best in each category, from marble-clad palaces to cosy hotels with bare-stone breakfast rooms. We’ve also got budget addresses where you needn’t stay any longer than it takes for a shower and some shut-eye.

Timings and rates

Hotels are often booked solid during the major trade fairs (January, May, September), and it’s hard to find a quality pillow during fashion weeks (January, March, early July and October). At the quieter times of July and August, hotels can offer reasonable deals at short notice; phone ahead or check their websites to find out.

Same-day reservations can be arranged in person for a nominal commission fee at the Office de Tourisme de Paris. Of the many discount websites http://www.parishotels.com guarantees the lowest prices online.


Nightlife

The French capital’s after-dark strengths are, first and foremost, its scenery, closely followed by its cinemas, bars and restaurants. And although there’s a good deal going on music-wise, not much of the loud variety is heard late, thanks to stringent anti-noise laws. Paris isn’t really a clubbing city, either.
But none of that means the place doesn’t supply (and enjoy) a good range of down ’n’ dirty nocturnal entertainment. Its nightclubs are a reliable source of surprises, and the locals are good fun once they let their hair down and stop playing it cool. And when it comes to music – especially jazz, blues and chanson – you’ll find more than enough going on to keep your feet tapping.

Nightclubs

Those who’d rather dance with a partner than trip out with BPMs, sweaty strangers and strobes have plenty of old-style discos to choose from. There’s the swing, be-bop and rock ’n’ roll after the jazz concerts at Le Slow Club, and a stream of school-disco-type nights where the DJ is no superstar but a humble spinner of tunes: check out the monthly Bal at Elysée Montmartre and Le Gala des Ringards at Le Divan du Monde. Salsa and world-music events are plentiful, too, with regular nights at Le Divan du Monde and elsewhere.
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Hardcore clubbers need not go hungry, either. Dance music of every stripe gets an outing at the Paris version of Berlin’s Love Parade, the Techno Parade, which takes place in the middle of September and draws thousands into the street to dance. Then there are big clubs such as Queen and Redlight, which serve up more commercial mixes of house music, lasers and podium dancers to mainstream crowds. On the other hand, smaller venues like lesbian mainstay Pulp, Nouveau Casino and Triptyque tend to opt for a combination of house, techno and electro – often with a live music element to kick off.

It’s with the ‘after’ parties that things really get going; indeed, there are as many early Sunday morning events as there are Saturday-nighters. For standard house there are Folies Pigalle and Redlight, among others; for deep, progressive or minimal sounds, make tracks for Nouveau Casino. This said, hip hop and R&B fans will be surprised to see how under-represented is their favoured clubbing scene in comparison to the high record sales and radio play of said genres. Straightforward hip hop nights are held during the week at Triptyque; R&B is played on Wednesdays at Queen’s Break’n. For drum ’n’ bass the main nights are monthly Massive at Rex and I Love Jungle at a succession of hired venues. Trance and hardcore tend to stay outside Paris, with outdoor events organised by local collectives and sound systems, though a few crop up indoors.

Paris clubs don’t really get going until 2am, and people often hit a DJ bar beforehand. Many people visit several clubs in one night and finish their evening at an ‘after’ party on Sunday morning. This can be a costly way to go, but you can find quality DJing at free nights in certain clubs during the week. And free passes can be found on various flyers; flyer information is available at http://www.flyersweb.com. Other useful sites are http://www.novaplanet.com, http://www.radiofg.com and http://www.lemonsound.com, for house and techno events. Note that the last métro leaves at around 12.45am, and the first only gets rolling at 5.45am; in between those times you’ll have to get home by night bus or taxi.

Rock, roots & jazz

If you envisaged catching late-night gig, best think again. Trendsetters may flock to Paris to meet, plan and jam, but many punters complain that the powers-that-be – the people who dreamed up the lutte contre le bruit, or noise clampdown – are spoiling the party. Playing live often means a 10.30pm finish or the cops pulling the plug if things rise above 75 decibels. Venues like Triptyque, Nouveau Casino and Point Ephemère, all with a varied showcase of contemporary sounds, are fighting an ongoing battle to persuade the authorities that increased sound-levels will not bring social meltdown.

But it’s not all bad. The banlieue raps on, currently to the strains of TTC, La Rumeur and Le Remède; and should you like your Francophonia delivered by husky-voiced ladies in smoky bars, you’ll be glad to know la chanson française continues to thrive.


On similarly solid foundations is the city’s rep as an international hotspot for jazz and blues. Established venues like New Morning, Sunset and Caveau de la Huchette have been hosting big names for years, and few arrondissements are without a similarly hip cellar. The multi-disciplinary Théâtre du Châtelet is also a prime purveyor of big-name jazz with its annual Bleu sur Scène festival. Then again, Paris has a lively world music scene – often Arabic and African – at places like Le Bataclan, and the inevitable US and UK indie acts and rocktagenarians drop by on tour to places like Olympia and La Cigale.

Listings can be found in the weekly Zurban and Les Inrockuptibles, whose online database at http://www.lesinrocks.com has all that’s hot in town. Bi-monthly Lylo is distributed free at Fnac and in bars such as La Fourmi. Virgin Megastore and Fnac each operate a ticket office. Get to a gig at the time stated on the ticket; owing to curfews, concerts usually start on time – not an hour after the doors open.

Cabaret

A century after cancan was born, busty babes are still slinking across the cabaret stages of Paris. The Moulin Rouge created the concept in 1889 with skirt-raising called Quadrille Réaliste (later coined the cancan). Since then, the addition of glitzy venues like Le Lido institutionalised garter-pinging forever. These days a cabaret is an all-evening, €100, smart-dress extravaganza, served with a pre-show gourmet meal and champers. Male dancers, acrobats and magicians complement the foxy foxtrots; the dancing is synchronised, the costumes beautiful, and the whole caboodle unreservedly respectable. The Moulin Rouge is the most traditional glamour revue and the only place with cancan.

Toulouse-Lautrec posters, glittery lamp-posts and fake trees lend tacky charm, while 60 Doriss dancers cover every inch of the stage with faultless synchronisation. Costumes are flamboyant, the entr’acte acts funny and the sets solid: one daring number even takes place inside a giant tank of underwater boa constrictors. Sadly, elbow room is nil, with hundreds of tables and bodies packed in like sardines. But if you can bear intimacy with international businessmen, the Moulin Rouge, the cheapest of the food-serving cabarets, won’t disappoint.

For space go to Le Lido. With 1,000 seats, this classy venue is the largest, priciest cabaret of the lot: the art nouveau hall’s high-tech touches (descending balcony and disappearing lamps) optimise visibility, and star chef Paul Bocuse has revolutionised the menu. The slightly tame show, with 60 Bluebell Girls, has boob-shaking, wacky costumes and numerous oddities: courtesan cats meeting Charlie Chaplin for example.



Shopping

Paris has been the world’s fashion mecca at least since the reign of Louis XIV, when the Sun King sent ambassadors bearing dolls dressed in the latest looks to neighbouring European courts.
Today, even if the futureof haute couture hangs in the balance (and few locals can afford the latest runway look or accessories in sumptuous leather, so the market is held aloft largely by wealthy tourists), luxury is still the standard on which the city’s reputation hangs. The cost of craftsmanship being what it is, you can count on the fingers of one hand the well-known houses that can still afford to produce domestically.

But whether or not what you buy was truly Made in France, the simple act of purchasing something, watching the staff take special care over wrapping it, and taking a little part of Paris home with you carries unbeatable cachet.After all, where else in the world can you find an atelier devoted solely to the making of watchbands, a family-owned hardware store whose window displays can rival some of the greats of modern art, or a shop devoted solely to oils of every kind – many of which you may never have heard of? Call them proud, call them fussy, you can’t fault the French when it comes to their obsession with style.

Fashion forward

Paris is a rite of passage for any fashion designer worth his or her sketchbook, and the city embraces and nutures talent as no other world capital can. The legendary houses are alive and well thanks to the talents of Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, John Galliano at Dior, Nicholas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga and Marc Jacobs at Louis; more recently the fortunes of Rochas have been revived by Belgian designer Olivier Theyskens, those of Azzaro by English designer Vanessa Seward and Lanvin’s return to the limelight is to the credit of Israelian-born designer Alber Elbaz. At Yves Saint Laurent, Stefano Pilati has received a nod from the master himself and, after an identity crisis that lasted close to a decade, the house that Hubery de Givenchy built may yet be saved with thanks to newcomer Riccardo Tisci.

Meanwhile, fashion’s focus is gravitating to semi-couture (aka luxury ready-to-wear) and unique pieces, allowing a new generation of designers to come into its own. Martin Grant and Andrew Gn are two cases in point. Grant is known for his sharply-cut trenches and modern Kennedy-esque separates; Gn for his exquisitely embellished coats and high-luxe ensembles. Other up-and-comers include Canadian designer David Szeto, who has been designing origami-precise little black dresses for years. Rather than rush into opening signature boutiques, such designers continue to serve a private clientele from their ateliers, allowing influential fashion magazines and stores such as Le Bon Marché to bring their work to wider attention. Meanwhile, if you wander around the edgier neighbourhoods, such as rue Oberkampf (11th), rue Keller (10th) and rue Charlot (3rd), you’ll find plenty of atelier boutiques by names you have never heard of but probably will someday.

Culture club

Antiquarian bookshops are scattered throughout the city but tend to cluster around the Sorbonne; bibliophiles will also want to check out the famous bouquinistes along the banks of the river.

Likewise, if you are into browsing rather than hanging out at emporia such as Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées or the national chain Fnac, you’ll find a good selection of new and used books, CDs and DVDs at the bookshops on boulevard St Michel. On the right bank, explore the warren of pedestrian streets around Châtelet, expecially for DVDs and old vinyls.

Market values

No trip to Paris is complete without a wander through one of its many markets. Every arrondissement has a produce market, and the larger ones have several. The foodie’s favorite is the Marche d’Aligre, which is comprised of an old-fashioned food hall as well as the streets around it; bibliophiles will while away many an hour at the Marché aux Livres Anciens in the parc Georges Brassens. For addresses and opening times of all the city’s markets, large and small, log on to http://www.paris.fr.Neighbourhood watchThe two Goliaths in the department store world are on boulevard Haussmann. Galeries Lafayette and Printemps have both undergone renovations in recent years; they offer, respectively, a brand new createur and shoe section, and the continent’s largest beauty department. Not to be outdone, Le Bon Marché, the Left Bank’s only department store, has recently unveiled a redesign known as L’Appartement de la Mode, which presents best-edited fashion floor (next door you’ll find the chicest gourmet epicerie in the capital).


Meanwhile, each neighbourhood has shopping axis. If, like the locals, you find that rue des Francs-Bourgeois, at the northern edge of the Marais has become too saturated in tourist traffic, venture a few blocks north on the rue Vieille-du-Temple to explore the 3rd, which is fast becoming the Soho of Paris. The neighbourhood, once a working-class area filled with family-run shops, has blossomed with ateliers, designer boutiques for all ages, vintage troves, hot art galleries – and, of course, eateries. Despite its newfound hipness, it still feels enough like Vieux Paris. In addition to harbouring the world’s biggest fashion names, the Golden Triangle – encompassing avenue Montaigne, avenue George V and the Champs-Elysées – is doing its best to shake off its bourgeois image with the arrival of hip young labels Zadig & Voltaire and Paul & Joe, plus a fistful of concept stores along the ‘world’s most beautiful avenue’. This may be the historical heart of high-end shopping in Paris, but plenty of other equally burnished triangles offer stiff competition.

The stretch from the Elysée to the Palais-Royal along the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore and rue Saint-Honoré is home to more than a seasoned shopper can reasonably cover in a weekend – and that’s not including the buzz within the magnificent galleries of the once-tranquil Palais-Royal (two words: Marc Jacobs). Then there’s the Left Bank’s own Golden Triangle – roughly delineated – but not limited to – the boulevard St-Germain, rue de Rennes and rue des Saints-Pères (a high concentration of shoe shops can be found along the rue de Grenelle and rue du Cherche-Midi; the Bon Marché anchors its westernmost point). For quirky charm, head for the rue Oberkampf, the canals of the 10th and the slopes of Montmartre.Shop talkVAT of 19.6 per cent is included in the price of most items. If you’re visiting from outside the EU, most major retailers will provide a tax refund receipt that you can have stamped and drop off at a designated booth at the airport on your way out of the EU.

Opening hours vary wildly, according to size of venue and season: mid-size and smaller shops may close at lunch time (between noon and 2pm) year-round; many family-owned businesses (shops and restaurants) close for three weeks in August. Department stores are open until 9.30pm once a week. On Sundays, shopping is confined to major tourist areas such as the Carroussel du Louvre and the Champs-Elysees (plus flea markets).