The iconic image of Paris is of two lovers kissing beneath an antique lamppost on the banks of the Seine. The message is that this is the city of romance, especially as the photograph regularly accompanies articles on Valentine’s Day or Paris in the spring. While the French capital and its culture are undoubtedly romantic, Paris is not just for lovers; it is for everybody, from art buffs to obsessive shoppers and inveterate walkers.
Arrive by Eurostar at the Gare du Nord and the sounds, the sights and the bustle are undeniably French. Across the road is a typical French brasserie, the Terminus Nord, with chrome fittings, black-clothed waiters with white aprons, and oysters, snails and steak frites on the menu. Within a 15-minute walk is Montmartre, where the striking white outline of the Sacr? Coeur basilica watches over Paris from its highest point. The Place du Tertre below the church throngs with tourists and eager portrait artists but the district’s winding back streets, bistros, small squares and terraces are less crowded and more charming.
Three Metro lines and an RER train take visitors from the Gare du Nord to the city’s main sights and shops but Paris is best explored on foot. The most obvious route is the one that leads from the Louvre through the Tuileries garden to the traffic mayhem of the Place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elys?es to the Arc de Triomphe. Caf?s, entertainers and fashionable shops mark the route, which offers glimpses of such familiar sights as the Eiffel Tower.
More claustrophobic but also more stimulating are the streets of the Left Bank, revealing elegant mansions and caf? society close to St Germain-des-Pr?s, the city’s oldest church, and student bookshops, caf?s and jazz clubs in the Latin Quarter. This takes its name from the Latin spoken by students of the Sorbonne until the French Revolution. The scholastic centre of Paris for more than 700 years continues to give the district a special buzz.
A walking tour even takes visitors to the best shops. Running parallel to the Champs Elys?es is Rue du Faubourg St Honor?, possibly the most glamorous shopping street in the world with designer names, antique stores and art galleries.
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A left turn where it meets Rue Royale leads into Place de la Madeleine, home to such splendid shops as Fauchon with its pastries, Marquise de S?vign?, famous for chocolates, and stores selling truffles, caviar, speciality honeys and mustards.
The boulevard heading east from the square passes Caf? de la Paix, the place for serious shoppers to rest their feet, and leads to the opera house and, beyond, Galeries Lafayette, the city’s famous department store.
Other intriguing ways of seeing Paris include tours on a Segway — a two-wheeled electric scooter — which start from the Eiffel Tower, or a chauffeur-driven trip in that most basic but charming of French vehicles, the Citr?en 2CV. If the weather is good, roll back the roof to make the most of the journey.
Exhibitions and entertainment lurk around almost every corner. The art event of the new year is Christian Boltanski’s installation, which has just been revealed in the vast glass and iron nave of the Grand Palais. Contrasting shows include the black canvases of Pierre Soulages at the Pompidou Centre and the classic works of Rembrandt and Vermeer included in The Dutch Golden Age exhibition in La Pinacothèque in Place de la Madeleine.
At Chinese new year in mid-February, dancers, musicians and characters in vibrant dragon and fish costumes will parade through the streets of south Paris, while from March 8 to April 18 the Festival de l’Imaginaire features art, music, dance and cultural performances from beyond France’s borders, from Algeria to Zambia.
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Need to know
Currency Euro (1.12 to £1)
Population 2,203,817
Area 2,723 sq km. At the heart of the Île-de-France region, the centre of Paris is a little over two hours from London by train
Top attractions For all the iconic sights, perhaps the best way to get to know the real Paris is to watch the world go by from a caf? table
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Notre Dame Gothic cathedral that provides great views of the city
The Louvre Arguably the world’s most famous art museum
Montmartre Sample the bohemian atmosphere of Paris’s most distinct — and hilly — area
Short breaks So close, yet so different, so much to do, but a great place to sit back and observe the ways of a great city
Offer Three nights, 3*+ B&B, including one free night and a free upgrade on Eurostar from £165pp. Phone 0844 879 8036