Paris: Le Marais and Les Halles

SEE Passage Vendôme3 place de la RépubliqueThe arcade is a good example of France's early-19th-century shopping malls; it remains unrestored, unlike most of its polished, upscale cousins scattered around the grand boulevards to the west. The walkway is illuminated with "zenith lighting," or a glass roof. Closes at 8 p.m. SEE Promenade PlantéeAccess along avenue Daumesnil, promenade-plantee.orgBuilt atop a disused elevated railway, the walkway makes for a bird's-eye glimpse of life below. Underneath lies the Viaduc des Arts, a series of brick arches converted into well-heeled showrooms and artisan ateliers selling furniture, tapestries, musical instruments, and jewelry. EAT Café de l'Industrie16-17 rue St-Sabin, 01/47-00-13-53Reliable French food such as quiche and boeuf bourguignon (beef stewed in red wine) served amid eclectic decor and funky accents such as enormous tortoise shells, which hang on the wall. It attracts in-the-know locals and artsy globetrotters. EAT Chez Paul13 rue de Charonne, 01/47-00-34-57A bustling boîte with low ceilings and close tables. The menu features affordable highlights from France's cuisine traditionnelle, including rabbit thighs stuffed with mint and goat cheese. EAT Paris-Hanoi74 rue de Charonne, 01/47-00-47-59The cheapest trendy ethnic joint in town, so expect to dine with your elbows pinned to your sides. Try a Vietnamese dish of chicken sautéed in either ginger or citronella (lemongrass). EAT Pause Café Bastille41 rue de Charonne, 01/48-06-80-33A café where most habitués just plop down for an afternoon coffee or cool drink on the ample terrace, which gets great amounts of sunshine when the weather permits. Terrific for people-watching. SHOP 77029 rue Beaurepaire, 01/42-02-07-88Inexpensive vintage clothes and new knockoffs of the trendy look. But the real treat is the charm of Canal St-Martin, Paris's most laid-back waterfront, lined with sidewalk cafés and baby strollers. SHOP Le Night Shop34 rue de Lappe, 06/88-04-26-40An embodiment of the Cool Paris Hipster Boutique: a small, unisex space with colorful 1970s clothes and paintings by local and international unknowns. It keeps alternative business hours-until 2 a.m.-to be in sync with the well-known party scene that's sprouted around the street's proliferation of bars. Closed Sun. SHOP The Lazy Dog2 passage Thiéré, 01/58-30-94-76, thelazydog.frStocks a great selection of books and magazines on graphic art-many in English. Titles include such fashionable disciplines as Japanese junk-food packaging and American indie fonts. PLAY BatofarOpposite 11 quai François Mauriac, 01/53-60-17-30, batofar.orgThis former lightship, now a nightclub moored on the Left Bank south of the Bastille, is a research center for French cool-hunters. Its scènes d'été, or DJ parties, on summer Sunday aftenoons are especially popular-people come to lounge and hear expert DJs. Cover from E5 (but occasionally free). PLAY La Scène Bastille2 bis rue des Taillandiers, 01/48-06-50-70, la-scene.comA buzzing venue for above-average soul, rock, reggae, rap, and electronica bands, and DJs, with a lounge and second bar separate from the thundering concert and dance hall. Cover from E10. PLAY Le Sanz Sans49 rue du Faubourg St-Antoine, 01/44-75-78-78, sanzsans.comA slice of the capital's decadent dance scene, bringing together trappings of Baudelairian Paris-velvet-covered walls, paintings in gilded frames, deep armchairs, and purplish lighting-and techno music culture. Real-time video of the dance floor and bar, where bartenders on the main level whack cymbals on swinging lights, is screened in the chill-out mezzanine. No cover. TIPSee a fashion show Not invited to the big runway shows in Paris? Try the free weekly fashion shows at Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, two Parisian department stores with locations on boulevard Haussmann. Printemps shows are Tuesdays at 10 a.m. (printemps.com); Galeries Lafayette's are Fridays at 11 a.m. Reserve in advance at welcome@galerieslafayette.com.

SEE Centre National de la Photographie11 rue Berryer, 01/53-76-12-32 Exhibitions of iconic international and emerging French photographers in the neoclassical Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild town house. E4.60. Closed Tues. SEE La Samaritaine19 rue de la Monnaie, 01/40-41-20-20, lasamaritaine.comAn art nouveau department store with eye-popping price tags. However, the rooftop's open-air observatoire offers a view of Paris for free. Just take the escalators to the top. EAT Le Zinc d'Honoré36 place du Marché St-Honoré, 01/49-27-05-00The epitome of a Parisian sidewalk café: Marble tables are surrounded by rattan chairs and menus scribbled on portable chalkboards. The fine food includes dishes such as grilled lamb with hazelnuts seasoned with herbes de Provence. EAT Angélina Salon de Thé 226 rue de Rivoli, 01/42-60-82-00Don't let the belle epoque decor and waiters in tuxedos intimidate you: Jeans-clad travelers fit in just fine. The fluffy quiche lorraine and tart fruit sorbets have carved out a reputation, but the real treat is the warm, slurpy hot chocolate (chocolat africain), served with whipped cream on the side. SPLURGE Le Fumoir6 rue de l'Amiral de Coligny, 01/42-92-00-24, lefumoir.fr"The Smoking Room," replete with leather armchairs and a library, has an expensive, ever-changing menu, which includes seared tuna and pistachio pie. (Try for a window seat for a view of the Louvre and the St-Germain-l'Auxerrois Gothic church.) DRINK Buddha Bar 8 rue Boissy d'Anglas, 01/53-05-90-00, buddha-bar.comThe Buddha lives up to his rep. Join the smartly dressed hipsters imbibing away in the shadow of the famed 10-foot potbellied statue. Dinner is served, but the best vibes rev up after 11 p.m. on the upper-level bar. SHOP Drouot9 rue Drouot, 01/48-00-20-20, drouot.frFrance's oldest auction house sells everything from bottles of wine (from E30) to paintings (from E100). There's no charge to watch and anyone can participate. Multilingual booklets explain the rules-you can blurt out your bids in English, but understanding French numbers helps you follow the competitors. Auctions most days. Check online for schedule. SHOP Yoba11 rue du Marché St-Honoré, 01/40-41-04-06, yobaparis.comAn iconic lingerie boutique. Each Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., women (no men allowed) gather to sip free champagne and talk about sex, bra sizes, and the pros and cons of lace. SHOP Reciproque88-101 rue de la Pompe, 01/47-04-30-28, reciproque.frParis's largest luxury consignment shop, divided into seven boutiques, is your best shot at bagging Chanel or Dior without selling your blood. Although everything here is secondhand, it's rigorously selected. PLAY Au Bec Fin6 rue Thérèse, 01/42-96-29-35This whimsical café-theater in a 1659 stone building stages comedies and thrillers by contemporary playwrights. Some are in English. With only 50 seats, there's not a bad one in the house. Dinner at the adjacent restaurant is optional, but cheap-here's an opportunity to sample garlic-sautéed frog legs. E14; E30 with dinner. SPLURGE Mandala Ray32-34 rue Marbeuf, 01/56-88-36-36, manray.frA lounge-bar-restaurant, with a posh Zen look, that's partly owned by Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, and John Malkovich (each known to make an occasional appearance); it's a magnet for lower-orbit stars in need of a cooler image. DRINK YOUR WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF THINGSFlex your French or just enjoy the romantic stereotype of that quintessential Parisian cultural mecca: the intellectual café. Café des Phares7 place de la Bastille (Métro: Bastille), 01/42-72-04-70People thirsty for cerebral stimulation gather at Paris's leading café philosophique on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A moderator chooses a subject on the spot, so you can't bone up to show off. Recent topics include "The Notion of Time" and "When Does Childhood End?" Au Père Tranquille 16 rue Pierre Lescot (Métro: Les Halles), 01/45-08-00-34At 8 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month, an expert lectures on anything from aerodynamics to women in physics. Debate ensues. Free. Café Psycho13 rue de Médicis (RER: Luxembourg), 01/43-25-21-81, cafe-psycho.comGuest lecturers discuss a subject (think obsessive-compulsive disorder) on Thursdays at 7 p.m. The bistro dinner is optional, but entrées are reasonable. Private "work rooms" are available after the talk-for discussion, not therapy. Café de la Mairie8 place St-Sulpice (Métro: St-Sulpice), 01/43-26-67-82, cafedelamour.free.frThe former owner of a matchmaking agency moderates a discussion about love on Mondays at 8 p.m. E5 plus one-drink minimum.

SEE Père-Lachaise Cemetery16 rue du Repos, 01/55-25-82-10 The mournfully beautiful graveyard evokes an eerie little town, with cobblestone lanes, street signs, ornate mausoleums, and towers. (One tops 66 feet.) Luminaries buried here include Édith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Delacroix, Proust, Molière, and Jim Morrison-whose grave, once a popular place to smoke pot, is now watched over by scowling attendants. Free. SEE Space Invader mosaicQuai de Jemmapes at avenue Richerand, space-invaders.comOne of the many colorful, license plate-size tile mosaics surreptitiously cemented to all kinds of buildings in Paris, as well as a handful of cities worldwide (Tokyo, Los Angeles), by French guerrilla artist Space Invader (his nom de guerre). His pixel-like mosaics, inspired by creatures in the eponymous video game, supposedly represent the electronic age, viruses, and alien paranoia. EAT Dong Huong14 rue Louis-Bonnet, 01/43-57-18-88No-frills Vietnamese on a quiet street in Belleville, one of Paris's three Chinatowns. Inexpensive and generously portioned dishes. The peanut soup wins raves for its spiciness. Closed Tues. EAT Helin58 boulevard de Ménilmontant, 01/43-49-00-43A dimly lit spot with sidewalk tables serving superb Kurdish cuisine from Turkey's Anatolia region. The menu goes heavy on liberally spiced barbecued lamb, chicken, and beef, but the most scrumptious dish is the borek, a filo roll with feta inside. EAT Restaurant Monogaga79 rue de Belleville, 01/40-03-87-46An off-the-radar Ivory Coast-style dive, with card tables and folding chairs, dusty Christmas decorations, and inexpensive West African mafés (spicy meats in peanut butter). The chatty waitress doubles as a DJ for the cubbyhole dance floor, where festive diners hip-shake to catchy Coupé-Décalé dance music. DRINK Café Charbon109 rue Oberkampf, 01/43-57-55-13Another stop on the neighborhood bar crawl. Artsy types read and write here in the afternoon, but the café/restaurant is packed by 10 p.m. with dressed-down revelers. DRINK Le Scherkhan144 rue Oberkampf, 01/43-57-29-34The perfect place to begin, or end, the night. Enjoy a beer or three (and incense) at this popular watering hole with a pleasing patina. It's strategically located in the middle of a distinguished bohemian bar-crawl street, which runs southwest from Métro Ménilmontant to rue St-Maur. PLAY Chicha Habibi Café127 rue St-Maur, 01/43-38-90-02The coolest of the Arab hookah cafés sprouting up in eastern Paris. Tunisian students, French designers, Japanese backpackers, and American expats recline on cushions, smoke velvety mint tobacco cooled in water pipes, and eat baklava, a honey-soaked Middle Eastern pastry. PLAY La Flèche d'Or102 bis rue de Bagnolet, 01/44-64-01-02, flechedor.comAn edgy club inside a gutted train station, perched over an abandoned railway, running through a rusty pocket of one of Paris's industrial belts. Grab a seat on one of the misfit pink sofas and groove to the DJ's tunes. Sunday-afternoon jazz concerts also draw crowds. From E5 for concerts, sometimes free. PLAY Nouveau Casino109 rue Oberkampf, 01/43-57-57-40, nouveaucasino.netThe acoustics for live music are excellent at the "Niou Caz," in spite of the several hundred partiers who fill the club until dawn on weekends. Pop-rock, ambient, broken-beat, house, and even punk acts. Cover from E5. ESCAPES Forest of FontainebleauOnly 50 minutes separate Paris's Gare de Lyon train station from Fontainebleau, the hallowed hunting grounds of kings. It has always been a royal getaway, unlike Versailles, which is first and foremost a showcase of French pomp and diplomacy. Sovereigns continually tweaked the château, which was significantly expanded and decorated by artists summoned from Italy during the Renaissance. The real attraction is the surrounding forest, crisscrossed with trails for excellent hiking. The legendary horse riding is affordable, but can vary from outfit to outfit. Beginners welcome. Book ahead. (Centre Equestre de Graville, 06/26-45-74-46, ferme-equestre-graville.com, E45 for a half-day; Centre Equestre Saint-Georges André Bonneau, 01/64-14-02-37, andrebonneau.com, E20 per hour.) Cathédrale Notre-Dame of ChartresFor a cathedral sans crowd, grab an hourly train to Chartres, 55 miles from the Montparnasse train station. This cathedral, possibly the world's finest example of Gothic architecture, is larger than its Parisian cousin. Chartres's mismatched towers are visible from the station. Romantics go for the roundabout approach via a footpath along the Eure River, which provides stirring views through the trees. The cathedral holds a robe (currently being restored) that is said to be worn by Mary, but pilgrims seem more interested in the cathedral's 858-foot labyrinth. The Catholic labyrinth consists of a single winding path that leads to a center symbolizing God.

SEE The Towers of Notre-Dame6 place du Parvis Notre-Dame, 01/53-10-07-02, cathedraledeparis.comA stroll into the cavernous gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame is awe-inspiring and free. But for a modest fee you can climb up the northern tower in a tight, spiraling stone staircase that provides a close encounter of the gargoyle kind, not to mention the best view of Paris the Middle Ages had to offer. E6.10. SEE Les Catacombes1 avenue Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 01/43-22-47-63Several miles of dank, underground passages are lined, thanks to cemetery overflow, with the bones of some 6 million Parisians. (The space-saving solution was abandoned in 1859.) They provide a morbid but interesting glimpse into the city's buried past. Kids especially dig the scary experience. Weekday tours are in French, or you can meander through the one-mile stretch open to unguided tourists. E5. EAT Così54 rue de Seine, 01/46-33-35-36The original Così sandwich shop that spawned the American chain. Choose from an array of mouthwatering items, led by the Salmo: oven-warmed, leavened flat bread stuffed with smoked salmon, walnut ricotta cheese, and chives. EAT Jim Haynes' Sunday Soirée83 rue de la Tombe-Issoire, atelier A-2, 01/43-27-17-67 jim-haynes.comDine with a caboodle of expat, French, and traveling socialites in the loft of this retired American writer who throws open his doors almost every Sunday night to the first 50 to 70 people who phone on Saturday. The buffet fare (which changes week to week) is so-so, but the mingling is sure to entertain-art, literature, and politics are all on the table as topics of discussion. Recommended donation: E20. EAT La Fourmi Ailée8 rue du Fouarre, 01/43-29-40-99Strands of Christmas lights, tall iron candle stands, and, on cool evenings, a roaring fireplace set the ambience in this literary café and restaurant, where customers may read books they choose off the plentiful shelves. Sit on the mezzanine (it has an attractive glass ceiling that sheds extra light on the pages) and try duck baked in a salt crust (canard en croûte de sel). EAT Le Flore en l'Ile42 quai d'Orléans, 01/43-29-88-27Ice cream made by the legendary Parisian glacier Berthillon, a family affair that's been tantalizing locals with many standard (vanilla) and more exotic (tangerine-chocolate-Grand Marnier) flavors for three generations. A bit pricey, but there's a view of Notre-Dame and the Panthéon from the parlor tables. EAT Les Délices de Verneuil42 rue de Verneuil, 01/42-61-24-12This fine take-out delicatessen sells supplies for picnics on the nearby pedestrian-only Pont des Arts bridge. Pick up sautéed garlic prawns (sold by the kilo) or thin zucchini cakes. DRINK La Palette43 rue de Seine, 01/43-26-68-15A welcome substitute to the nearby Café de Flore, the tourist-swamped former office of existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. Customers actually do write and sketch at La Palette, plus the decor is better (lots of mirrors, elegant dark woodwork), the private terrace is bigger, and the coffee is cheaper. DRINK Les Étages St-Germain5 rue de Buci, 01/46-34-26-26A stylishly ramshackle café in the heart of the capital's bar-laden "Vallée de la Soif," or Valley of Thirst, with fun miniature armchairs and Frisbee-size tables. Order the Boréal, the house specialty made with pineapple, banana, and tequila. SHOP Le Marché aux Fleurs and Le Marché aux OiseauxPlace Louis-Lépine, on Ile de la Cité This delightful daily flower market, in an elegant Baltard-style iron-and-glass pavilion, manages to perfume even the sidewalk running along the square. On Sundays, a colorful and cacophonic bird market also sets up shop. Closed Mon. SHOP Mouton à Cinq Pattes138 boulevard St-Germain, 01/43-26-49-25A good place for brand-name men's and women's clothes that are up-to-date. Expect to wait for a changing room. SHOP Tea and Tattered Pages24 rue Mayet, 01/40-65-94-35One of Paris's best-priced English-language bookshops, with more than 17,000 used books. A resident cat and intimate tearoom in the back add to the homey ambience. PLAY Caveau de la Bolée25 rue de l'Hirondelle, 01/43-54-62-20 Rowdy students cheer, sing, and crack jokes along with the comedians, magicians, and singers in this smoky cabaret packed with tiny tables and housed in a vaulted cellar. Non-French speakers may want to skip the comedy, but other shows have wide appeal. Free with drinks or dinner. PLAY Polly Maggoo3-5 rue du Petit-Pont, 01/46-33-33-64Sorbonne students play chess (Sundays at 4 p.m., just show up) and backgammon in a café named after William Klein's 1966 film Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, a spoof on pretentious Parisian models. Don't have time for a game? Walk past for a gander at the stunning, neo-art deco blue-and-gold mosaic storefront.