Paris

50 things to do in Paris

Billiards and brasseries, catacombs and cocktails, 50 ways to enjoy the perfect Paris trip

21. Spend a summer’s day with the Sun King
Centuries of makeovers have made Versailles the most sumptuously clad château in the world and it needs a full day to do it justice. Both gardens and house are incredibly over-the-top – Louis XIV rarely went back to Paris once the two main wings – the Cour des Ministres and the Chapelle Royale – were built, then Louis XV added a sumptuous Opéra Royal. Summer weekends are the best time to see the garden ,when jets of water from the fountain system are set to music. Indoors, the highlight is undoubtedly the Hall of Mirrors; composed of 357 of them, it’s literally dazzling.
Château de Versailles, 78000 Versailles (00 33 1 30 83 76 20/www.chateauversailles.fr) RER Versailles-Rive Gauche. Open Apr-Oct Tue-Sun 9am-6.30pm. Adm €7.50. 22. Marvellous murals at Eglise St-Sulpice

Saint-Sulpice

22. Marvellous murals at Eglise St-Sulpice
Take one look at the church of St-Sulpice and it’s easy to appreciate how such an imposing structure took120 years to complete. The ornate Italianate façade was designed by Jean-Baptiste Servandoni, who died in 1766 before the second tower could be finished. Without Baptiste to crack the whip, it ended up five metres shorter than the first. Art buffs should check out the three murals by Delacroix in the first chapels – ‘Jacob’s Fight with the Angel’, ‘Heliodorus Chased from the Temple’ and ‘St Michael Killing the Dragon’.
Eglise St-Sulpice, place St-Sulpice, 6th (00 33 1 46 33 21 78) Métro St-Sulpice. Open daily 7.30am-7.30pm.

23. See red at Place du Colonel-Fabien
The Parti Communiste Français (Communist Party Headquarters) is a sweeping undulation of glass designed by Brazilian modernist Oscar Niemeyer while exiled in the city during the 1960s. Looking like a monolithic Soviet block of flats that’s been twisted out of shape, it’s a stunning building. While there’s no museum or exhibitions to draw you inside, it’s a quintessential piece of architecture that is worth viewing if you’re around Canal St-Martin.
Parti Communiste Français, place du Colonel-Fabien, 19th. Métro Colonel-Fabien.

La Défense

24. Get high at La Défense
The skyscrapers and walkways of La Défense – named after the city’s (unsuccessful) stand against the Prussians in 1870 – create a whole new world at a complete remove from the close-quartered streets of older Paris.The biggest draw here is La Grande Arche de La Défense, completed in 1989 for the bicentenary of the Revolution. The ultra-modern, 110m-high structure has the silhouette of a child’s drawing of an open-sided cube. Skewering the middle is a glass lift that runs up to the roof, where there are sweeping views over the GrandAxe from the Louvre, up the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Imagine the building if they’d won.
La Grande Arche de la Défense, 92044 Paris La Défense, 12th (00 33 1 49 07 27 57/www.grandearche.com) Métro La Défense. Open Apr-Sept daily 10am-8pm. Adm €8.

25. Discover Arabic Paris
Jean Nouvel’s steel and glass masterpiece, L’Institut du Monde Arabe, is a perfect example of how ancient themes can be reinterpreted and presented afresh through modern architecture. Seen from a distance, it looks like a glittering modern edifice, but close in and you’ll see that each pane is covered with patterned shutters inspired by the screens of Moorish windows that cast graceful shadows inside. Inside, explore the collection of Middle Eastern art, archaeological finds, decorative objects and library. For more literal Arabic flavour, head north to Belleville and eat tagine and couscous at one of the many north African restaurants that pepper the streets.
L’Institut du Monde Arabe, 1 rue des Fossés St-Bernard, 5th (00 33 1 40 51 38 38/www.imarabe.org) Métro Jussieu. Open museum Tue-Sun 10am-6pm, library Tue-Sat 1-8pm, café Tue-Sun 12noon-6pm. Adm museum €5, roof terrace and library free.


26. Get shirty at Place Vendôme
With over 400 shades of white and 200 hues of blue, Charvet is the daddy of all shirt shops. Founded in 1838, well-dressed heroes (John F Kennedy) to zeroes (the Duke of Windsor) have stepped neatly through its illustrious doors. Key to its success is the fact it has more fabric choices (sea island and Egyptian cottons, chambrays, gabardines to name just a few) than anyone
else and the quality of cut and finish is utterly impeccable. Ready-to-wear shirts start from £85 and made-to-measure from £150.
Charvet, 28 Place Vendôme, 1st (00 33 1 42 60 30 70) Métro Opera or Tuileries. Open Mon-Sat 9.45am-6.45pm.

The secret gardens at Place des Vosges

27. Share secrets at Place des Vosges
Lead your loved one under the arches to Hôtel de Sully (a ‘petit hotel’ stately home rather than an actual hotel) behind the place des Vosges and discover the magical seventeenth-century hidden gardens within. Enter on place des Vosges by rue de Bearn and head for the doorway in the arcade on the right-hand corner. These really are a local secret, with ivy-covered walls and surrounded by historic buildings, and with a violinist often playing classical music, it’s almost impossibly romantic. Less fun if you’re on your own. Singles: take sandwiches.
Hôtel de Sully, 62 rue Saint-Antoine, 4th (00 33 1 42 74 47 75) Métro Saint Paul or Bastille.

28. Scare the kids with the nearly wild show
The brilliant renovations at the Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle have brought it bang up-to-date and it is now a perfect venue for familes. You enter at the under-sea level, which is blue and darkly atmospheric, before emerging into the main atrium, where the other displays are arranged on balconies around the sides. Highlights include the first-floor mammals – Louis XVI’s rhinoceros, for one – and the endangered and extinct species on the third floor.
Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle, 36 rue Geoffroy-St-Hilaire, 2 rue Bouffon or place Valhubert, 5th (00 33 1 40 79 54 79/ www.mnhn.fr) Métro Gare d’Austerlitz or Jussieu. Open Grand Galerie Mon, Wed-Fri, Sun 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-8pm, other galleries Mon, Wed-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat, Sun 10am-6pm.

L’Hôtel

29. Go Wilde at L’Hôtel
Nowadays, L’Hôtel is significantly more luxurious than when Oscar Wilde was in residence (though Wilde couldn’t afford his bill, even back then). This is one of those Parisian establishments which has the dual function of hotel and historic sight, and it’s a stalwart of the literary trail. The hall and lobby are beautiful, and each room is decorated in a different style. Oscar Wilde’s former room features a huge emerald-green fresco of phoenixes based on an engraving depicting his London dining room. We recommend soaking up the decadent atmosphere in the bar.
L’Hôtel, 13 rue des Beaux-Arts, 6th (00 33 1 44 41 99 00/www.l-hotel.com) Métro St-Germain-des-Prés. Doubles from €280.


30. Park yourself on the Citroën lawn
Built in 1992 on land formerly occupied by a Citroën factory, Parc André Citröen is a postmodern interpretation of a formal garden executed with vision and a sense of fun by Alain Prévost (the name behind the Thames Barrier Park) and Gilles Clément. Three-storey greenhouse towers, computerised fountains, waterfalls and gardens themed with different coloured plants and even sounds make spending time here an unbridled pleasure.
Parc André Citroën, rue Balard, rue St-Charles or quai Citroën, 15th. Métro Javel or Balard. Open Mon-Fri 8am-dusk, Sat, Sun, public hols 9am-dusk.

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