This is another artistic centre that opened recently, this time housed in a former 19th century music hall that later became an indoor roller coaster attraction (yeah, really). The temporary exhibitions can be hit or miss, but I like hanging out in the free, open-to-all library on the first floor where you can sit in the futurist media pods and flip through the latest arts, culture, music, design and architecture magazines. Their shelves are also filled with a growing endowment of books which seem to be acquired according to the theme of the aforementioned exhibitions. Internet access is available on a dozen or so PCs (or via WiFi on your own machine) and for gamers, there are a few consoles connected to largish plasma screens. The café upstairs, with its classic baroque meets retro-futurist interior, is a sight to behold.

Promenade along the water, two cinemas face to face linked by a riverbus, bookshop, bars (specially BarOurcq 68 quai de Loire), restaurants, theater barge…

A wonderful and spacious bookshop in Le Marais. I love to spend hours looking at beautiful books.

Really good coffee. Love the light in the mornings there.

Jardin du Palis-Royal - 1780  Secret place. Between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde, a wonderful french-style garden. In the 1780’s, Philippe IV of Orleans (later named “Philippe Egalité” ) acquired the whole place. Extravagant and overly indebted, he decided to build shops around his gardens and rent them out. Convinced by the idea of having a theatre, the Duke thus decided to build the “Comédie française”.