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

Very good and cheap vietnamese food.

The most fantastic selection of old toys and kid's memorabilia, better than a museum. Is there every version of every action figure ever made? I've received gifts of a 1950s Peter Pan penknife and an original ET ring from here, so now some lucky friends get presents from the huge range.

Delicious cocktails in a lovely mid-century ambiance.

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.