Le Verre volé is a cool place where I like to have a deliciously outstanding and friendly lunch. By the way, the no sulfite wines such as “Dard et Ribo” are amazing.

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”.

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.

Cute place to listen to jazz music and chill

Nameless pink shop run by a talkative redheaded Piaf who handpicks and sells allsorts of things from the 1950s - 70s - furniture, clothes, sunglasses, lamps. Unpretentious and priced correctly.