Art deco brasseries in the 1st near by the Comédie Française

After a long day exploring Paris, a huge plate of noodles is basically the dream. Le Chef Thai is small and cosy, although I think they have a downstairs too which we didn’t see. It’s really relaxed inside and filled with plants so there was a nice calming energy. The guy that served us was super-friendly and we all had an excellent feed for a reasonable price. Happy days.

Very popular in the warm days, deserted at night, frozen in winter. I grew up with canals and long walks along them, so it's nice to do the same here.

I love to go to this library and often work there. It is very peaceful and the setting is beautiful. The library is a mine for books about design and architecture.

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.