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A World Away from Mickey Mouse | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Discover a different kind of Sleeping Beauty five miles from Disneyland, Paris: a medieval town guarded by moats, towers and drawbridges where life is lived at a gentler, provincial pace
Air du Vendôme | Matt Morley | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Quite how this open-ended octagon manages to retain such an aura of tranquility when the rest of the city sits in a daily lunchtime gridlock remains something of a mystery
Barefoot in Paris | Stanley Stewart | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
For a romantic weekend in Paris, the Mermaid was appropriately inappropriate: beautiful, flighty, inconstant, in a word, a bombshell. I was always waiting for her to explode…
Bon Appetit in Maigret's Paris | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
We’re not talking haute cuisine here, but we are talking authentic. I mean the sort of modest little place where Maigret might have gone for comfort during a particularly difficult case
Capital Island | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
It has always appealed to exiles of all kinds, the rich, the poor, the famous, the foreign, the talented, or just the plain eccentric: Racine, Corot, Gide, Proust, Cyril Connolly, Hemingway, President Pompidou...
Chasing the Bohemian Ghosts | Ben Mallalieu | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Once the place to come to 'sin disgracefully', Montparnasse has been absorbed into Paris, and its haunts glossed over with a capitalist brush. The world of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast must be sought out
Dining in Le Meurice | Matt Morley | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
This is without doubt an haute dining experience, yet the room, and the diners in it, all had a relaxed, starch-free air about them on a recent visit that came as a welcome surprise
Eating in French Railway Stations | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Paris’s stylish mainline railway stations bring a flavour of the regions to the French capital
Ecouen | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
The château gradually rises into view as you approach it from the woodland path and is suddenly revealed in all its stateliness as you emerge onto the vast flat lawn at the top
Favourite Hotels Outside Paris | Martin O'Brien | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
It is still possible to find real jewels in the Parisian countryside, private family chateaux which, while not strictly speaking hotels, are happy to accommodate guests
Getting to Know Her | Martin O'Brien | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
That unexpected park, that special table, that back-street atelier, that view – what Parisians call their petits trésors and keep to themselves
Hotels in France | Jamie Dunford Wood | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Hotels in France come in a wider variety of forms than perhaps anywhere else. In Paris we have the Grand Dames and the garrets along with the more recent design offerings. The provincial cities lag behind, with plenty of old style French hotels of dated decor and unmodernised facilities. Boutiques are only slowly arriving...
Ile Du Martin-Pecheur | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Guinguettes are so called because le petit blanc, the modest but lively white wine of the Paris region they used to serve, made people giguet (ready to dance a jig)
La Ferté-Milon | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
The prettiest and least visited part of the Canal de l’Ourcq, which enters Paris at Porte de la Villette, is its beginning at Port aux Perches in the Aisne département, 70 km north east of the capital
Michelin Mysteries | Devanshi Mody | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
A tour of some of Paris’s finest restaurants may throw light on what makes for three Michelin stars, the highest accolade in the gastronomic hierarchy.
Montmartre | Peter D Smith | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Montmartre's residents through the ages read like a who's-who of the great artists and writers, including Pisarro, Picasso, Modigliani, Van Gogh, Utrillo, Degas, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec
Naugh-tea, Naugh-tea | Devanshi Mody | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Utterly scandalous are the extravagances of the Parisian Salons de Thé. Hop on the Eurostar and you can compare the teatime scenes in Paris and London.
Never trust a vegetarian | Jess Hill | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Leathery farming faces manned stalls piled high with winter vegetables, their customers a mix of young sophisticates and elderly women who unapologetically used their trolleys as battering rams
Paris Chic | Devanshi Mody | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Paris is as known for its terraces as its chic. And if you want to see and be seen, here’s where to go on your visit...
Paris Hotels | Jamie Dunford Wood | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Knowing or finding a good hotel in Paris has always been an essential part of any successful stay in the 'City of Light'.
Paris for Kids (in the Footsteps of Madeline and Eloise) | Sue Carpenter | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
While modern fiction-fanciers are flocking to Paris to follow the Da Vinci Code trail, my six-year-old daughter Simi and I came in pursuit of two altogether different storybook characters - Madeline and Eloise
Paris with Children | Sue Carpenter | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Being with her made me see things through fresh eyes: our trip to the Louvre, for example, was less a mission to pack in the famous paintings and sculptures than a holistic experience
Roller Skating in Paris | Jasper Winn | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
The hyper-active Boris had climbed onto a balcony to aim his loud-hailer at us. 'SKATE ENSEMBLE! SKATE VITE! OBEY THE POLICE! HAVE FUN!' And we were off. Downhill. Down a dark street
Royaumont | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Royaumont is the largest and best-preserved Cistercian abbey in the Ile de France, retaining most of its thirteenth-century appearance including the cloisters, and flanked by the dramatic ruins of its church
Searching for Solitude in the City of Lines | Campbell Jefferys | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
The tourists have patience, a Dan Brown novel clutched in one hand, a digital camera in the other - they will not be kept from seeing the sights that they have travelled half way round the world for
Secrets of Notre Dame Island | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Over two aperitifs and a plate of olives, our bickering slowly died away as the provincial atmosphere of the place stole over us like a charm
Sunday by the Seine | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
You don't need a car or a fat bank balance to experience the pleasure of lunch by the river within an hour of Paris. But you do need a sense of adventure
The Erotic Museum, Paris | Jim Keeble | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Start from the bottom and work your way up, said the woman at the ticket desk, without a hint of innuendo
The Islands of Créteil | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
The last place on earth where you would expect to find four small islands, linked by footbridges, containing only old houses and country villas hidden by trees and encircled by riverside walks and weeping willows
The Nature of the French | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Decoding the mystery of French hiking symbols becomes a lesson in cultural priorities
The Paris Flea Markets | Andrew Eames | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
Paris is different things to different people and when, on my umpteenth visit the other day, a friend was banging on about Paris being the city for markets... frankly, I harrumphed...
The Perfect Yoga Teacher | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
I found some of the postures ridiculous and painful and the ‘Eastern’ touches laughable: the sudden outbursts of chanting in Sanskrit, candles, music, statues of the Buddha – you name it
Vive les Guinguettes! | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
On my return, I complimented the patron, still enthroned at his table, on his establishment. "Ici, c’est un petit coin du Paradis", came the reply. Pause, swelling of stomach. "Et moi, je m’appelle Dieu"
Why Birdies are not Like Others | Annabel Simms | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
first got into bird-watching in France by stopping on a country road in England and following the RSPB signs welcoming the public to a site in the New Forest
Why Go To Paris? | Stanley Stewart | France, Ile-de-France, Paris
It is the genius of Paris that it lives up to so many of its own clichés. Romantic, sophisticated, bohemian, glamorous, artistic, seductive, Paris is diverse and generous enough to satisfy them all