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Turning the Other Chic

How ever well you think you know Paris, there's always something new to discover, says Margaret Kemp.

Forget taxis now the Velib system is up and running, pick up at one chic chrome rack, leave at another.

Stay the night

Dirty weekenders head straight for Murano Urban Resort and Spa, located in a former garage near the Bastille. Pink fur lined lifts lead to all-white rooms, two have heated pools, and the freebies include adult guest kits, YESforLOV, and Anne Semonin goodies. There is luscious food in the designer restaurant and terrace, bar specials include 150 vodkas in tubes, and that is a DJ up there, it's not the vodka.

Most romantic is Hotel Particulier, Montmartre, a handsome mansion hidden behind iron gates. The owners commissioned famous artists and designers to decorate the cutting-edge rooms. Bucolic gardens for breakfast, afternoon tea, a glass of red. Think staying with friends, but you don't have to take a present.

Really wacky Mama Shelter, an achingly chic urban kibbutz by Philippe Starck. Rooms have iMacs, microwaves and Batman masks. Food in the hip canteen is by superchef Alain Senderens.

Foodista

Book ahead for Le Jules Verne where, 125 metres up, Alain Ducasse has transformed the formerly dull restaurant into a culinary and design fantasy.

Market by Jean-Georges Vongerichten has great cuisine and art objects on loan from Christies, Paris. Go there for black truffle pizza.

Alain Passard's two organic vegetables gardens supply his 3-star left bank canteen Arpege; it has exquisite food and wine, and you must have Apple Tarte à la Bouquet de Roses for dessert.

Around the corner on rue de Bourgogne, Gael Orieux's contemporary space Auguste serves dishes with a nod and a wink to his hero Auguste Escoffier and his former boss Yannick Alleno at The Meurice.

Opposite is Ampelos, the wine cave/boutique where Hervé Beaudron has some brilliant vintages from small but perfectly formed winemakers.

Eric Frechon just won his third Michelin star at The Bristol; don't be surprised to see Carla and Nicholas wolfing Frechon's signature cannelloni stuffed with foie gras and truffles as they live across the road.

BON has new Starck décor and interesting fusion food by Philippe Amzalek, taking in the best of Asia and mixing it with key flavours of Europe. The smoking area comes with a health warning and piles of style.

At Il Vino, wine guru Enrico Bernardo (ex-Four Seasons, George V) serves food to match your choice of wine, a hugely successful concept; there's now a branch in Courchevel.

Get out of town

Ten minutes from the centre of Paris, Les Etangs de Corot is a hotel, gastronomic restaurant and Caudalie vinotherapy spa on the edge of a swan-lake. Pure bliss. Le Bain Barrique treatment takes place in a wine barrel.

Shop 'til you drop

Cire Trudon (founded 1843) supplied wax to Napoleon; today Donna Summer, Catherine Deneuve, Elton and co. buy candles at stylist Ramdame Touhami's fragrant boutique.

Merci is the new intriguing philanthropic concept store.

Short of time? Head to Le Bon Marché, Rive Gauche, owned by LVMH, where the French shop for everything and don't ignore La Grand Epicerie food store next door. 

Herve van der Straeten's boutique and workshop/gallery in the Marais is great for one-off pieces of contemporary jewellery, furniture. 'It's one of Paris' best design shops,' says Ralph Lauren.

Colette is considered a temple of branchitude (this is the 'it' that with-it people have). Think a French version of Brown's on three floors, with all the requirements needed for braving the fashionable rues.

Along the road is Hotel Costes: swing by for a Bellini on the terrace and gawp at the beautiful 'pipole'. Tracey Emin loves the basement pool. The pedicures are by Bastien Gonzalez.

Left-Bank Attitude

You can find this at La Hune bookstore, sandwiched between Cafe de Flore and Les Deux Magots (170 Boulevard Saint Germain). Pick up Michelin's 100th edition Coffret.

The right-bank Artcurial is a handsome townhouse/auction house/boutique/gallery/café showcasing work by established and modern artists such as Matali Crasset.

La Societe, Jean Louis Costes' hip new left-bank canteen is located on the ground floor in the handsome building that houses La Societe d'Encouragement Pour l'Industrie (4 Place Saint-Germain-des-Pres). English-style club decor by Christian Liagre, read: old parquet, leather chairs and mahogany furniture.

Minimal and discreet, the space is punctuated with original works of contemporary art and sculptures like NEVER DIE by Marc Rebello. DJ Lionel Carsini mixes jazz, electro, funk and blues.

Food is simple: Asian/fusion shrimp soup with coconut and lemongrass (18€) or salad of king crab and lime (26€), with home made desserts (10€) and of course cheese. There is an elegant wine list, and table 62 is the best. Great to chill with a glass of champagne after burning the plastic in the Louis Vuitton store next door. Telephone: 00 33 (1) 53 63 60 60.

For culture vultures, Le Laboratoire will move your mojo.

Bar Fly

Visit Le Plaza Athenee Ice Bar, design by Patrick Jouin, for Rose Royale cocktails, jelly shots and pineapple sushi ordered by the likes of Mick Jagger, Gwyneth Paltrow and Lenny Kravitz.

BC (Black Calavados) is the edgy all black and steel space where Chris Cornell, former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman, has taken over Bardot, Delon, Serge Gainsbourg and Jackie O's favourite space. Groove downstairs, nibble foie gras with popcorn and vodka jelly upstairs.

Owls

Bjork heads for Le Baron, the private nightclub where champagne flows in magnums and the Monday parties are epic. It is headed by Monsieur Andre, France's leading graffiti artist, who also owns the boutique inside the wacky Palais de Tokyo and Hotel Amour, Pigalle, a sort of arthouse, flophouse, lo-tech guesthouse.

L'Aventure's St. Tropez in Paris is a temple of the night also open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The below-stairs bar/club/disco with live music is hip.

Don't Miss

See the city from a different angle. Cruise under ze bridges of Paris with Chris Yachts and its street-smart bespoke gourmet dinners and brunch. On-deck sunbathing is the best.

Pierre Herme's new jewel-box chocolate and macaron boutique is on rue Cambon, or discover uber-choco-guru Jacques Genin at his Charlie and the Chocolate Factory workshop/tea-room.

Plan to visit the wicked Salon de Chocolat.

Jog (like Sarko, Carla and Galliano) in the Bois de Boulogne, then take the launch across the lake for lunch or dinner at Chalet des Iles, or if your horse is running at Hippodrome de Longchamp in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, the achingly romantic La Grand Cascade is opposite the course.

Photo credits: Jules Verne by Eric Lagniel; Gael Orieux, chef, Auguste; Philippe Starck, designer, BON, by Dominique Jacovides.

What are your Parisian tips? Share them with Spear's readers by putting them in the comment box below.