France Editor Picks

It doesn’t get much hipper than Mama Shelter, the first budget hotel designed by Philippe Starck. If you’re lucky enough to score one of the bargain rooms (starting from under €100), it’s well worth the trek to bed down in the 20th arrondissement, the burgeoning epicenter of cool on the outskirts of the city center. The 172 sleek rooms, decked out with a gray-and-black color scheme, come with iMacs (which double as DVD and CD players), free WiFi, and kitschy touches like Chewbacca or Batman bedside lamps. The hotel restaurant dishes out homey French dishes, and is run by top chef (Alain Senderens), while the Chic Chic Bar attracts local hipsters and artists who sip cocktails under a graffitied ceiling.

You’d be hard-pressed to find more atmosphere for your euro than at the charming, somewhat off-the-beaten-path Hotel Langlois, located just off the serene Place de la Trinité, a few blocks north of Opéra Garnier. Radiating typical Parisian refinement, the circa-1870 building has enjoyed stints as a 19th century bank and as a film set for the 2002 film The Truth About Charlie (a remake of Charade). Guests encounter a splendid wood-paneled reception area upon entry, and access the upper level guest rooms via antique wrought-iron elevator. Well-proportioned rooms are done up in Ecole de Nancy (a form of Art Nouveau) style, with fine touches like mahogany and sycamore headboards, period art and antiques, and even a few marble fireplaces. Rooms on the top floor offer lovely views over the rooftops of Paris. The hotel is conveniently situated near the metro (line 12) and the department stores on the Boulevard Haussmann.

Instead of obsessing over a room with a view, consider booking one that exhibits top-notch art. This 20-room hotel near the red light district of Pigalle (and adjacent to increasingly hip Montmartre area) used to be one of those hourly-rates spots for the local “workers,” but now it’s one of the buzziest hotels in Paris. Graffiti artist Andre Emmanuel cleaned the place from top to bottom and then enlisted his artist friends to help decorate. The result is sexy, with comfortable rooms decked out in semi-erotic art. Because Emmanuel thinks visitors are supposed to be coming to this romantic city for something other than work, there’s no Wi-Fi in the rooms; no TV, either. But there are stereos with iPod connections and – in case of emergency – Wi-Fi is available in the public areas. Even if you don’t decide to stay here, keep the happening restaurant – a favorite haunt for locals – in mind.

This French royal palace-turned-museum puts some 35,000 works on display, including such renowned works as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and the armless Venus de Milo.

Trek the 255 tower steps for fantastic Paris views and a close-up of the 12th century cathedral’s flying buttresses, gargoyles and fantastical creatures. Go inside for the magnificent stained-glass windows.

Housed in a beautifully restored belle époque train station, Impressionism and Postimpressionism fans will be agog over masterpieces by van Gogh, Matisse, Monet, Cézanne, and Degas, among others.

Set in a lavish 19th-century townhouse, this perennially popular upscale eatery is famed for its...more

This is the place to sample delectable Breton crepes filled with everything from...more

Forget the Moulin Rouge. Catch Paris' superlative cabaret show as it unfolds nightly (9:30pm and 11:30pm) on the Champs-Elysées; tickets to this feather-and-sequined spectacular include a half-bottle of champagne.

A fantastic pedestrian-friendly shopping district, le Marais is a medieval maze of streets harboring trend-setting boutiques on the ground floor of 17th-century mansions, plus fine shops and galleries along the perimeter of the Place des Vosges.