Paris Exploring

Best Free Bike Tour: The City of Lights is an adventure in itself, but even more so at night when the lights sparkle. Every Friday night (at 9:30pm) around 300 nighthawks turn up in front of City Hall (Hôtel de Ville; 4th; M° Hôtel de Ville; www.parisrandovelo.com) on their bicycles for a 3-hour nocturnal sightseeing tour over 20kms.

Best Haven of Peace Museum with a tea-room: All municipal museums in Paris are free (for a full list see www.paris.fr), but for an unrivalled setting, hidden from the rest of the world, the Musée de la Vie Romantique (16 rue Chaptal; 9th; M° St-Georges; tel. 01 55 31 95 67) takes the biscuit. A charming 18th-century mansion that once housed Rossini, Chopin, George Sand and Delacroix, with a rose garden and summer tea-room. Decadence is yours for the price of your cuppa.

Best Vintage Clothes Hunting: Compared to other countries, France caught onto the vintage bandwagon late in the day. But Vertiges et Rag (83/85 rue St Martin; 4th; M° Hôtel de Ville; tel. 01 48 87 34 64) makes up for lost time with some of the best and cheapest selections of vintage wear Paris has to offer with oodles of original 1960s shift dresses for €10, tuxedo jackets for €20 skinny 80s jeans (€8) and lots more bargains. The next-door shoe shop (part of the same company) sells rows of cool vintage Converse sneakers and cowboy boots.

Best Romantic Garden for Canoodling: You're in the thick of touristy Paris near Les Invalides, then suddenly, an oasis of calm unfolds before your eyes, with tree-lined alleys and pristine lawns freckled with some of Rodin's most famous sculptures. The Musée Rodin's gardens (79 rue de Varenne; 7th; M° Invalides; tel. 01 44 18 61 10; www.musee-rodin.fr) can be accessed for just €1 and are arguably the most romantic spot in the city.

Best New Cutting-edge Art Space: Forget Paris's classical museums, the 104 (104 rue d'Aubervillier; 19th; M° Crimée; tel. 01 53 35 50 01; www.104.fr) is a former 19th-century funeral parlor where resident artists churn out weird and wacky experiments in domains like photo, film, video and sculpture. As far as Paris art goes, this spectacle is hard to beat, especially as entry is nearly always free.