The Best Unexpected Pleasures in Paris

• Sipping cocktails on a rooftop: Watch the sun set over Paris’s chimney pots and the distant Byzantine Sacré Coeur at Le Perchoir, a hip rooftop cocktail bar and restaurant in the trendy 11th arrondissement.
• Drinking fizzy water from fountains in the street: Paris has nine fontaines pétillantes dotted about the city, each spouting cold, sparkling tap water—a luxury on a sunny day. Try the fountain at Parc André Citroën in the 15th arrondissement.
• Watch weavers make tapestries: At the Manufacture des Gobelins, you can take a tour and see skilled artists at their giant looms creating magnificent woven works.
• Sip mint tea in a Moroccan tearoom: Dream you’re in the Kasbah at the tearoom at the Mosquée de Paris, which is covered in beautiful mosaic tiles.

The Best of Hip Paris

• The coolest culture: The Musée Yves Saint Laurent traces the fashion mogul’s world-famous creations and his creative process in his former HQ, a sumptuous Belle Epoque mansion by the Champs-Élysées. The City of Lights wears its name well at the Atelier des Lumières, a digital art museum in a former iron factory offering immersive light shows that walk you through famous artworks, blown up to smother all walls, floors, and ceilings.
• The funkiest street food: Ground Control in a gigantic former SNCF hangar has Mexican, Italian, and Central African Republic counters inside, and disused buses outside, hawking everything from ham ‘n’ cheese crepes to authentic British fish and chips.
• The hippest bar: Tucked behind a hidden door at the back of a taqueria, Candelaria opened in 2011 as the city’s first speakeasy-style cocktail bar, and it’s still the best.
• The trendiest shop: Merci is a fair-trade concept store, with everything from designer vintage clothes to funky household items, and three cozy cafes for a post-purchase respite.