This is one in a series of Off-the-Beaten-Path reports on cities around the world. We know you’re familiar with the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and the celebrated places to shop and eat. Thesecity-guides willtell you about places you might overlook; places our insiders (and long time residents) have fallen in love with.

By Robert Wiener
Journalist, Author

PARIS: Listen to the Master

Maurice Chevalier tells you just about everything you need to know about Paris, in the prologue to director Billy Wilders 1957 classic film, Love in the Afternoon:

“Paris is like any other big city except for two little things.
In Paris, people eat better. And in Paris, people make love, well, perhaps not better but certainly, more often. On the Left Bank, on the Right Bank, and in between…”

Okay, Paris is for romance. How to enhance the experience? Here are some ideas:

PARIS: Lodging and Dining

Hotel Amour
8 rue de Navarin
75009
Paris
Tel: 01.48.78.81.80
Fax: 01.48.74.14.09
hotelamour@hotmail.fr
The Hotel:

• This gem of a hideaway opened in May 2006 and is the perfect love-nest for you and a friend. Tucked away in a working-class district, every room is different, and all are stocked with vintage photo-magazines and books.

Lovers, Take Note:

• Every shower or bath is filled with Kiehls beauty products.
• No TV and no telephone (no distractions)
• Beautiful gardens (heated in winter)
• The hotel is Wifi-ed, and you can borrow DVDs to watch on your laptop

The Restaurant:

• A fabulous place resembling a 50’s diner, complete with red-naugahyde booths
• Excellent steaks and extensive wine list
• Homesick? Try the terrific bacon cheese burger, complete with fries
• Don’t miss their signature chocolate cake

The Bargains:

• The rooms are the bargains! Singles start at 100-euros a night, but why come to the Hotel Amour if you’re on your own? A large double-room is 160-euros, and the Belvedere Suite with its own private terrace is just 200-euros.

[Ed. Note: can’t figure out euros/dollars? Heres a handy converter]
Final Note: My gal pal and I recently spent a weekend at Hotel Amour and never set foot outside for 48-hours. But if we had, we might have gone for a meander.
PARIS: Walking the City

Dictionnaire Francais - flaner (verb) 1. to meander.

Even Maurice Chevalier had to take a break sometime I think. And when you take a break, theres nothing like meandering, and no better city in the world for a meander than Paris. As cities go, its relatively small, so you can literally stroll for miles stopping now and then at a cafe to rest your bones and enjoy the ebb & flow of the City of Lights.

Begin Your Meandering Here:

• Start at the corner of rue de Buci and rue de Seine in the 6th arrondissement
• Walk down the rue de Seine towards the river

What You’ll See:

• Art galleries line both sides of the street, featuring classic & unknown painters
• Shops filled with oils, watercolors, photos, sculpture, vintage posters, papier-mache, antiques and books
• Time for a Cafe Break
• Midway down the street is La Palette which devoted Parisians declare one of the city’s best cafes year after year
• The waiter (and part owner) Jean Francois will strike you as surly but its part of his personnage and frankly its an act. He’s really a gent.
• Try the house salad or the daily special. Then, try people watching

More Meandering:

• Continue down the street and turn left on the rue des Beaux Arts.

What You’ll See:

• Galleries specializing in African and Oceanic art
• Photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, (perhaps the 20th century’s greatest eye)
• LHotel (13 rue des Beaux Arts), a small 4-star hotel; over the years, the guest list has included Oscar Wilde, Catherine Deneuve, Frank Zappa, and Mick Jagger
• Every room is unique: try the one decorated from floor to ceiling in leopard skin
• For splurging only; tres expensive!

PARIS: Where to Drink

The Honesty Bar
Hotel Relais Christine
3 rue Christine
75006 Paris
Tel: 01.40.51.60.80
Fax: 01.40.51.60.81

I’m somewhat reluctant to spill the beans about this Honesty Bar lest it be overrun by those of you wanting something for nothing. But here goes!

The Bar:

• Technically, the bar is for guests of the Hotel Relais Christine, a very expensive, exclusive hotel (but not too exclusive–as the website puts it so charmingly, nice dog accepted); however, if you’re low-key, respectful and properly attired, you can stroll past the Reception Desk into what resembles a private English club with comfortable sofas, a fireplace, chess sets, English and French newspapers and the latest magazines. Welcome to the Honesty Bar. At the end of the room is a well-stocked bar with everything from chilled champagne to top brands of whiskey, cognac, armagnac, vodka, gin, wine, beer, tonic and an excellent array of fruit juice, mineral water and even Coca Cola.

How it Works:
Like this: simply fix yourself a Bombay gin dry martini with three olives. Or whatever you want. Thats right, fix it yourself.
Because there is no bartender. However, next to the bar is a small pad of paper; simply check-off what you’ve consumed. Naturally, you could fill your glass to the brim with vodka and ice and count that as one drink.
But that wouldn’t be honest, would it?
Nevertheless, pour you and yours a healthy dose of your favorite libation, sit back and enjoy your good fortune: I hope that includes being in love, and being in love in Paris. And, when its time to move on, simply take your tab to Reception and pay up.
A Final Amenity:

• If its raining when you leave (as it often is), they’ll happily lend you an umbrella. In the interest of full disclosure, I have fourteen of them!

I hope you’ll savor your time in Paris; I have been doing just that, for 40-years.