Image-conscious and culture-mad, Paris is a vast street theatre where appearance counts. Join in the performance – pose at a terrasse café, stalk the wide Haussmannian boulevards, shop 'til you drop, and soak up the culture, from the Louvre to the Pompidou Centre.

Paris is the city of a thousand walks. Plan your route from the top of the Eiffel Tower, saunter along the Seine past the golden-domed Invalides, the art galleries of Saint-Germain des Prés and the swooping arches of Notre-Dame to drink mint tea at the Paris Mosque. Relax on the steps of Montmartre's Sacré-Coeur church then explore the surrounding cobbled lanes.

L’Eclaireur’s new designer Marais store is a cool, interactive shopping experience in a space strewn with modern art. Domed Printemps and art nouveau Galeries Lafayette are rival department stores on poker-straight boulevard Haussmann. The narrow maze of streets in Saint-Germain des Prés enclose moreish little boutiques, while style-conscious rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré drips with haute-couture. Lose yourself amid a warren of antiques in Saint-Ouen's flea market.

Stroll the Canal de l'Ourcq from métro Stalingrad or Jaurès to Le Parc de la Villette for summer picnics, outdoor cinema, jazz and cabaret. Meditate, read or flirt in the calm symmetry of the Jardin du Luxembourg. Head to the countrified Bois de Vincennes to boat on the lake or visit its adjacent Château. Cycle with weekending Parisians around former royal hunting grounds at the Bois de Boulogne.

Take in a ballet at the glittering Opéra Garnier. See the Molière classics you studied at school brought to life at the Comédie Française. Choose your cabaret – from the Gustave Eiffel-designed Paradis Latin to the Moulin Rouge, birthplace of the Cancan, and discover France’s emerging Chanson singers at the revamped Les Trois Baudets, launch-pad of music legends Gainsbourg and Brassens.

Eat steak and chips in a Belle Epoque brasserie. Splash out around the Champs-Elysées and join hip Parisians on rue Oberkampf and up-and-coming Canal Saint-Martin. For romantic restaurants or falafel snacks, the Marais does the trick. Eat Japanese around the Opéra's Rue Sainte-Anne, Chinese in the 13th arrondissement and Belleville and Indian around Louis Blanc Metro.

Take a boat trip along the peaceful Canal Saint-Martin to see Paris from the waterways or, in summer, escape the centre for a long trip from Paris to Bry-sur-Marne, stopping to join in a riverside dance ( guingette).