Le Marais, on the Right Bank in the 3rd and 4th arrondissements, mixes old and new with its 17th-century buildings and trendy vibe. It’s a lively area known for its museums, galleries, quirky shops, and buzzing nightlife. You'll also find plenty of kosher restaurants and historic spots like Place des Vosges — Paris’s oldest square — where the writer Victor Hugo once lived. Plus, it’s a hub for the city’s LGBT community, making it one of Paris’s most colourful neighbourhoods.

In the Céramique district, you still feel the industrial past, even though you’re standing in the newest and most modern part of the city. It’s the kind of place where you look up and keep looking, to take in the impressive architecture, even as the ground around you buzzes with culture and activity. Céramique arose in the early 1990s on the site of ‘Société Céramique,’ a ceramics factory that operated from 1850 to 1985, best known for its tableware. When the factory was offered for sale to the municipality in the late 1980s, the idea to redevelop the area as a quality residential and commercial district quickly emerged, and Government Architect Jo Coenen was engaged to develop a master plan. One of his fundamental premises was to bring something of a Mediterranean feel to this part of the city. To achieve this, he brought in luminary architects from southern Europe for the design of the various residential and business complexes. The result is a total package of architectural high point after high point, like Mario Botta’s ‘La Fortezza,’ Alvaro Siza’s ‘Tower of Siza,’ and perhaps the crowning glory, Aldo Rossi’s Bonnefanten Museum. But despite all the forward-looking architecture, the connection to the past remains, in the street names, remnants of older buildings and tableware that turn up unexpectedly, and the exhibitions in the Bonnefanten Museum and Centre Céramique. Each and every one is a golden thread of history interwoven into the fabric of today.

It is said that if you have never tried a Turkish bath then you have never been truly clean. Move through several hot rooms and finally arrive at the massage table for a real going over. Men and women bathe separately, exceptions are made at certain times for tourists. Çemberlitaş Hamam, situated near the Bazaar, is the oldest hamam in town and was reputedly built by the master architect Mimar Sinan in 1584.

The Centre Pompidou stands out with its bold, high-tech design — pipes and escalators on the outside make it hard to miss. Inside, you’ll find Europe’s largest modern art museum, a big public library, and a hub for music and sound research. When it was built, many Parisians hated it for clashing with the classic city vibe, and its construction meant knocking down the famous Les Halles market nearby. Now, it’s a lively spot for art lovers and anyone curious about something a bit different.