Maison Breguet

Worth getting out of bed for

With the alluring 11th on the doorstep, you’ll want to be fighting fit if you’re to make the most of the local divertissements. Supercharge your morning with a session in the hammam or sauna, then swing by reception to book in a massage for late afternoon – there’s no better remedy if you’ve been flitting up and down the Marais all day. For lounging and libations, head to the greenery-girdled patio (a luxury in central Paris) or the vaulted bar, serving cocktails dreamt up by globe-trotting mixologist Nicolas de Soto.

On Thursdays and Sundays, the Marché Richard Lenoir (also known as Bastille Market) gets under way. It’s a minute’s walk from the hotel and one of the largest produce markets in Paris, making it an excellent place to stock up on saucisse, cheeses, patisseries and fruit. If the weather is in your favour, take your picnic to Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in the city. The square – and the regal houses that line it – attracted the fashionable elite in the 17th and 18th centuries, cementing the Marais’ reputation as a haunt of nobility. Former residents include writer Victor Hugo and lady of letters Madame de Sevigné. For space, silence and monumental masonry, stroll westward to the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, resting place of Edith Piaf, Frederic Chopin and Oscar Wilde. For shopping, try the southern end of Rue Oberkampf and Rue Charlot, populated with the ateliers and boutiques of the next generation of Parisian designers.

Local restaurants

Café des Anges, on rue de la Roquette, is a quintessential Parisian bistro with a pastel green exterior and a terrasse shaded by a red awning. The menu is as classic as they come – beef entrecote, steak tartare, roast duck with thyme are among the mainstays – and the ambience is laid-back and convivial. Sporting a canary yellow livery, Vietnamese restaurant Paris Hanoï channels the flavours of Indochina, serving fragrant pho, spicy noodle salads and grilled lemongrass chicken. The portions are hearty and offer a lot of bang for buck given the central location. Septime, on rue de Charonne, is a quietly confident jewel that has snagged a spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List and an award for sustainability, but it’s chef Bertrand Grébaut’s creativity that keeps the diners coming. Best of all, it’s remarkably good value given the quality of the produce – venison plated with pine buds, fermented berries and caviar, for instance – and the talent in the kitchen. Your biggest hurdle will be getting a reservation; bookings open three weeks in advance.

Local bars

Occupying the seventh floor of an industrial building, Le Perchoir Ménilmontant wouldn’t look out of place in LA. The bohemian-leaning roof terrace has a vine-wrapped pergola, rattan lamp shades, cushion-strewn sofas and planters filled with fragrant tomato plants. Get there in plenty of time for sunset, when the dome of the Sacre Coeur catches the last light.