Plekken in Paris

Female-led cocktail bar with bi-fold windows on the Belleville-Canal axis — zero pretension, real depth.

12 rooms, exposed beams, quiet 4e side street — the Marais's small, well-priced character hotel.

1889 Abbesses brasserie — shellfish counter, Cantal charcuterie, no Montmartre theatre.

République speakeasy hidden behind a working laundromat — push the right washing-machine door, climb the staircase.

1902 Art Nouveau brasserie on Ledru-Rollin — Mucha frescoes, listed interior, honest cooking.

A turn-of-the-century café preserved without irony — zinc bar, red banquettes, all-day terrace.

French-spirits-only cocktail bar in a graffiti-clad doorway — World's 50 Best Bars regular.

Christian Constant's cast-iron-pot canteen on rue Saint-Dominique.

Sentier rum den behind a grilled-cheese counter — Joseph Akhavan's 100-plus-rum library, Diffords-listed.

The Picasso of pastry, in his original Saint-Germain showcase.