Paris on a budget

WHY GO NOW?

Paris leaves its Christmas decorations on display throughout January, so you can enjoy enchanting winter views along the Seine, ice-skating outside the town hall and other seasonal delights - with no purchase necessary.

TOUCH DOWN

Gare du Nord (1) is the terminus for Eurostar (08705 186 186; www.eurostar.com) trains from London Waterloo and Ashford. Flights from most UK airports - including Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester on BA Connect (0870 850 9 850; www.ba.com), and Heathrow on Air France, BA and BMI (0870 60 70 555; www.flybmi.com) - arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle. The cheap, fast link into town is on the RER (suburban railway), line B. A €7.70 (£5.50) ticket takes you to Gare du Nord (1), Chatelet (2), St Michel (3) and Luxembourg (4) stations, with free connections to anywhere on the Métro.

A few flights arrive at Orly. Take the Orlybus to Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th arrondissement, which is on the RER line B and two Métro lines.

GET YOUR BEARINGS

The city is sliced in two by the Seine. The Left Bank (to the south) was traditionally associated with learning, the Right Bank with commerce. Over the years, these differences have become blurred with glitz and wealth on both sides.

Getting around is easy, thanks to the excellent Metro, buses and trams run by RATP (www.ratp.fr). A single Metro journey ticket costs €1.40 (£1), or you can buy a "Mobilis" day pass for €5.50 (£3.40) that allows unlimited journeys on all RATP transport. There is a discount for those under 26 at the weekend.

CHECK IN

With its mix of fleamarket finds and rooms decorated by artists, the Hôtel Amour (5) at 8 rue Navarin (00 33 1 48 78 31 80; www.hotelamour.com) in the 9th arrondisement is currently the most fashionable hotel in town, though deliberately low on facilities. Doubles start at €120 (£85), with an extra €10 (£7) per person for breakfast. It also has a buzzy bistro. The Regent's Hôtel (6) at 44 rue Madame (00 33 1 45 48 02 81) is bright and comfortable and very well located for the Luxembourg gardens and

St-Germain. Some rooms have balconies. Doubles start at €80 (£57) with an extra €7 (£5) for breakfast. In Montmartre, Le Village (7) at 20 rue d'Orsel (00 33 1 42 64 22 02; www.villagehostel.fr) is a hostel recently refurbished with the aim of providing the budget traveller with "a hotel experience for the price of a hostel". It boasts an uninterrupted view of the Sacré-Coeur. Doubles start at €46 (£32), including breakfast.

TAKE A HIKE

Take a simple, cheap and rewarding slice through the Marais. From the Pompidou Centre (8), head east along rue Rambuteau to the church of Notre-Dame des Blancs-Manteaux (9) (00 33 1 42 72 09 37; open 10am-noon and 4-7pm, 10am-noon on Sundays). Close by is the Espace des Blancs-Manteaux (10) - a market-turned-artspace (00 33 1 44 54 75 79) that, in February, hosts an exhibition on human rights in literature. Hop a block north to rue des Francs-Bourgeois and follow it to the serene, symmetrical Place des Vosges (11). The 17th-century mansion in the south-east corner at number 6 is the Maison de Victor Hugo (00 33 1 42 72 10 16), where the writer lived in a second-floor apartment from 1832 to 1848 and wrote some of Les Miserables. This fascinating house opens 10am-5.40pm daily except Monday, admission free - as are the permanent collections in all the other municipal-run museums.

LUNCH ON THE RUN

Often the best-value gourmet meals are to be had in Paris at lunchtime. Expect good food but sometimes minimal presentation. Set menus, scrawled on blackboards brought to the table, cost around €15 (£10) for two courses, and often including a glass of wine. In the Marais, you can choose from a wide selection of small brasseries. Le Coude Fou (12) at 12 rue de Bourg-Tibourg (00 33 1 42 77 15 16) offers a typically rustic French cuisine. For something lighter, around the corner in the heart of the Jewish quarter, the delicatessen/restaurant Chez Marianne (13) at 2 rue des Hospitalières St-Gervais (00 33 1 42 72 18 86) serves hot, fresh falafel and a buffet of Jewish specialities, either in the restaurant or from the express window.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Spend the afternoon, but not a fortune, by perusing the windows under the arcades at the Palais Royal (14). The Galerie de Valois has shops selling antique books and manuscripts. It is also home to the Parfumerie Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido, the luxury boutique of the Japanese cosmetics company (00 33 1 49 27 09 09; www.salons-shiseido.com). Here you can test all the sumptuous creams and depart smelling beautiful, with no need for plastic. At the Galerie de Montpensier opposite, you will find the only Marc Jacobs shop in France (00 33 1 55 35 02 60; www.marcjacobs.com) and the boutique Didier Ludot (00 33 1 42 96 06 56; www.didierludot.com), which specialises in vintage designer wear from the era of Audrey Hepburn and Greta Garbo.

AN APERITIF

Prices can go down as well as up. Walk up Avenue de l'Opéra to the Footsie bar (15) at 10 rue Daunou (00 33 1 42 60 07 20). This chic Parisian bar is named after the British FTSE index, and prices its drinks according to the rise and fall of demand; a cocktail typically costs €11 (£8). Or continue along the Grands Boulevards towards Café Brébant (16) at 32 boulevard Poissonnière 9e (00 33 01 47 70 25 55); its happy hour lasts a lot longer than 60 minutes.

DINING WITH THE LOCALS

A former coach drivers' inn, Bouillon Chartier (17) at 7 rue du Faubourg-Montmartre (00 33 1 47 70 86 29; www.restaurant-chartier.com) still has the original carriage forecourt and brass luggage rails above the tables. The food is rough and ready but good value for money: soup for €2 (£1.40), mains such as trout meuniere for €9.60 (£6.50) and desserts including peach tart for €4.50 (£3.20). Or suppress your appetite until late: La Coupole (18) at 102 Boulevard Montparnasse (00 33 1 43 20 14 20; www.flobrasseries. com/coupoleparis) offers a two-course menu (starter and main course) for €23.50 (£16) for those dining after 10.30pm.

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

Discover the beautiful church of St-Etienne-du-Mont (19) on place Ste-Geneviève (00 33 1 43 54 11 79), which has long been intertwined with Parisian history. Inside you'll find a magnificent Renaissance rood screen and the ornate tomb of Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, who saved the city when besieged by the Huns

in 450. Pascal and Racine are also buried here. It opens 8.45am to noon (Mass at 9am and 11am) and 2.30-7.45pm.

OUT TO BRUNCH

Brunch is the new Sunday trend in Paris and many restaurants offer a brunch menu for around €20 (£13.50). Stroll down rue Mouffetard in the 5e (Métro Cardinal Lemoine) and enjoy the Sunday morning market produce at the many boucheries, fromageries and charcuteries that line the cobbled street. At number 138 (20), sit down at one of the large, convivial wooden tables at Le Pain Quotidien (00 33 1 55 43 91 99; www.lepainquotidien.com). Order large hunks of bread with pâtés à tartiner, homemade yoghurts and lots of salad, cheese, boiled eggs, charcuterie and smoked salmon. The huge portions mean that probably only a patisserie top-up will be needed to make it through the rest of the day.

A WALK IN THE PARK

Walk off brunch by heading back towards the Seine and down to the Jardin des Plantes (21) (00 33 1 40 79 56 01; www.mnhn.fr). Paris' Botanical Gardens were originally founded as a medicinal herb garden in 1626. They are open from 8am to dusk, September to March, and 7.30am to 8pm the rest of the year, admission free.The National Museum of Natural History and Paris' Zoo are located within the gardens; both charge an entrance fee.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

The museum l'Orangerie (22) (00 33 1 44 77 80 07; www.musee-orangerie.fr) in the Jardin des Tuileries houses Monet's grand Nymphéas (water-lilies: eight curved canvasses beautifully displayed in two oval rooms), plus a collection that includes

Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse and Soutine in the basement. The building was originally constructed as an orangerie for the royal palace. It was closed in 2000 for refurbishment, which went on to last six years due to the discovery of a 17th-century wall underneath the original building. The spectacular new museum is now open to the public 12.30-7pm daily except Tuesdays (with late opening to 9pm on Fridays), admission €6.50 (£4.40) - or, if you can visit on the first Sunday of the month, completely free.

Additional research by Jacqueline Cooney

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