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Musée Jean Moulin & Mémorial du Maréchal Leclerc de Hauteclocque et de la Libération de Paris

At the same time, the musées nationaux (national museums) in Paris have reduced rates for those aged over 60 and between 18 and 25, and sometimes for everyone else on one day or part of a day per week (eg Sunday morning). They are always free for those under 18 years of age, and for everyone on the first Sunday of each month (although not always year-round – see the following list). Again, you will have to pay separately for temporary exhibitions.

The museums and monuments in question (and their free-admission days) are:

Arc de Triomphe 1st Sunday of the month, November to March only.

Basilique de St-Denis 1st Sunday of the month, November to March only.

Château de Vincennes 1st Sunday of the month, November to May only.

La Conciergerie 1st Sunday of the month, November to March only.

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire

Musée de l’Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris

Musée de l’Histoire de France (Archives Nationales;)

Musée de l’Orangerie

Musée d’Orsay

Musée du Louvre

Musée du Quai Branly

Musée Ernest Hébert Currently under renovation.

Musée Guimet des Arts Asiatiques

Musée National d’Art Moderne (Centre Pompidou;)

Musée National du Moyen Age (Musée de Cluny;)

Musée National Eugène Delacroix

Musée National Gustave Moreau

Musée Picasso

Musée Rodin

Panthéon 1st Sunday of the month, November to March only.

Ste-Chapelle 1st Sunday of the month, November to March only.

Tours de Notre Dame 1st Sunday of the month, November to March only.

* * *

In the centre of the square is the 52m-high Colonne de Juillet (July Column), whose shaft of greenish bronze is topped by a gilded and winged figure of Liberty. It was erected in 1833 as a memorial to those killed in the street battles that accompanied the July Revolution of 1830 – they are buried in vaults under the column – and was later consecrated as a memorial to the victims of the February Revolution of 1848.

OPÉRA BASTILLE Map

08 92 89 90 90; www.opera-de-paris.fr, in French; 2-6 place de la Bastille, 12e; Bastille

Paris’ giant‘second’ opera house, designed by the Canadian architect Carlos Ott, was inaugurated on 14 July 1989, the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. It has three theatres, including the main auditorium with 2700 seats. There are 1¼-hour guided tours ( 01 40 01 19 70; adult/under 10yr/senior, student & 11-25yr €11/6/9) of the building, which generally depart at around 1.15pm from Monday to Saturday. Tickets go on sale just 10 minutes before departure at the box office (130 rue de Lyon, 12e; 10.30am-6.30pm Mon-Sat).

MUSÉE DU FUMEUR Map

01 46 59 05 51; www.museedufumeur.net; 7 rue Pache, 11e; adult/concession €4/3; 2-7pm; Voltaire

The Smoking Museum traces the history of one of mankind’s greatest vices: the smoking of tobacco (as well as lots and lots of other substances of various strengths and weaknesses). Hard-core butt-fiends will feel vindicated, though the museum takes an impartial stance, providing (as it states on its website) ‘a vantage point for the observation of changing behaviours’. Done up as an old tobacco warehouse, the museum has a wonderful collection of portraits as well as a superb book-and-gift shop.

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THE ISLANDS

Eating; Shopping; Sleeping

Paris’ twin set of islands could not be more different: with its quaint car-free lanes, legendary ice-cream maker and bijou portfolio of street plaques celebrating famous residents of the past, Île St-Louis is a tourist joy. Its Pandora’s box of boutiques lining the only central street might not be worth the trip in itself, but browse and there’s no saying what gem you might find – antique spice jars, rose-petal massage oil, a hand-painted glass pharmacy jar from the 1930s…

At the island’s western end, the area around Pont St-Louis and Pont Louis-Philippe is one of the city’s most