Top choices - Paris e-guide: The Travel Guide with its Own Website - page 12

TOP CHOICES - night

The twinkling Tour Eiffel is an appropriate metaphor for a night out in Paris:
frivolous, fun and rather beautiful. Residents of the City of Lights really
come to life after dark. The city looks stunning and, more often than not, its
inhabitants dress up accordingly. Night-time pursuits are taken very
seriously. There's even a cultural all-nighter - La Nuit Blanche (see p11) -
organized each year by the Mairie (city council). Year-round, a surprising
array of high- and low-brow cultural attractions vies for your attention,
ranging from late-opening exhibitions to mass roller-blading events, back-
to-back film shows and wild club nights. Wherever you end up, take a cab
home - a drive along the expressways on the banks of the Seine or around
the place de la Concorde in the early hours is not to be missed.

Balades
For further details, check www.paris-roller.com
On Friday nights, police close off boulevards around
the city to offer thousands of skaters a nocturnal
adrenalin rush. The event starts at 10pm outside Gare
Montparnasse (Map 19 B1), but beginners can turn up
for free tuition (8-9pm). In order to join in the fun, you
must be experienced enough to know how to stop! In
order to reduce the spills, the parade is cancelled in wet
weather. If you need to hire roller blades, check out the
website for useful addresses.

Montlhéry, aka Chez Denise (see p25) , where you can
order anything, from a bowl of onion soup to a full
three-course meal - even at 5am.

Art Appreciation
Catch an exhibition at the devastatingly cool Palais de
To y k o (see p104) , which is open until midnight. The
shows are invariably interesting, offbeat and a hit with
Paris's bright young things, who wander around the
warehouse-like space as much to be seen as to be
inspired. The shop has become a destination in itself and
Tokyo Eat, the on-site restaurant, is currently one of the
city's hippest places to go for a meal. Don't miss a trip
to the toilets-for-two and take advantage of the human
juke-box concept - the waiter presents you with a
menu of songs that the DJ will work into his playlist.

Late-Night Food
Many restaurants across the city serve until 11pm but
one of the best options for a late meal is to indulge in a
special late menu, offered after 10:30pm, at brasseries
such as La Coupole (see p218) . Two courses of classic
brasserie fare (see p29) , a quarter bottle of wine and a
terrific atmosphere will set you back a little over 20€.
If hunger strikes in the early hours of the morning,
head for Au Pied du Cochon (see p24) or La Tour de

Hitting the Shops
Elyfleur, 82 avenue Wagram, 17ème, 01 47 66 87 19;
Pavillon Noura, 21 avenue Marceau, 16ème, 01 47 20 33 33
Most of the city's shops and stores close at 7pm, but
until midnight (and sometimes even later) on the
Champs-Elysées you can stock up on magazines at