Salle PleyelOn the jazz-thick Rue des Lombards, Le Baiser Sal ("Salted Kiss") is convincingly moody. New bands dominate, but veterans sometimes grandstand -- and it's famous for promoting unusual and trans-ethnic styles. The ambiance is warm and welcoming; the dress code is very much "come as you are." Students, jazz fans and their long-suffering friends all manage to have a good time. The motto here is that only in the world of jazz would we ever want to become millionaires. That's the singular devotion to this genre of music you'll find here. Since opening over 30 years ago now it has hosted scores of musical acts including Richard Bona, Taffa Ciss, Thierry Arpino, Etienne MBapp, Linlay Marthe, Geoffroy de Mazure, mile Parisien, Ang lique Kidjo, Laurent Vernerey, Loc Ponthieu, NGuyen L, Mokhtar Samba.

 

 
The French have a favorite phrase and that is : Ca n'est pas possible! That translates to, That's impossible, it's just not done! It's rare that you find a native French person, especially a Parisian, who has psychologically been able to surmount this ingrained, deep cultural conditioning. But when they do surmount it, the results are often spectacular. Case in point, Olivier Giraud and his one-man show, How To Become Parisian In One Hour. How To Become Parisian In One Hour, has been an instant hit since he launched it nearly six years ago. It has been going strong ever since. In one short hour, between belly laughs that will have tears streaming down your face from his comedy routine, he teaches you all the proper etiquette of being Parisian. And yes, he is being sarcastic.

 

With its famous windmill that acts as beacon to all nightlife revelers looking for a good time out in Paris, it might altogether be too easy to assume that this legendary Cabaret has become a tourist trap. That assumption couldn't be farther from the truth. This is a cabaret where the French Can-Can dancers all have years of formal ballet training before they ever even get to audition to be one of the 60 Doriss Girls, the famous Moulin Rouge dancers, let alone wriggle into their costumes of a thousand feathers. The stage is steeped in history. Not only is it famous for La Goulue whose 1891 performance inspired Toulouse-Lautrec's first poster painted of the venue, but also for Mistinguett and Edith Piaf, even Elton John, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, all of whom have performed onstage here.

 

House, hip-hop, disco and techno are what you hear in this former Russian cabaret from the 1930s. The location, between the Gare St. Lazare and Pigalle, doesn't stop the crowds from coming in in droves. So if you're one of the youthful crowd (notice I didn't say "young crowd") this is a good option for drinking and dancing the night away. The location gives it a different vibe from the concentration of night clubs to be found in and around the Champs-Elysées. The different vibe is more from the crowd of hipster, sleek Parisians that frequent this nightclub. Of course it always comes down to the music, though, and here the DJs keep those youthful hips swaying.

 

This is Europe's largest movie theater and its location right on Grands Boulevards means it's walking distance from the major department stores and one of Paris's best shopping districts. With 2,650 seats it was purportedly modelled after NYC's Radio City Music Hall. It opened in 1932 and its kitschy interior is still a mix between Art Deco and neo-classical Oriental. Best to see for yourself, and you can, as there is a 50-minute tour of the cinema that you can take year-round. The theater is not to be confused with its dance club, the Rex Club, which is adjoined and whose entrance is just a few yards down the way (known for its electro-pop music). Le Grand Rex is hands-down the most most impressive movie theater, in terms of largesse, décor and history, in Paris.

 

Ever heard of a beautiful African-American who riled up audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with her banana-skirt performance on a Parisian stage ? Yes, I am absolutely referring to Josephine Baker and this is where she made that performance, at the Folies Bergère. The world's first music hall, the initial programming was operettas, comic operas, popular songs performed live and gymnastics. But as of 1886 women were at the heart of the Folies and, more precisely, nude women. As early as 1882 Edouard Manet painted his famous A Bar at the Folies-Bergère from sketches he made there of one of the barmaids who poet Maupassant called « vendors of drink and love. » The Folies are credited with launching the careers of Mistinguett, Maurice Chevalier, Josephine Baker and Fernandel, among many others.

 

This, they claim, is where the dinner show was invented. Enjoying a recent full renovation, the Lido de Paris is once again one of the star attractions to be found on the Champs-Elys�es. Here is where over 190,000 dinner-and-a-show guests are served every year by Chef Philippe Lacroix who heads up a team of 35 cooks and pastry chefs. This renovated Lido has been infused with a daring boldness and extravagance. The new artistic director, Franco Dragone, shares the same love for the LIDO as did his predecessors. He studied its history, its 26 previous revues, and only then did he invent this rare gem, "Paris Merveilles," performed by the legendary dance troupe, the Bluebells. Dragone's goal was to touch the soul of each spectator and also to allow them to relate to the varied facets of Paris Merveilles: spectacular and intimate, nostalgic and ultra modern, sensual and extravagant.

 

One of Paris's most striking Art Deco interiors, this venue will make you love opera sung in Italian even if you're not an opera-loving kind. However, it does host all kinds of musical performances, from jazz to world music to dance and chamber concerts. If you're a history buff, you will enjoy knowing that this is the site where audiences ripped up the seats after watching Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps with Nijinsky choreographing. That was the Battle of The Rite of Spring in 1913 and the theater, a 100 years later, celebrated its centenary in 2013. Tickets range from inexpensive (under 10euros) to expensive (over 100euros). And students always get a discount with a valid Student ID.

 

The fine acoustics in this concert hall are perfect for showing off their resident l'Orchestre de Paris and l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France as well as l'Orchestre National d'Ile-de-France. On a recent concert evening showcasing conductor Adam Fischer and violinist Tedi Papavrami, the concert hall was packed and not just with bluehairs, as the French take their cultural outings seriously and nearly all cultural venues offer a special discount student rate. Over 200 evenings of music are programmed per year and many are recorded for later broadcast on Radio France, hence the superb acoustics and the audience's respect for absolute quiet during performances. But it's not only classical music that you'll find at Salle Pleyel, as their programming ranges from orchestras to rock and during a given season you'll find diversity that ranges from Daniel Barenboim to les Solistes des Berliner Philharmoniker to Patti Smith.