Paris

Paris, c'est la ville de l'amour!

Propose here

Paris offers plenty of opportunities for popping the question, but when Tom Cruise proposed to Katie Holmes, he probably picked the ultimate venue -- atop the Eiffel Tower, preferably looking out over the city lights by night. The tower is open until 11pm every night.

To get you in the mood

Where to start? For a jaunty spin round the sites -- in the company of the timelessly watchable Gene Kelly -- treat yourself to a night in with An American in Paris. Jean-Jacques Beineix’s stylish thriller Diva exposes a quirky side of the city (and contains one of the most thrilling motorbike chases on celluloid). And Jack Lemmon’s comic masterpiece Irma La Douce, set in 1950s Les Halles is a masterpiece.

For books -- Victor Hugo might be a tad weighty, but Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are seminal works nevertheless. Patrick Suskind’s marvellously warped and unputdownable Perfume comes heavily scented with malevolent intrigue. George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer are two classic portraits of the bleak bohemian existence of the starving artist in this most written-about of cities.

Language of love

Bon anniversaire de mariage = Happy anniversary

Je t'aime = I love you

Felicitations! = Congratulations!

Veux tu m'épouser? = Will you marry me?

Stags and hens

How about an underground itinerary? Les Catacombes, a collection of tight, skeleton-strewn tunnels accessed just south of the river at Denfert-Rocherau, make for good, dark fun. Then there's the Paris Sewers -- a suitably disgusting subterranean network that reflects the layout of the city streets, not to mention the spooky Notre Dame Crypt.

For a good boozy night out, head for the huge concentration of happening bars around the Bastille area -- start at Rue Lappe or Rue de Charonne, and don't worry about where you end up.

Just outside town, there's more party fun to be had at Euro-Disney. High-speed thrill rides include Space Mountain, Mission 2 and Big Thunder Mountain --where you'll shake, rattle and roll on a runaway mine train.

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