Start Metro Bastille. While you’re here, you cannot help noticing the controversial Opéra Bastille. And should you need sustenance before you set out, Bofinger, 5-7 rue de la Bastille, is a terrific 1900s brasserie. From place de la Bastille, head west on rue Saint-Antoine, passing 1 the Baroque Eglise de Sainte-Marie-de-Ia-Visitation, where the 17thC lady of letters Madame de Sévigné is buried. Then turn right on rue Birague for 2 place des Vosges (photo). One of the loveliest corners of the city, the oldest square in Paris was commissioned by Henri IV as an open-air arena for courtly pageants. The King’s and Queen’s pavilions form the north and south sides of the square; elegant brick and stone fa√笵cades and arcades of smart little shops and cafés overlook the tree-lined gardens. In the south-western corner of the square, a gate gives on to 3 the gardens of the beautiful 17thC Hôtel de Sully, headquarters of the national monuments commission who also use it for temporary exhibitions. In the south-east, 4 the Musée Victor-Hugo, 6 place des Vosges, occupies the author’s handsome town house, filled with mementoes, manuscripts and dozens of his eerie drawings.

Leave place des Vosges by the north-west corner, and follow rue des Francs-Bourgeois to one of Madame de Sevigne’s Paris homes. The striking l6thC Hôtel Carnavelet now houses 5 the Musée Carnavalet, www.carnavalet.paris.fr) on 23 rue de Sévigné. This huge, fascinating museum tells the story of Paris through paintings, furniture, models, and objets d’art. To celebrate the bicentenary of the Revolution, the collections expanded into the 17thC Hôtel-Le-Peletier-de-Saint-Fargeau at the top of the street, overlooking the greenery of square Georges-Cain.

From the top of rue de Sévigné, follow rue du Parc-Royal to rue de Thorigny. On the corner, the Hôtel Libéral-Bruant 6 was built for the architect of Les Invalides and now houses a locksmith’s museum. Balzac went to school at 7 rue de Thorigny, next door to 7 the entertaining Musée Picasso, 5 rue de Thorigny, with its handy café-restaurant.

Retrace your steps back to rue des Francs-Bourgeois via rue Elzévir, where the collections of chainstore magnate Ernest Cognacq are displayed in 8 the Musée Cognacq-Jay, 8 rue Elzévir. A self-professed philistine (he boasted that he had never visited the Louvre), Cognacq and his wife, Louise Jay, still managed to amass an impressive selection of artworks including paintings by Rembrandt, Reynolds, Gains-borough and the l8thC French romantics, and exquisite miniature objets d’art. At the bottom of rue Elzévir, turn left. On the next corner, the imposing Hôtel de lamoignon 9 once hosted high-minded literary salons popular with writers like Racine. Now it harbours a history library behind the Corinthian-style stick-on pilasters. Return to the start by taking rue Pavée south to Métro Saint-Paul.

MARMOTIAN, MUSEE