by Anna Goldrein

Leave your man at home or prepare an inexhaustible cultural itinerary to keep him out the way until he is required. Then hop on the Eurostar, which will take you to the heart of Paris and let you bring back as many bags as you can carry.

Remember to buy clothes for home - not every dress that's just the thing on a Parisian terrasse will cut the mustard in Notting Hill. Ask yourself what you really 'need' and how much you can afford to spend. Or just go for it - who needs food when this season's styles are waiting to be whipped off their hangers? Work that plastic!

Expect snooty staff?
If you're wearing tattered jeans that don't pass for boho-chic, expect snooty staff at Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Valentino on the Avenue Montaigne. But stand your ground; once you have one designer shopping bag in your grasp (even if you've only bought a hair-clip), you'll find the shop assistants turn from sour to sweet.

As you swing your designer bag down the boulevard, passers-by will look you up and down - with a Chanel bag in tow, you must be somebody. Perhaps a minor celeb? While you're feeling confident, stride to the Champs-Elysees (gigantic Louis Vuitton) and neighbouring Avenue Georges V (home to a recently opened Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Jey (where Mrs Beckham would feel right at home with the selection of Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen and D&G and a host of thigh-skimming skimpy denim items).

Magnet for media types
Concept-store Colette (on the smart Faubourg Saint-Honore) is a magnet for media types and happening young things with Euro to invest in tomorrow's make-up, designerwear, shoes and sportswear. While L'Eclaireur, rue des Rosiers, in the winding streets of the Marais is a slightly more sophisticated boutique bringing together the choice designer pickings with impeccable Parisian taste (if you're feeling guilty, get something for your boyfriend at Eclaireur for men just nearby).

Tucked away in the 3rd arrondissement, the Rue Charlot hosts boutiques for established and up-and-coming designer labels and fashion happenings while, all under one roof, Kokon To Zai in the 2nd arrondissement creates a clubby atmosphere to set off catwalk one-offs and cutting-edge designerwear.

Stroll villagey Montmartre, seeking out Spree, run by artist Bruno Hadjadj and his fashion designer partner Roberta Oprandi, for that perfect pair of khaki trousers, black silk-soft top and quirky jewellery in a boutique that wouldn't look amiss in hippest Hoxton.

Kitsch'n'chic
On the whole, Parisian chic steers away from anything excessive, and that includes kitsch. But fortunately, there are still pockets of joyous bad taste to be found. Head for the gay district within the Marais and home in on Why? which sells fluffy filofax, inflatable Eiffel Towers and anything fun, frivolous and flurorescent. While the Fiesta Galerie on the rue Vieille du Temple camps it up with '50s American retro.

Boogie in the disco lift
Pick up Parisian must-haves from High Street brands to designerwear, home furnishings and cosmetics on the Boulevard Haussmann where vast department stores Printemps, with its Art Nouveau dome, and the Galeries Lafayette vie for custom. Make sure you have a boogie in Printemps' disco lift and catch the Galeries Lafayette fashion shows every Tuesday at 11am.

On the scent
Sniff out Europe's largest Semphora on the Champs-Elysées - a veritable supermarket of scent. For something more exclusive, try nearby Guerlain, set in a timeless boutique established in 1914, and glittering under the light of a huge chandelier. But please don't acquire the nose for my favourite perfume - Tsuki by Japanese perfumer Chuo Yakuri for sale in the Marais boutique, Silkie, which brings together hand-painted textiles and individualist bags, bangles and beaded delights.

Rest your legs
Maybe you should have left those Manolos for evening wear - what you need to do is rest your legs.

• At Printemps, take the lift to the rooftop terrace for a well-deserved drink and a pigeon eye's view of Paris.
• Drop your bags and slip into the smooth hot chocolate of chez Jean-Paul Hevin, near Colette, at 231 rue Saint-Honoré.
• Tuck into a cream cake - go on you've earned it! - at Ladurée tearooms, 75 avenue des Champs-Elysees.
• Buy yourself a picnic and sit on the steps of Sacré-Coeur in Amélie's Montmartre.

Bargain basement
Tati (don't be put off by the name!) is known for its bargain-basement prices for T-shirts, knick-knacks and household goods. Tati Or is even better value, offering gold sold for a song. Monoprix supermarket has branches throughout Paris (the one on the Champs-Elysees is open until midnight) and it's a wise choice for affordable make-up, underwear and French food and wine.

If you've an eye for antiques, junk and modern tat and the time for an excursion, head for the Flea Market at Clignancourt - Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen - said to be Europe's largest antiques fair (open Monday, Saturday and Sunday).

Or, if you have a weakness for vintage designerwear, try Le Dépôt-Vente de Buci-Bourbon in the rue Bourbon-le-Chateau or, better still, Ragtime, just nearby, where hats, frocks, coats and jewellery range from 1860-1965.

Red Light
There's no better way to round off a day of decadence than in Pigalle, the Red Light District. Stay at the sumptuous Villa Royal, where in the luxury of your red satin room, bathing in the warm glow of your open fire, you can unwrap and examine all the goodies you've picked up in Paris to the serenade of the street life below.

Look smug
When you get back home, expect compliments to roll in from envious friends. "I lurrve those shoes. That coat's fab-u-lous. Where did you get them?" Look smug and say the magic word - "Paris".

Eurostar
Contact Tel: 08705 186 186 or consult www.eurostar.com
London-Waterloo-Paris-Gare du Nord, Return trips available from #59

Villa Royale
2 rue Duperre, angle No 13 place Pigalle, 75009
Tel: 00 33 (0) 1 55 31 78 78
Fax: 00 33 (0) 1 55 31 78 70
Email: royale@leshotelsdeparis.com
Metro: Pigalle

Bonnes Addresses
Colette - 213 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, 75001 (metro Tuileries)
Dépôt-Vente de Buci-Bourbon - 6 rue Bourbon-le-Chateau, 75006 (metro Mabillon)
Fiesta Galerie - 45 rue Vieille du Temple, 75004 Paris (metro Republique)
Galeries Lafayette, 40 boulevard Haussmann, 75009 (metro Chaussee d'Antin/RER Auber)
Guerlain - 68 Avenue des Champs-Elyseees, 75008 (metro Franklin D Roosevelt)
L'Eclaireur - 3 ter Rue des Rosiers, 7004 Paris (metro Saint-Paul)
Jean-Paul Gaultier - 44 Avenue Georges V, 75008 (metro Georges V)
Jey - 38 Avenue Georges V, 75008 (metro Georges V)
Kokon To Zai - 48 Rue Tiquettone, 75001 (metro Etienne Marcel)
Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen - Porte de Clignancourt, 75018 (metro Porte de Clignancourt)
Monoprix - all over Paris
Printemps - 64 boulevard Haussmann, 75009 (metro Havre-Caumartin/RER Auber)
Ragtime - 23 rue de l'Echaude, 75006 (metro Raspail)
Sephora - 70 Avenue des Champs-Elysees, 75008 (metro Franklin D Roosevelt)
Shine - 30 rue de Charonne 75011 (metro Bastille)
Silkie - 43 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75004 (metro Saint-Paul)
Spree - 16 rue la Vieuville, 75018 (metro Abesses)
Tati - 4 boulevard de Rochechouart, 75018 (metro Barbes-Rochechouart) and 172 rue du Temple, 75003 (metro Saint-Paul)
Universal Love - 8 rue de Mont-Louis, 75011 (metro Philippe Auguste)
Valentino - 17/19 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 (metro Franklin D Roosevelt)