When you're out and about in Paris, be sure to check out these highlights, brought to you courtesy of our friends at Lonely Planet Publications

1. See the city of light at night from the Eiffel Tower

The second-most mesmerising view of this city by night is from the tip of the city's iconic spire, with its 360-degree views over Paris. (The most mesmerising night-time view is from an aeroplane - preferably one that is landing.) About 250 million people have ascended the tower to date. Most visit its three platforms (57m, 115m and 276m) in daytime hours, when, on a clear day, views from the top extend up to 60km. Far fewer visitors make the pilgrimage after sunset. Although you're unlikely to have it to yourself, come nightfall the queues are significantly shorter, and the illuminated boulevards and floodlit monuments spread out before you to provide an impossibly romantic perspective of the city.

Gustave Eiffel constructed the tower initially as a temporary exhibit for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) in 1889. Until the completion of Manhattan's Chrysler Building in 1930, it remained the world's tallest structure, at 320m (varying by up to 15cm when its 7000 tonnes of iron and 2.5 million rivets expand in warm weather and contract when it's cold). Its immense popularity assured its survival beyond the World Fair and its elegant architectural design became a striking fixture of the city's skyline.

Each night, the tower's twin searchlight beacons beam an 80km radius around the city (look up from the top platform to see the 6000-watt lamps). And every hour, for 10 minutes on the hour, the entire tower sparkles with 20,000 gold-toned lights. It took 25 mountain climbers five months to install the bulbs, and the glittering, diamond-like effect when viewed from within the tower is dazzling.

Night-time at the top can be breezy - bring a jacket.

To prolong the panoramas (and the romance), book dinner at one of the tower's restaurants: Altitude 95, on the 1st level; or Le Jules Verne, the rarefied 2ndlevel restaurant, accessed by private lift.

2. Browse the shelves of a legendary Paris bookshop

A kind of spell descends as you enter this cluttered, charming bookshop. Situated across from Notre Dame, its enchanting nooks and crannies overflow with new and second-hand English-language books. Amid hand-painted quotations and a wishing well, a miniature staircase leads to an attic-like reading library. Next to the children's books is a 'mirror of love', where people leave messages for friends and strangers, and recount finding love between the shop's shelves.

The bookshop is the stuff of legends. The original shop (12 rue l'Odeon; it was closed by the Nazis in 1941) was run by Sylvia Beach and became the meeting point for Hemingway's 'Lost Generation'.

Beach published James Joyce's Ulysses there in 1922, when no-one else would. In 1951 George Whitman opened the present incarnation, attracting a Beat Poet clientele. Scores of authors have since passed through its doors. George is now aged in his 90s, and his daughter, Sylvia Beach Whitman, maintains Shakespeare & Co's serendipitous magic.

3. Enjoy a picnic in Paris' most popular park

The merest ray of sunshine is enough to draw apartment-dwelling Parisians outdoors to soak up the sun while indulging in a picnic of fresh produce and fine cheeses, crusty, still-warm baguettes, and, of course, wine.

You'll see locals picnicking everywhere: in parks, on bridges and by the side of the Seine. The Luxembourg Gardens have a special place in the hearts of Parisians.

Napoleon dedicated the gardens to the children of Paris, and many residents spent their childhood prodding little wooden sail boats with long sticks on the octagonal pond, watching marionettes perform Punch & Judy-type shows, and riding the carrousel (merry-go-round) or ponies.

All those activities are still here today, as well as a modern playground and sporting and games venues. But above all, the gardens are still a place to unwind - and to dine.

The elegantly manicured lawns are off-limits apart from a small wedge on the southern boundary.

Otherwise, do as the Parisians do, and corral a metal chair and find your own favourite part of the park.

4. Marvel at Monet's Waterlilies in the Musee De L'Orangerie

After six-and-a-half years of renovations, the Musee de l'Orangerie finally reopened in 2006 to again showcase its prized cycle of eight of Monet's enormous Nympheas (Waterlilies), conceived by Monet specifically for this building.

The museum's renovations hit a wall - literally - when workers encountered a stone fortification built by Charles IX to enclose his palace and the Tuileries Gardens, where the museum, originally the palace's greenhouse and its only remaining structure, is located.

Monet's masterpieces were protected in temperature-controlled glass cases while the reconstruction worked around the wall.

Today, the Waterlilies wrap around two sky-lit oval rooms on the museum's upper level. Elliptical benches in the centre of each room off er a meditative spot to reflect on their ethereal shades of pink, violet and wintergreen, making the lilies appear as if they're floating on the canvas.

An unforeseen bonus: part of the historic rediscovered wall is also on display.

More of Monet's water lilies can be seen at Musee Marmottan. To see the real-life lilies, head further afi eld to Monet's former house and gardens at Giverny.

5. Take a romantic stroll along the Promenade Plantee

Climbing the stairs from av Daumesnil in the busy Bastille brings you out on top of this former railway viaduct, which has been transformed into one of Paris' most serene - and romantic - places to stroll.

Planted with a profusion of cherry trees, maples, rose bushes and fragrant lavender, the Promenade Plantee - the world's first elevated park - is a haven of tranquillity, which feels far from the madding crowds below. Four storeys above ground, its walking path offers views over the surrounding quartiers as well as intimate glimpses of wrought-iron balconies and rooftops including an Art Deco police station crowned by a dozen marble torsos.

Lovers young and old embrace on benches as joggers, parents with prams, and amblers pass by.

At the end of the viaduct, the Promenade Plantee continues at ground level almost to the Peripherique, a total distance of 4.5km. If you're not ready to return to the urban jungle just yet, there are signs directing you east to the nearby woods, the Bois de Vincennes.

6. Mamble the enchanting backstreets of Montmartre

Montmartre's slinking streets, steep staircases lined with crooked ivy-clad buildings, pretty little parks and squares all have fairytale charm. It's a wonderful place for a wander, especially early morning or midweek when the tourists are few.

From the Abbesses metro station (renovated in 2006, it was originally designed by Hector Guimard, and is the only metro in Paris with its original Beaux Arts glass roof), wend your way north past rue des Trois Freres, dotted with outdoor cafes, to the Dali Espace Montmartre, a homage to just one of the legendary painters who set up their easels on place du Tertre (today it's the domain of portrait artists). Further north, the Musee de Montmartre transports you to the windmill-filled village of days gone by. Montmartre's two surviving windmills, Moulin de la Gallette and Moulin Radet, are just west of rue Girardon.

Presiding over Montmartre to the east, the Roman-Byzantine basilica Sacre-Coeur has panoramas over Paris from its front steps, and you can climb its 234 spiralling steps to the dome for more views.

On your way down, you can cut through the terraced gardens to square Willette and continue east to the colourful Chateau Rouge area, which is overflowing with North African market stalls and eclectic shops and bars.

7. Watch Paris float past from a boat on The Seine

Looking at a riverboat plying the Seine, you might be tempted to give a boat ride a wide berth. With all those camera-wielding tourists, no self-respecting Parisian would be caught dead on one (or at least admit to it).

But once you're aboard, gently gliding past monuments, parks and elegant Haussmannian buildings along Paris' most beautiful boulevard of all, any reservations ebb away.

The Seine's sightseeing boats are colloquially called Bateaux Mouches (literally 'fly boats', though the name originates from the Mouche area of Lyon). In fact, while 'Bateaux Mouches' refers specifically to the original and still best-known operator, there's a raft of other companies offering cruises, including the hop-on, hop-off Batobus, which travels between the Jardin des Plantes and the Eiffel Tower, making a total of eight stops.

A number of operators also run leisurely lunch and dinner cruises with on-board chefs and well-stocked wine holds.

And the locals may yet embrace travelling on the Seine if long-mooted plans for a 24km, 35-stop Metro Fluvial (metro boat) go ahead.

8. Navigate your way around the Labyrinthine Louvre

The Louvre's sheer size strikes fear into the hearts of even the most dedicated museum-goers. The world's largest museum spans a whopping 700m along the Seine and it's estimated it would take nine months just to glance at every piece of art here.

And it keeps getting bigger. Constructed as a fortress by Philippe-Auguste in the early 13th century, the Palais du Louvre was rebuilt in the mid-16th century as a royal residence, and in 1793 the Revolutionary Convention turned it into the country's first national museum.

The 'Grand Louvre' project inaugurated by the late President Mitterrand in 1989 doubled the museum's exhibition space. New and renovated galleries have opened in recent years devoted to paintings and objets d'art. In all, some 35,000 works are now on display.

As if that weren't daunting enough, the hype around Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (which was partly set in the museum, which was also used as a shooting location for the fi lm), has seen a further surge of visitors and raised expectations even higher.

But (if you plan ahead a bit) the Louvre doesn't disappoint.

The star attraction, Da Vinci's La Joconde (Mona Lisa), now resides - albeit behind a wooden railing and thick bulletproof glass - in the newly renovated, glass-roofed Salle des Etats on the 1st floor. The rest of the rambling palace houses a veritable treasure trove of priceless art and artefacts, dating from antiquity (such as the Venus de Milo, pictured opposite) to the 19th century.

Save time by purchasing your ticket beforehand. Tickets are available from the museum's website, the ticket agencies Fnac or Virgin Megastore, or the ticket machines in the Carrousel du Louvre. Alternatively, the Paris Museum Pass is valid here. To avoid the queues at the pyramid (the main entrance), enter via the Carrousel du Louvre at 99 rue de Rivoli, or follow the Musee du Louvre exit from the Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre metro station. Museum tickets are valid for the whole day, so you can take a break any time.

Once inside, it helps to rough out an itinerary based around what you most want to see before you set off down the endless corridors.

Pick up a free English-language map, which includes floor plans, from the information desk in the centre of the Hall Napoleon. For serious fans, the museum's bookshop sells extensive guides (up to 475 pages long). A guided tour (available in English) is a great, info-packed option to make the most of your visit. Otherwise, multi-language audio-guides can help you self-navigate.

9. Pay homage to the departed at Cimetiere Du Pere Lachaise

Paris is a collection of villages, and this 48-hectare cemetery of cobbled lanes and elaborate tombs the size of small houses qualifies as one in its own right.

The cemetery was founded in 1804, and initially attracted few funerals because of its distance from the city centre. The authorities' response was to exhume famous remains and resettle them here.

The marketing ploy worked and Pere Lachaise has been the city's most fashionable final address ever since.

With a population (as it were) of one million, among the cemetery's celebrity residents are the composer Chopin; writers Moliere, Apollinaire, Balzac, Proust, Wilde, Gertrude Stein (and Alice B Toklas) and Colette; artists Delacroix, Pissarro, Seurat and Modigliani; singers Edith Piaf and rock god Jim Morrison; and 12th-century lovers Abelard and Heloise, who in 1817 were disinterred and reburied here together beneath a neogothic tombstone.

Long-standing traditions at Pere Lachaise include leaving love letters on Abelard and Heloise's crypt, red roses on Edith Piaf's grave, and lipstick kisses on Oscar Wilde's tomb, which is topped with a naked winged angel. The angel was formerly well-endowed, which was apparently deemed so obscene that the offending section was lopped off and used by the cemetery director as a paperweight.

Another raunchy resting place is that of Victor Noir, pseudonym of the journalist Yvan Salman, who was shot and killed in 1870 by Pierre Bonaparte, great-nephew of Napoleon, at the age of just 22. According to legend, a woman who strokes Noir's amply proportioned bronze effigy will quickly fall pregnant. The enthusiastic response by would-be mothers led to the statue being literally worn down, and a fence was constructed around his grave, though subsequent protests by Parisian women have since seen it removed.

But the most venerated tomb belongs to the Doors' Jim Morrison, who died in Paris in 1971 (although conspiracy theorists believe he's alive and well and living it up away from the spotlight). Prior to complaints from Morrison's family, fans regularly took drugs, drank beer and had sex atop his grave. The family's protests resulted in a crackdown which has seen the beer bottles, graffiti and discarded evidence of intimacy cleaned up, a security guard permanently posted to watch out for misbehaving fans and even a special leaflet outlining a code of conduct for homages to the poet/singer. Given his wild lifestyle, you can't help but wonder if Morrison isn't finding the new arrangements rather boring.

Maps indicating the location of noteworthy graves are posted around the cemetery, but it's worth purchasing a detailed map from one of the nearby newsstands.

10. Contemplate modern art and architecture at the Centre Pompidou

Fresh from a facelift, the building housing Paris' premier cultural centre is so iconic that you could spend hours looking at it without ever going inside.

Architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers' bold design - with plumbing, pipes and air vents forming part of the external facade - caused a scandale when the centre opened in 1977. Especially when viewed from a distance, such as from the Sacre-Coeur or Parc de Belleville, the centre's primary-coloured, boxlike form amid a sea of muted-grey Parisian rooftops makes it look like a child's Meccano set abandoned on someone's very elegant living room rug.

Cultural offerings include a ground-level open space, hosting temporary exhibitions; the Bibliotheque Publique d'Information (BPI; public library); and cinemas and entertainment venues. But the most compelling reason to enter is the Musee National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), which includes works by the Surrealists and Cubists, a fabulous Matisse collection, pop art and contemporary creations.

The Centre Pompidou is just six storeys high, but because of Paris' low-rise cityscape, the views from the roof (reached by external escalators enclosed in tubes) are superb. Views also unfold from the 6th-floor temporary exhibition space and from the restaurant, Georges.

Reproduced with permission from Paris Encounter ©2007 Lonely Planet Publications