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When the Spanish-born artist Pablo Picasso died in 1973, his family donated thousands of his works to the French state in lieu of estate taxes. Thus Paris enjoys the largest collection of Picassos in the world. Housed in the Hôtel Aubert de Fontenay, the museum displays the range of his artistic development, from his Blue and Pink Periods to Cubism, and reveals his proficiency in an astonishing range of techniques and materials.

This small but excellent museum portrays the sophisticated French lifestyle in the so-called Age of Enlightenment, which centred around Paris. The 18th-century art and furniture on display were once the private collection of Ernest Cognacq and his wife, Louise Jay, founders of the Samaritaine department store. It is superbly displayed in the Hôtel Donon, an elegant late 16th-century building with an 18th-century façade.

Paris’s oldest square also has the honour of being one of the most beautiful in the world. Once the site of jousting tournaments, the square was commissioned by Henri IV. Its 36 houses with red-gold brick and stone façades, slate roofs and dormer windows were laid out with striking symmetry in 1612. Although they were originally built for silk workers, the likes of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) and the playwright Molière (1622–73) quickly moved in and it remains an upper-class residential address. But everyone can enjoy a stroll around the area and the art galleries under the arcades.

Devoted to the history of Paris, this museum sprawls through two mansions, the 16th-century Carnavalet and 17th-century Le Peletier. The former was the home of Madame de Sévigné, the famous letter-writer, from 1677–96 and a gallery here portrays her life. The extensive museum contains everything from period rooms filled with art and portraits to Revolutionary artifacts and memorabilia of 18th-century philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire.

Today this notorious square is surrounded by a busy traffic circle, which is not the best spot for contemplating its grim history. Originally the Bastille was a fortress built by Charles V to defend the eastern edge of the city, but it soon became a jail for political prisoners. Angry citizens, rising up against the excesses of the monarchy, stormed the Bastille on 14 July 1789, setting off the French Revolution, and destroyed this hated symbol of oppression. In its place is the bronze Colonne de Juillet (July Column), 52 m (171 ft) high and crowned by the Angel of Liberty, which commemorates those who died in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848. Looming behind it is the Opéra Bastille, the largest opera house in the world, which opened on the bicentennial of the Revolution in 1989.

Set around an old guardhouse and clocktower, the wonderful Aligre market is a melting pot of Parisians from all walks of life. It dates back to 1643 and was once as important as the more famous Les Halles (see Forum des Halles). In the gourmet covered market you’ll see everything from rows of pheasants to a whole wild boar hanging from the stalls. North African traders give the outdoor produce market an ethnic flare. The flea market dates back to the days when nuns distributed second-hand clothing to the poor (see Aligre Market).

The Bastille has been a quarter of working-class artisans and craft guilds since the 17th century and many furniture makers are still located in these small alleyways, called passages . The rue du Faubourg-St-Antoine is lined with shops displaying a striking array of both traditional period furniture and modern designs, but don’t neglect to visit the narrow passages , such as the Passage de la Main D’Or, running off this and other streets in the Bastille. Many artists and craftspeople have their ateliers (workshops) in these atmospheric alleys, which are great fun to explore.

Once famous for its 1930s dance halls (bals musettes ), rue de Lappe is still the Bastille’s after-dark hotspot. This short, narrow street is filled with bars, clubs, restaurants and cafés, and positively throbs with music. Crowds of hip night-owls trawl the cobblestones looking for action, and spill into the adjoining rue de la Roquette and rue de Charonne where there are even more trendy bars and restaurants.

This excellent gallery showcasing contemporary European photography opened in 1996 in an early 18th-century mansion, Hôtel Hénault de Cantorbe. The restoration is a mix of historic features and modern spaces that show off its permanent collection and changing exhibitions, including multimedia works.

French author Victor Hugo (1802–85) lived on the second floor of the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée, the largest house on the place des Vosges, from 1832 to 1848. He wrote most of Les Misérables here (see Les Misérables) and many other works. In 1903 the house became a museum of his life, with portraits and memorabilia.