Rent Your Duds:
Sommier
3, Passage Brady
75010 PARIS
Tell : 33 01 42 08 27 01
You're planning a special night on the town and want to wear a couture dress. Is there an alternative to spending $5,000 on something you won't get much use out of at home? Do as the French do, and rent an outfit from Sommier. You'll find a good choice of the latest styles in a broad range of sizes, and all in perfect condition. Prices vary but run about $150 for 24 hours.

Pamper Yourself:
La Spa Nuxe
32, rue Montorgeuil
75001 Paris
Tel: 33 01 55 80 71 40
A very chic operation located in the vaulted stone cellars of an old building in the heart of town. It offers a variety of treatments, and John Nollet, one of the hottest hairdressers in Paris, works on the premises.

Flowers, Parisian Style:
L'Ecole des Fleurs
7 Rue Scheffer
75116 Paris
33 01 47 04 50 20
I don't know about you, but I've always been charmed by the look of Parisian interiors that manage to combine elegance and casual comfort. I've come to the conclusion that the secret is flowers, not just the bunch of daisies artlessly arranged in an old jam jar on the windowsill, but something more, more intentional and more exuberant. If you admire the way Parisians display their flowers, you might enjoy taking a course at the new Ecole des Fleurs. The two-hour courses are taught in English, French and Japanese by various florally gifted lecturers. Fees vary depending on the course, but most are about $100.

Cooking Lessons:
LeNotre
40, rue Pierre Curie
B.P 6
78373 PLAISIR CEDEX
Tel: 33 01 30 81 46 34
LeNotre offers about 50 courses covering cooking, pastrymaking, candymaking, chocolatework, ice cream making, breadmaking, breakfast rolls, pastries and more. If you can't tear yourself away, they'll teach you the works in about six months.

Art Collections:
Musee Jacquemart-Andre
158, boulevard Haussmann
75008 PARIS
Tel: 33 01 45 62 11 59
Finally, if you visit only one museum, it should be the Louvre, of course. But among the city's hundreds of other fascinating art collections, the Musee Jacquemart-Andre is truly memorable. All the art there was collected in the late 19th and early 20th century by Edouard-Andre and Nelie Jacquemart, and their shrewd buying produced one of the world's best collections of Italian Renaissance art. But, the Jacquemarts' living quarters are a peek into the living style and domestic taste of the French middle class a century ago. You can have tea and pastries in their dining room, looking out on their garden.

— Passport Newsletter