Paris

Home to more than 10 million people, the "City of Light" is majestic in its architecture and artistic heritage. More than a destination of pleasurable externals, bourgeois absolutes and just-baked baguettes (French law demands they bake them fresh thrice daily), Paris is great sightseeing, incredible shopping and leisure dining that always comes with desserts in the form of delicate trays of the finest chocolates and macaroons.

Paris is so much more than the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame and the Louvre. This trip, stroll the Marais and shop along rue des Francs Bourgeois or walk under the arches of the oldest square in Paris, Place des Vosges. Take time to explore the Latin Quarter to see the church of St. Severin, the Sorbonne and rue Mouffetard -- not just because it's where Joyce, Orwell, Balzac and Hemmingway once lived, but also for the rows and rows of fresh food glistening like bouquets of colourful gems under the street market's faded French-blue-striped awnings. Stop by the bookseller's stalls along the banks of the Seine around Notre-Dame for antique and second-hand books, comic strips, post cards and posters at great prices.

Saint Germain-des-Pres and the stately Church of St. Sulpice's beautiful Delacroix murals are a must-see this trip -- as is the St. Germain Church, the city's oldest church -- before heading down its enchanting streets, through the old squares and artists' studios that surround it. Don't forget to leave time to head up to the little village of Montmarte and the old cobbled streets where Renoir, Lautrec and van Gogh lived and worked; there are wonderful views of the city.