Paris too obvious a choice for Valentine’s Day? Sure, it’s the de facto capital of cinematic romance, but the French capital has many more petals to its rose than the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower. A sidecar tour of Parisian streets brings a fresh (yet vintage) angle on familiar landmarks, with an experienced local driver and guide to keep heart rates down. For a walking-pace option, a personalised tour of the city’s best marchés aux puces (flea markets) ups the chances of finding a treasured memento from decades past. And at the Idol Hotel, rooms bear names like ‘My Cherie Amour’ but sport interiors that feel closer to the world of Austin Powers than the canvases of Manet and Renoir.
FROM LEFT Finds from Paris’s second-hand markets, Inside the Idol Hotel’s My Cherie Amour suite. LEFT Its Jungle Fever suite
PHOTOGRAPHS: BEAKRAUS/ISTOCK/GETTY, © RETRO TOUR, BOPYD/GETTY