Explore Canal St Martin, one of Paris’s arty neighborhoods where the beautiful boutiques look more like galleries, and picnicking along the banks of the 19th-century waterways is a pastime. Your host knows which nonchalant-looking bars serve the best nibbles with their vin rouge, which cafes roast their coffee in-house and which stores are committed to ethical fashion. Along Rue de Marseille and Rue Beaurepaire, flit from fromageries to concept stores to contemporary galleries, or discover the old-world magic of the canal itself. At sunset, as romance makes way for revelry, gaze at buildings reflected in the still waters before ducking into hipster haunt, Gravity Bar, where your bartender will craft a personalized cocktail.

The Canal Saint-Martin is a three-mile-long waterway in northeastern Paris’s 10th arrondissement – and the only thing more picturesque than the canal itself is the neighborhood that surrounds it. Cross the 19th-century iron footbridges as you stroll two lazy miles along the canal from Boulevard Richard-Lenoir in the south to the Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad square in the north – an amble that promises views of a storybook Paris, from picnickers to pétanque players. But you’ll also follow your host down the hidden backstreets lined with provocative street art and offbeat boutiques. And when lunch rolls around? Pick from several trendy canalside bistros, or grab a pastry at a sidewalk cafe with other effortlessly chic locals.