You’ll join your local host in exploring two of Paris’s most famous districts, and get a practical crash course in navigating the city like a pro. See real-life scenes of the Paris you’re picturing in your head: cobbled streets? Medieval architecture? People drinking espressos at sidewalk cafes? Check, check, and check. In Le Marais, when you’ve got your fill of historical buildings and stunning galleries, you’ll learn how locals shop at traditional market Marché d'Aligre. There’s no better power snack than a perfectly silky crêpe before making your way to Bastille for a lesson in French Revolution history and the ways of the bobo: Paris’s “bourgeois-bohemian”, who can be spotted shopping for locally made garments in eastern Bastille.

You’ll get up close and personal with two of Paris’s most-central districts north of the Seine: historic Le Marais and edgy Bastille. Why? If you can navigate the crowded, cobbled, alleyways of Le Marais, then hop on a subway to the urban backstreets of Bastille, you’ll be an honorary Parisian painting the town rouge in no time. In Le Marais, you’ll weave between galleries, museums, 700-year-old architecture, and traditional markets, and maybe stop for a quick croissant on a quaint, crooked sidewalk. Just over a mile east in Bastille, join locals trawling the eccentric boutiques and cool concept stores that are hidden just around the corner from the monumental July Column and the Coulée Verte – a park built on an elevated railway line.