This holiday season, while markets plummeted, most stayed away from holiday hotspots. But amidst all this mess, I couldn’t help thinking of an escape. There is nothing better than a visit to a truly great city to soothe post-holiday, post-crisis frazzled nerves. Like Paris. Paris means great shopping, but in all fairness, it also means oppressive service (which a friend insists has drastically changed post-October where the customer is the new Sun King). Struggling to find their own terra in a globalised world, the French have brushed up their English skills lately. So while things seem to get better for the traveller, there is still no excuse for Paris not to have a decent airport-city train link.

Paris has a permanent place in my heart. For me it could think no wrong, do no wrong and that heady fashion-food combo is hard to beat. Paris is at its truest in February. Dress warmly and stroll the tourist-free streets and you are in for some lovely Amélie Poulain moments. Besides, those horrid winter sales where people claw at each other for a shoe, are over. Celeb-sightings are in store during Fashion Week; Valentine’s dinner atop the Eiffel, the famed vintage car auction and this year the AC/DC concert, all promise to keep you in a belated holiday spirit.
So here are my 10 tips for a perfect Parisian trip....

1. While Kelly and Birkin investments need to be put on hold, moi loves a great collaboration – like Hermès and artist N.S. Harsha. Harsha’s designs for the Hermès silk twill scarves are one of the nicest art/fashion moments of recent times. Part of the 2008 Indian Fantasy series, Harsha’s painting of 40 seated figures, have been hand silk-screened onto each scarf called Colour Masala. Paintings from this extremely private Bangalore based artist are impossible to find and this scarf is a secret remedy for those like me who just can’t have enough of him. (I flaunt the electric mustard and maroon one.)
(24, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris 75008 Tel: +33 1 40 17 47 17.)

2. Finally we bid adieu to the annoying ‘It’ bag from our style lexicon and usher in ‘vintage’. Dary’s down the street from Hermès and opposite the electro musically famous Hôtel Costes, is where all women of style head to for exquisite vintage jewellery in gold, semi-precious stones, silver and bling from 18th century to modern vintage. Vintage is age defying, recession-proof and is a prime weapon to assert both style and substance when confronted by million dollar babes in ice pick heels and fur shrouds.
(362 Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris 75001 Tel: +33 1 42 60 95 23.)

3. Further along the road is Paris’ best chocolaterie. Jean-Paul Hévin’s finger licking truffles are legendary – bitter on the outside they melt on the inside. And for the true connoisseurs the 75 per cent Cuba de Hevin is rich, fine and dark. Or you can choose a box with an assortment of his excellent pralines, milk chocolates and ‘black pearls’ with orange peel, caramel and various liqueurs. The chocolate macaroons are the city’s favourite as are the ‘cheese’ chocolates.
(231, Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris 75001 Tel: +33 1 55 35 35 96.)

4. For the perfect wine to go with the above (I suggest an Alsatian Riesling Vendange Tardives) or a good bottle of cognac, Armagnac, champagne or whisky head to the wine cellar at Paris’ finest grocery – La Grande Épicerie de Paris of Le Bon Marché department store. I prefer this to all of Paris’ other fabled wine merchants, because there is always a sommelier who quickly guides you through the finer aspects of their superb collection of spirits. And that achieved you can make a beeline for the city’s ultimate men’s and women’s wear collections, shoes and cosmetics all housed in the building next door. (Read writer Radhika Jha’s fabulous novel Smell, set around this Parisian destination.)
(22 rue de Sèvres, Paris 75007 Tel: +33 1 44 39 80 00.)

5. The most chic watering hole this side of the globe is the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz Paris tended by none other than the world’s best, Colin Fields. But it’s hard to find a place here Thursday onwards. So try to get there early for a sure spot as the Martinis make you rock, the service is impeccable and if in the mood to splurge, they have the world’s priciest cocktail – the Ritz Sidecar made with 1830 Ritz Reserve Cognac priced at 700 Euros!
(15 Place Vendome, Paris 75001 Tel: +33 1 43 16 30 30).

6. No place at the Hemingway Bar? You could head to the Buddha Bar – ultra famous, hip but too eurotrashy. I suggest Harry’s Bar – which is where Hemingway was headed most of the time anyway. Its string of firsts includes Paris’ first hotdog served here in 1925 and this is also the original home of the Sidecar, Bloody Mary and the White Lady. Its mix of young blades and creative types makes for a great ambience.
(5, Rue Daunou, Paris 75002 Tel: +33 1 42 61 71 14.)

7. After a hard day’s work head to the hammam, La Sultane de Saba, where your fatigue gets scrubbed and steamed away. Paraben-free body care cannot get better with their black clay Moroccan soaps, rose and sandal bath oils and jasmine creams, beautifully packaged and crying to be bought. Their amber and sandalwood perfumed oil also works as a great replacement to spritzing EDTs. The Syrian rose prickly pear face oil in its 50ml container is my personal fave; it also offers great on-flight hydration.
(78 rue Boissière, Paris 750016 Tel: +33 1 45 00 00 40.)

8. A visit to Paris is incomplete without the world’s best pedicure. An appointment with Bastien Gonzales, the king of perfect feet is a must. Bastien never soaks feet before scrubbing, so he spots and scrubs away dead skin better. He makes nails shine naturally so goodbye nail varnish. And if there is one must-have product in his extensive Reverence de Bastien foot care range on sale here, it is the chamois leather buff – it helps you keep your nails in shiny shape for months to come.
(For appointments contact Tel: +33 08 77 83 72 07 or contact@bastiengonzalez.com)

9. For perfume shopping, most head to Sephora on the Champs Elysees that has the biggest range of perfumes and cosmetics in the city. But swarms of tourists on every inch of floor space deter the serious fume lover. I usually head to cult perfumier Diptyque. A long kept French secret – at its original Paris boutique you shall find their entire range of 50 fragrances in candles, eau de toilette and room sprays. These classic fragrances inspired by nature, travel, fruits and flora have also been reincarnated as hair and body wash. If you are in search of the perfect sandalwood fragrance, their latest creation Tam Dao, with its notes of rosewood, cypress and sandalwood from Goa makes it a great unisex choice.
(34, Boulevard St Germain, Paris 75005 Tel: +33 1 43 26 77 44.)

10. And for the most discerning, perfumier Frédéric Malle invited haute noses to create that one fragrance they have always wanted. So nine of the world’s best perfumiers accepted the license to mix 16 fabulous fragrances all with a high natural content. Legendary Hermès perfumier Jean-Claude Ellena came up with four, my favourite being Angéliques Sous la Pluie, inspired by angelika flowers gathered just after a rain. It has a spicy hint of the angelika flower combined with juniper berries and coriander. I personally cannot recommend Michel Roudnitska’s Noir Epices highly enough. A delightfully sexy and feminine fragrance, with notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and pepper, it brings out the Mata Hari in me. I spice, I seduce and when I walk, people talk.
(21, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris 75001 Tel: 33 1 42 22 77 22.)

And before you bid adieu to this city which has attitude in every arch, stone, street and door, remember to have at least one meal prepared by some of the world’s finest chefs. Recommending great restaurants in Paris is really quite impossible, so I succumb to the raison d’être for all foodies, the faithful Michelin Guide.

Jahnvi Dameron Nandan is the author of Tokyo Style File. A self-confessed travelista with the budget issues of a fashionista, she is now working on her new book on Design.

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