Whenever I watch the timeless romance of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, I am transported to the city of love and longing.

Paris is where most people go to with a to-do list that includes the Mona Lisa, Eiffel Tower and bridge of locks and other touristy things.

I would take you to the Grande Odalisque is located in a room behind the Mona Lisa above a door (the last time I visited Paris).

She could be the decadence Paris offers to people who discuss lunch menus at breakfast and what would make dinners fabulous over tea.

It’s the lust for life. And what better place to begin your quest of Paris than with Angelina?

No other cup in the world will bring the taste of all things beautiful in La Belle Epoque than hot chocolate at Angelina.

You have not walked into charm, but into history. Yes, you might find a couple of stray tourists around you, but only those who know the city will be there, holding up the delicate cups and drown in history for eight and a half euros. Angelina is over a 100 years old.

It welcomed the best of Parisian society then and whoever enjoys the awesomeness of delicate Chantilly cream with hot chocolate now.

They have sweet things so you can linger in the round backed leather chairs…

If you do not wish to be jostled in the queues at the Eiffel Tower, you should head over to where famous Parisians went to be inspired. To #5 Rue Daunou.

Gershwin, who is said to have played the piano here, at Harry’s Bar, composed An American In Paris.

The bar is still owned by the original Harry’s family (Isabelle MacElhone) and you will forget to order (as I did) when you take in all that cultural history.

Did Hemingway really sit here? And Sartre? Bogart loved this place? You touch the wood and you smile as you remember why the tomato juice and vodka cocktail is called ‘Bloody Mary’.

It is said that when the original bartender, Pete Petiot first concocted the drink, his friend remarked that it looked like his girlfriend Mary who worked in the cabaret that was called A Bucket Of Blood. The rest, they say is history.

The bar is also home to the cocktail called The Sidecar. If you are a Bond fan, you will remember Harry’s is mentioned in Casino Royale.

France gave us the legendary Concorde. But I found the bar at Le Wagon Bleu just out of the world.

It is a restaurant made from the original wagon of the Orient Express. Travel posters on the wall and blue upholstered chairs, might just inspire you to be the next Agatha Christie! Now isn’t that better than elbowing tourists for selfies at the padlock bridge?

If you have literary aspirations, go touch the plaque that celebrates Hemingway (he wrote The Sun Also Rises there) at Lilas where Beckett and Sartre enjoyed a drink or two at their piano bar. I still remember the taste of their drink The Royal Closerie years later!

Picasso and Camus may have enjoyed coffee at Les Deux Magots (I could not taste history sitting on the sidewalk), but I died and went to velvet upholstered heaven when I stepped into the decadent Le Mathis bar.

Red semi circular velvet sofas and red velvet chairs, red curtains...A place where Yves St Laurent and Valentino spent their evenings...Wait, was that Charlotte Gainsbourg I spotted? I live in Bombay, and I am used to spotting movie stars, so I stare slack jawed at the stunning Art Nouveau chandelier and pretend to sip the Bel de Nuit…

Paris has preserved what you and I imagine to be ‘Paris’ and when you emerge from the Louvre after having gawped at Toulouse Lautrec’s dance house girls, you wish R-26 Salon that played host to all the famous artists and writers were still open.

You smile at people needlessly because Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli are playing R Vingt-Six in your head...

The author is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer's forum, hosts Mumbai's oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication.

First Published:May 5, 2018 6:09 AM IST