there is a falafel restaurant in the 4th called "l'as du falafel" that has the best food i've ever eaten. it's in the jewish district near the st. paul metro station. i highly recommend it. in the 10th, there is a walk-street called "le passage brady," that is worth checking out. it's lined with indian restaurants, and the proprietors will stand outside and basically "bid" for you to eat at their place (free drinks, desserts, that kind of stuff). in the 19th, the "buttes-chaumont" park is a really nice place to walk around for a while- it's where they moved a lot of the dirt when they leveled a bunch of hills in the 19th century, so the hills are gigantic. as for art museums, the hideously ugly pompidou center is my favorite... it's got a fantastic modern art collection, if you like that kind of stuff. a good little neighborhood to check out is along the rue moufftard in the 5th... narrow streets, great crepe shops, nice little place. then you can go from there to the cafes and art galleries in the st. germain section of the 6th for a nice afternoon. also recommended is starting at the bastille monument and walking up the canal into the 10th/11th. if you have the time, it may be worth a train trip to chartres to see the cathedral there... it's enormous, and has more historical significance than any cathedral in france besides notre dame. finally, in the 4th, there is a street called rue vielle du temple that has a bunch of cafes that are all distinguished by their unique bathrooms. there's les philosophes, au petit fer du cheval, and 2 others the names of which i can't remember. but the bathrooms are crazy, and the food at au petit fer is really really good. also, there are lots of gay bars on that street.
