This lively look at the City of Lights features the expected and the necessary in the form of straightforward, authoritative reports on the essential sights, restaurants, hotels, shops, entertainment venues, and nightspots sophisticated travelers need to know about. But the book also employs a strategy found in few other guidebooks -- namely, incorporating the insights of the people who are driving local scenes in art, television, music, film, fashion, and food. This angle pays off in a portrait of Paris that's both original and timely.From the Right Bank of the Seine, known for commerce, clubs, and cabaret, to the more literary and intellectual Left Bank, with its famous cafes, universities, and arthouse cinemas, Avant-Guide Paris offers an in-depth exploration of the city's distinctive neighborhoods, or arrondissements.