Aboard the TGV, french-speaking Belgium is less than an hour and a half away from Paris. Reputed for the confection of chocolate and beer, and its wealth of Art Nouveau architecture, why not steal a weekend away in Brussels?

Following the blow of World War I, Paris underwent a period of rebirth. Women celebrated newfound liberty in both the way they carried and costumed themselves. These fashions born from the 20's, now on exhibit at the Musée Galliera, are timeless. Infuse your style with some of their extravagance.

Take to the streets. Raise your signs and voices in a chorus of contempt. The habitually flaunted right to strike falls second only to tennis as the French national pastime. During a grève, those motivated to work must forage passage as metro grills close and trains are annulled.

The Fleche d'Or is a rare club that offers a diverse scheduling of music, several shows booked into an evening, all free to those willing to line up. I arrived early for a serenade from songbird Alela Diane on the dawn of the release of her album in Europe.

France's biannual sales motivate shoppers into a consumer frenzy, not on account of groundbreaking prices, though they do relieve some of the sticker shock I experience in regarding price tags. No stranger to the Parisian boutiques, I usually greet the storm on the first day of the soldes.

As Nicholas Sarkozy, president of the French republic, addressed his countrymen, he described what was lying behind his promise “everything is possible." Though many are unwilling to sacrifice personal interests for upward mobility, I feel that Sarkozy’s policies will be advantageous for France.

Infuse your next visit to Paris with music, drama, and dance during a memorable soiree. Tickets to an opera or ballet performance entitle their holder to a red velvet seat within a grandiose espace. In divulging the secret of securing affordable seats, your access to the arts is augmented.

Currently at the Musée Maillol, Pascin´s exhibition showcases warm portraits shrouded in Impressionism and watercolor-washed pen and ink caricatures. Exiting the Paris Metro at Rue du Bac, stop along the way for decadent chocolates and browse the most bizarre shop in Paris, a menagerie of taxidermy.

Easily accesible from Paris, steal away from the city to lunch on fresh seafood, enjoy half-timbered architecture and explore the fairytale setting of the Alabaster Coast. Fecamp's invitingly green pastures crown milky cliffs as they branch into grandiose archways over the sea.

Provence has become my favorite region of France. Pleasant in all seasons, visit Aix to absorb the scene of sprawling fields of lavender beyond tile-roofed villas. Even days spent doing nothing appear eventful in the context of this southern way of life.