If you want to paint the town rouge after dutifully pounding the parquet in museums all day, there's a dazzling array of options to discover. The hottest night spots are near Ménilmontant and Parmentier, the Bastille, and the Marais. The Left Bank is definitely a lot less happening. The Champs-Élysées is making a comeback, especially with yuppie singles bars on its side streets, though the clientele on the main drag itself remains mostly foreign. On weeknights, people are usually home after closing hours at 2 AM, but weekends mean late-night partying. Take note: the last métro runs between 12:30 and 1 AM (you can take a cab, though they can be hard to find between midnight and 2 AM on weekends); you may just have to stay out until the métro starts running again at 5:30 AM.

Paris's boîtes de nuit (nightclubs) tend to be both expensive and exclusive---if you know someone who knows the ropes, you'll have an easier time getting through the door. Many clubs are closed on Monday, some on Tuesday. Many venues host a specific soirée on a given night of the week, so the party-hearty crowd is no longer faithful to just one club; on Mondays, they may go to "Disco Night" at the Queen, on Fridays to "Automatik" at the Rex, on Saturdays to "Scream" at the Elysée Montmartre. Many of these, such as "Scream" and "TGV," take place just once or twice a month. (For information about dates, look out for flyers in bars.) The best soirées tend to take place on Thursday and are generally more intimate and elitist than the weekend soirées.

Gay and lesbian bars and clubs are mostly concentrated in the Marais and include some of the hippest addresses in the city. Keep in mind, however, that clubs fall in and out of favor at lightning speed. The best way to find out what's hot is by picking up a copy of the free weekly e.m£le in one of the bars listed below.

Most jazz clubs are in the Latin Quarter or around Les Halles. For nightly schedules, consult the specialty magazines, Jazz Hot, Jazzman, or Jazz Magazine. Note that nothing gets going until 10 or 11 PM and that entry prices vary widely from about [eur]6 to more than [eur]15.

Detailed entertainment listings can be found in the weekly magazines Pariscope (which has an English-language section), L'Officiel des Spectacles, Zurban, and Figaroscope (a supplement to Le Figaro newspaper).