Traveling In Style : WHERE PARIS SIPS

Four prominent Parisians and one frequent visitor reveal their favorite cafes:

LOUIS MALLE, film director. “I like La Palette. It’s always the same, always busy, and I always run into someone I know. In summer, the terrace is perfect. I’ve also been going to La Cloche des Halles for years. It has the best Beaujolais Nouveau in Paris and wonderful pates, sausages and hams. An all-night place I love in Les Halles is La Tour Montlhery, where insomniacs can get cassoulet if they want it at 5 or 6 in the morning. Not good for you, but good fun.”

INES DE LA FRESSANGE, fashion designer/retailer/ex-fashion-model. “I always go to the Bar des Theatres. It’s typically French--in the best, not the worst, way--with a very Parisian esprit. The waiters are spirituels and funny. They address you as ‘Princesse’-- or ‘President’ if you’re a man. It’s a simple, unassuming place, on the most sophisticated street in the city, the Avenue Montaigne. I love that contrast. Another favorite is the Cafe de l’Epoque in the Passage Vero-Dodat. The owners are charming, and it’s very nice to look at--again, it’s purely Parisian.”

GUY SAVOY, chef/restaurateur. “I like Cafe Flore and the Deux Magots. It’s more of a teashop than a cafe and is best in winter, but I also like the Brulerie de l’Odeon, which gives you good tea and very good chocolate and coffee, and offers wonderful, wonderful smells as you walk through the door. I’m also fond of the Cafe de la Mairie on the Place Saint-Sulpice, and Le Brisemiche, right next to the Centre Pompidou and the fountains by Niki de Saint-Phalle on the Place Brisemiche--the most beautiful square in Paris.”

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING, actress. “My favorite is Fouquet’s on the Champs-Elysees. A lot of film and television people use it for meetings, but I go more often just for lunch or for a good cappuccino.”

JULIAN BARNES, author. “The place I like the most is at the corner of the Rue de Rennes and the Rue Cassette. I like it because it’s close to the hotel I usually stay at. I can’t even remember its name, but that’s OK because what I really like about it is that it’s so ordinary.”