Paris

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Sure, the City of Light has some of the best hotels, wine, food, and high culture on the planet, but it’s also home to a flock of corporate and international powerhouses, including AXA,  LVMH,  Renault, Société Générale, Total, and UNESCO. Have no doubt, this urban vixen is very much a wired, multicultural resident of the global commerce village.

Where to Sleep
The historic, storied Ritz has long been the pillowed choice of crowned heads of Europe and S. I. Newhouse, Jr., chairman of Condé Nast Publications. When the sleek Park Hyatt Vendôme debuted on the rue de la Paix in 2002, it signaled a change in the design of Parisian hotels—out with the Louis XV fauteuils, in with pared-down furniture. Media executives like Jonathan Burnham, publisher of HarperCollins, favor the Four Seasons George V. Fashion designers and the execs who run the business flock to the Hotel Costes. Hollywood dealmakers—such as Elliott Kastner—who like to duck the paparazzi look to the Raphaël, prized for its dark and velvety bar. When the road warriors of finance come to see BNP Paribas or Crédit Agricole, they bed down at the Hôtel Bristol, whose superb location (Élysée Palace, where the president of France lives, is down the street) matches its power-dining restaurant.

Where to Eat
The country’s reputation for culinary excellence stretches back almost a thousand years. The century-old Gaya Rive Gauche, which Pierre Gagnaire has updated with such inventive fare as haddock with grain risotto, is a must. Senderens serves dishes like foie gras with licorice powder; the desperately chic upstairs bar is where the local cognoscenti lunch. Global cuisine is also making inroads into Paris’s traditional dining scene. The current fad of tapas is being spearheaded by the sublime L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, where diners sit at a bar on a high stool and nibble from small plates (ideal if you’re eating alone). Le Bistro Paul Bert is the food critics’ address of the moment. Finally, it’s a schlep to get to Le Chateaubriand, in the outlying eleventh arrondissement, but it’s worth the trouble for a meal at the city’s hottest bistro.

Where to See and Be Seen
Le Relais Plaza, the Art Deco brasserie at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, is a favorite of fashion and media players. A focal point of high-end Left Bank life, Le Voltaire has always been a lunch spot for art dealers and book publishers. Also on the Left Bank, Café Flore is as chic as ever and a good place to grab a quick drink with a colleague. On the Right Bank, the exceptionally bright decor at Citrus Etoile brings to mind California­—white walls, a black floor, orange plastic chairs—and draws French celebrities and politicians.

Where to Close a Deal
True top-drawer types favor Laurent, which is little known to outsiders. Next to the Elysée Palace, it is staid and discreet, with a great garden for summer dining. In the Golden Triangle, Paris’s moneyed Right Bank neighborhood, Chiberta is the preferred address of the political and media elite. La Maison Blanche draws crowds of models, actors, and investment bankers to its glassed-in rooftop site on the fashionable Avenue Montaigne.  Diplomats settle in at Le Divellec, an old-fashioned seafood house. To really impress a client, dine at Le Pré Catalan, in the Bois de Boulogne park—it just won a third Michelin star, and is the talk of the town.

Local Codes
If you speak French, or think you do, Parisians may not go that extra kilometer to understand what you are saying. Try saying it in English instead; chances are they will get it. If you insist on French, never use the tu pronoun to address someone at a business meeting. Always keep your voice down, play the Quiet American—avoid politics and personal life, but discuss appealing general subjects such as travel or architecture. Business dining is choreographed, and the French never discuss the matter at hand until the meal has been ordered. After that it’s a quick once-over right before the first course is served. The French never say bon appétit; it is considered gauche in the extreme. Women, don’t pour your own wine; men, refill her glass. Never empty your glass; leave a little at the bottom. Expect your host or hostess to return to the business subject at hand as soon as the table has been cleared—the real work always occurs after the main course and over coffee (nobody eats dessert anymore). Be prepared for the French to be long-winded; their conversational style is pyramidal, narrowing down from a general matter to a finely honed conclusion. Americans often become impatient and interrupt. That would be the kiss of death.

Airport Intelligence
Charles de Gaulle Airport, where most overseas flights to Paris land, is rangy, but you’ll find extensive shopping with French gourmet and fashion specialties. The most intelligent approach is to get online before you fly and hit the site of aeroportsdeparis.com. Cabs, which typically carry no more than three passengers, cost around $60 to central Paris.

The Three-Hour Tour
The sumptuous seventeenth- and eighteenth-century town houses of the French aristocracy in the Marais went into ruin after the Revolution, and the neighborhood remained a slum until restoration began in the latter part of the last century. Today, the Marais has great museums, edgy fashion houses, and captivating people-watching from cafés along its narrow streets. The quarter’s not-to-be-missed sights: the Picasso Museum, in a grand town house; the Hôtel Guénégaud, built by the renowned architect François Mansart between 1648 and 1651; the Palais Soubise, with a portal that dates to 1375. Rue Vieille du Temple and Rue des Francs Bourgeois receive throngs of fashion shoppers. At night, every café on the street comes to life. When your legs refuse to walk any longer, sit on a bench in the Place des Vosges and take in one of the loveliest squares in the world.

by G.Y. Dryansky