Day one: Friday (arrive at noon)
Before you do anything else, buy a carnet of ten metro tickets (€10.50/£7.10) - the metro is a brilliant, easy way to get around Paris.
It's worth overcoming any prejudice against 'floral' to stay at the delightful 51-room Hotel des Grandes Ecoles (75 rue Cardinal Lemoine; +33 1 43 26 79 23; hotel-grandes-ecoles.com; doubles from €110/£74), an urban chateau around the corner from the Sorbonne in the Latin Quarter (5th Arrondissement) and one of the few Paris neighbourhoods to have retained pre-Haussmann higgledypiggledyness. Rooms have pretty courtyard views and a breakfast table - you should indulge in at least one romantic petit déjeuner (coffee, croissants and baguettes) while you're there, for an additional €8 (£5.40) each.
Lunch: Phone ahead to book a table at Allard (41 rue St André des Arts; +33 1 43 26 48 23; €60/£40.50 for two). It's a lovely, typically French bistro a little east of the hotel in St Germain and is said to offer the best cassoulet on the Left Bank. It will definitely get you in the mood for the rest of your Paris jaunt.
Not far away is the Jean Nouvel-designed Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain (261 boulevard Raspail; +33 1 42 18 56 50; fondation.cartier.com; €7.50/£5 per person). There's usually an interesting exhibition on but if not, it's worth visiting for its striking urban garden, framed by a glass wall and to head to the top-floor café to admire the city views.
Dinner: While Au Boeuf Couronné (188 Boulevard Jean-Jaurès; +33 1 42 39 44 44; €80/£54 for two) may be a bit off the beaten path in the 19th arrondissement, the authentic Paris restaurant with an interior that has not changed since the 1950s, is frequented by butchers and livestock merchants and considered one of the best meat restaurants in the city. If you're in the mood for a late-night drink close to home, head to the hip-if-a-little-raucous Le Piano Vache (8 rue Laplace; + 33 1 46 33 75 03; €8/£5.50 for two beers) - fans include Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis.
Day two: Saturday
Mid-morning Head over to the Marais for a hot chocolate at the ancient Ma Bourgogne (€8/£5.50 for two) on Place des Vosges, the oldest and prettiest square in Paris and right in the heart of the historic Marais neighbourhood. From there it's a short stroll to Musée Carnavalet (23 rue de Sévigné; +33 1 44 59 58 58, carnavalet.paris.fr; entrance free), an atmospheric little museum celebrating the history of Paris, housed in two adjoining mansions (one of them breathtakingly beautiful Renaissance).
Lunch The prix fixe meal in Le Meurice's lavish dining room created by the two Michelin star-wielding Yannick Alleno is a steal at €75 (£50) a head and a must for all those who want a taste of the old-school Paris glamour (228 rue de Rivoli; +33 1 44 58 10 10; meuricehotel.com; €150/£101 for two).
You may think you're familiar with Monet's famous Water Lily canvases but seeing them in the flesh makes the heart flip, especially in the newly refurbished Musée de l'Orangerie (+33 1 44 77 80 07, musee-orangerie.fr, €13/£9 for two) in the Tuilerie Gardens, which reopened last year after a six-year refurbishment.
Dinner Grab a pre-theatre bowl of moules at the cosy and traditional French La Petite Hostellerie - excellent value and a short walk from the hotel (35 rue de la Harpe; +33 1 43 54 47 12; €40/£27 for two).
If you're looking for an excuse to dress up, buy tickets to an opera or ballet at Opera de la Bastille (120 rue de Lyon; operadeparis.fr), where prices start at €10 (£6.80) per person even for big-name productions.
Day three: Sunday
Morning Head north to the city's best flea market, March eaux Puces (nearest metro: Porte de Clignancourt) for a spot of shopping or just to be among the throng of antique-loving locals for whom a trip is a regular Sunday morning ritual.
On arrival, kick off with breakfast at Café Paul Bert within Les Puces for coffee and croissants (€10/£6.80 for two) before the market wandering begins. After a few hours there, you will have definitely earned your lunch. Lunch Back in the vicinity of the hotel, spend your last meal in the city at Brasserie Balzar (49 rue des Ecoles; +33 1 43 54 13 67; brasseriebalzar.com; €60/£41 for two), which dates back to 1898. It offers pepper steak, sole meuniere and onion soup - anything traditional really, and its clientele, which once included Sartre and author James Thurber and now half the professors at the Sorbonne, is as loyal as ever.
Afternoon Finish up with a drink at the extraordinary belle époque vision that is Le Train Bleu (Gare de Lyon; +33 1 44 75 76 76; le-train-bleu.com). Tucked away up a flight of stairs at the back of the station, first-time visitors will be astonished - it's like entering a mythical, cherub-filled world. Pass through the dining room to one of the lounges, find a pair of armchairs and settle in with a gin and tonic before you head home (€16/£11 for two).
Total: €731 (£494)
British Airways flies to Paris from London Heathrow. Visit ba.com.
Read about more bargain weekends in Chic and cheap St Petersburg, Chic and cheap New York and Chic and cheap Venice.
