R’ALIMENT Relax restaurant is hardly your typical Parisian bistro. We sat on tall stools at a communal counter set with lime-green placemats and, instead of traditional dishes such as steak frites, could choose a delicious salad of beans, fennel and mackerel, or a spinach and feta tart (£8.50 each) from the short organic menu that changes daily.

For vin blanc I substituted fresh orange and ginger juice (£4.30). And no Ricard bottles or Art Nouveau mirrors here: the decor is strikingly modern, with funky lighting from Octavio Amado, a designer who sells his polypropylene creations in the basement.

On this cold Monday, R’Aliment was busy with designers, dressmakers and gallery owners from the nearby businesses springing up in the north Marais district, one of the hippest upcoming areas of Paris.

Over lunch, the café owner, Philippe Di Meo, a 42-year-old graphic designer, explained why he opened the restaurant three years ago. “My business is opposite, this place was vacant, and I like the idea of getting people together. This is an emerging area, but now people are moving in from the main Marais district.” His organic food — less common in France than in Britain, perhaps because the French eat more local produce to start with — is so popular that he now has a second café in the Printemps department store.

For most tourists, the Marais means the bustling, narrow rue des Francs-Bourgeois, which on Sundays, when most Paris shops are closed, overflows with shoppers flocking to its chic boutiques such as Antik Batik and Rayure. Heritage buffs seek out the Musée Carnavalet, which chronicles the history of Paris, or the Musée Picasso, and the bars around the rue des Rosiers draw a gay crowd. But locals grumble that the area is becoming too commercialised. Companies such as MAC, Camper and Muji now have branches here.

So the fashionistas are heading north, to the area between rue des Quatre Fils and boulevard du Temple, where the key shopping streets are rue de Poitou, rue Charlot and rue Vieille du Temple. Here, small, classy, one-off boutiques are emerging.

Karine Dupont, 32, opened her eponymous shop selling her distinctive canvas and nylon bags in 2000, on rue de Poitou near her workshop. “This used to be the leather area, where everyone came to buy their jackets in the 1970s. Then the leather industry died and the area emptied,” she said. “Now graphic designers, galleries and fashion designers are returning. The area is like a village — there is a mix of generations. It’s what’s left of the old Paris,” she added, in reference to the fact that the Marais was untouched by Haussmann’s remodelling of the city in the 1850s, and retains its higgledy-piggledy street plan.

Within a few hundred yards are other gems, such as l’Habilleur, which sells last season’s designer clothes (Issey Miyake, Plein Sud, Paul & Joe) at discounts of up to 70 per cent. Close by is French streetwear line APC, Cypriot boutique Erotokritos, the beautiful Calesta, selling children’s clothes and wooden toys, and Food, a bookstore dedicated to the culinary arts. Most have opened within the past year.

Crucially, there are also two new, stylish hotels when you need somewhere to drop the shopping. The attention at the moment is on Hotel du Petit Moulin on rue de Poitou — I encountered three camera crews during my stay — because this pretty, 17-room boutique property, created from an old bakery and adjacent bar, has been designed by local resident Christian Lacroix.

I feared that this might result in a gimmicky hotel, and the rooms are certainly striking: red bathroom tiles here, a wall covered with a photograph of a necklace there. But the owner, Nadia Murano, has not been distracted by the fanfare and has created fresh, clean bedrooms and lovely bathrooms with good lighting — and serves excellent breakfasts.

More modern, funkier — and far noisier — is the Murano Urban Resort on boulevard du Temple. In the lobby you’ll find silver sculptural shapes, a long, white leather sofa in front of an equally long, crackling fire, and a restaurant where white stalactites hang from the five-metre-high ceiling.

Two resident DJs keep music thumping from the bar until 2am, so take a room on the top floor if you want an early night. Your door opens by finger recognition — no need to worry about losing the key — and inside you’ll spend ages playing with the lighting, which changes colour to suit your mood.

The general manager, Jérome Foucaud, explained that the hotel’s name refers to the Venetian island where much of the hotel’s glassware was sourced, and the idea that the hotel is a refuge from the city outside. “We think it’s like an island in Paris. Once you arrive you do not want to leave — you have everything on the spot,” he said.

Sure, the restaurant is terrific, the rooms are fun, and a spa is on its way. But with the buzzy Marais and its funky new shops on the doorstep, this guest, for one, was quick to venture outside.

Need to know

Getting there: Cath Urquhart travelled with Eurostar (0870 5186186, www.eurostar.com). Fares from £59 return (£5 booking fee applies to telephone reservations).

Staying: Murano Urban Resort (00 33 1 42 71 20 00, www.muranoresort.com) has room-only doubles from £240. Breakfast from £14. Hotel du Petit Moulin (1 42 74 10 10, www.hoteldupetitmoulin.com) has rooms from £129 (double or single occupancy), breakfast £11.

Eating: R’Aliment, 57 rue Charlot, (1 48 04 88 28).

Shopping: Calesta, 23 rue Debelleyme, (1 42 72 15 59); Erotokritos, 99 rue Vieille du Temple (1 42 78 14 04); APC, 112 rue Vieille du Temple (1 42 78 18 02, www.apc.fr); Food, 58 rue Charlot (1 42 72 68 97). Many shops in the north Marais are closed at weekends and in the morning — call ahead to check times.

Further information: French Tourist Office (0906 8244143, 60p a minute, www.franceguide.com); www.parisinfo.com.

Guidebook choice: Paris (Time Out, £12.99) is excellent.

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