Best for fashionistas

Hotel du Petit Moulin, Paris

If you want a hotel that struts like a catwalk model, there’s only one choice: the seductive Hôtel du Petit Moulin. Designed by that darling of the fashion set, Christian Lacroix, it is in the shell of a 17th-century boulangerie and offers a chaotic, OTT confection of styles, from zen to toile de Jouy linen and 1960s to sci-fi. The demands of a designer label wearer differ somewhat from the requirements of your chain-hotel loyalty card-holder, so expect some quirky oddities. For example, as guests are likely to be members of the beansprouts-for- breakfast brigade, there is no restaurant, but as they generally cannot bear to be parted from their chihuahua handbag hounds, “little pets” can be accommodated.

Fittingly, it preens amid the couture stores of the fashionable “haute” Marais neighbourhood. Stick on your Louboutins and trip a few doors down the street to Shine, where you can buy funky jewellery. Nearby, there’s the on-trend Comptoir du Marais on Rue de Moussy, which has two floors of inexpensive one-offs from young French designers — and a cafe for when you need a break from all that retail therapy.

A Rough Guide: the best of France

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the publisher has produced a series of 25 guides to great travel

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Hôtel du Petit Moulin, 29-31 Rue du Poitou (00 33 142 741 010, www.paris-hotel-petitmoulin.com). Doubles from £125, room only

Best for novel encounters

Chateau de Montreuli-sur-Mer

The medieval walled town of Montreuil-sur-Mer is blessed with a truly inspirational setting, so much so that it proved irresistible to one of the world’s best-loved authors. Victor Hugo was so taken with its sturdy ramparts, cobbled streets, pretty squares and the sacred art in its six churches that, after spending a brief sojourn here one sunny September in 1837, he decided to borrow it as the backdrop for Les Misérables, his sweeping epic set in the Napoleonic era. Every summer, the town celebrates this impressive literary connection with a serious Hugofest: there are guided walks, talks and a son et lumière show. But at any time of year, the elegant, green-shuttered 1930s Château de Montreuil is a pretty good reason to visit. Chef- patron Christian Germain cooks delicious Michelin-starred dishes using local organic meat and fish caught that morning on the nearby Opal Coast, as well as produce picked from the hotel’s gardens. The bedrooms are elegant, with original features such as painted birds on the walls and bathrooms lined with mirrors, and are definitely cosy enough to snuggle up in to re-read Les Misérables.

Château de Montreuil, 4 Chaussée des Capucins (00 33 321 815 304, www.chateaudemontreuil.com). Doubles from £132, room only

Best for art lovers

Le Chateau de Ligny, Ligny-en-Chambresis

The little textile town of Cateau-Cambrésis has a big claim to fame: it is the birthplace of one of France’s most celebrated sons, Henri Matisse. The painter was born here in 1869 and 83 years later, two years before his death, he donated a fascinating collection of drawings, sculptures, paintings and photographs to help establish the town’s Musée Matisse. In nearby Ligny-en-Cambrésis, you will find a suitably chic retreat, the Château de Ligny. Part of the Loire-style chateau dates back to the 12th century but there is a modern wing where suites happily blend contemporary and classic, with miles of marble and vast crystal chandeliers. Dinner is a treat: the chefs Gérard Fillaire and Raymond Brochard have been tipped by French food critics as ones to watch. Their Michelin-starred interpretation of classic cuisine is hard to resist.

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