Of all the watering holes on Rue de Buci – a veritable gift to the Paris pub crawler – the Bar de Marché (there’s a little open-air market here daily) is ‘the one’.

The people-watching is supreme, the waiters’ funny uniform of dungarees and beret is. funny, and = good times are guaranteed, whether that’s a prolonged café crème on the terrace on a Saturday morning or a midwinter, midnight chat on one of the racing-car red banquettes in the back room.

The classic café trappings of mirrors, antique light fittings, brass-topped bar and vintage film posters have been jazzed up amusingly with a pink neon light over the bar and a disco ball.

NB: the more frantic you are to get the waiter’s attention, the longer you’ll wait – it’s just one of those places.