Palais-Royal and the covered passages
Striped columns, glass-roofed arcades, and a route that works in the rain. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Jardin du Palais-Royal
Enter from the Métro side into the inner courtyard first — Daniel Buren's black-and-white striped columns of 1986 sit in the front court. Then the garden proper behind, with its arcades down both long sides and chairs to borrow. Quiet in a way the streets outside aren't.

2. Galerie Vivienne
The grandest of the *passages couverts* (covered arcades), with a mosaic floor and a glass roof from 1823. Walk it end to end; the old bookshop and the curved staircase halfway along are the details to slow down for.

3. Place des Victoires
A perfect circle of matched façades around a gilded statue of Louis XIV on horseback. Step into the middle of the ring to see how the whole *place* was designed as one piece. A short street-level link between the arcades.

4. Passage des Panoramas
The oldest surviving covered arcade in the city, 1799, and the busiest — stamp dealers, old-print sellers and small *bistrots* under the glass. Lunch here works; just pick a table and watch the passage traffic.

5. Passage Jouffroy
Cross the boulevard and carry straight on into Jouffroy, the 1846 arcade with the tiled floor and the waxwork museum entrance. The toy and walking-stick shops are still trading. It runs you out near the end of the walk.

6. Bibliothèque Nationale Richelieu
Double back south for the old national library, reopened after a long restoration. The Oval Room is open to anyone, free, no card needed — sit under the glass dome for ten minutes; it's one of the great reading rooms anywhere.

Palais-Royal and the covered passages