Even if you have only 24 hours or less to spend in Paris, this is enough for a visit and fond memories.

All it takes is good organization and selecting the very right things to do. You need to see most of Paris landmarks, do some shopping and stil have time for a stroll in the most interesting neighborhoods.

An express Paris-visit from the Gare de Lyon to the Champs Elysées

 Walk to the Viaduc des Arts, a beautifully renovated train viaduct with some 50 art shops and galleries spread under its arcades along the Boulevard Daumesnil. The Viaduc des Arts is located roughly between the Gare-de-Lyon train station and the Place de la Bastille.

Then, take a ride ! Rent your first "Velib". The velib is a new bicycle-rent system that allow people to ride a bicycle for free if each ride lasts less than 30 minutes. You just pay a small fee (one Euro!) with you Visa card on a Velib booth and you can take multiple 30-minute rides. If you keep the Velib longer than 30 minutes, you will pay a little more, which is not the end of the world if you spend only one day in Paris. The philosophy of the system is encourage people to ride and bring the bicycle back.  Many people have been using the system since its introduction last year and riding a velib will make you feel a real Parisian.

Head to the Marais. "Le Marais" is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris. Lots of narrow streets with many shopping opportunities, especially in the "rue des Francs Bourgeois". Visit the "Place des Vosges" in the heart of the Marais, and the quiet haven of the Village Saint Paul.

Park your velib back to a velib-station (they can be found all over Paris) and take the Metro, which is a bit faster. Go to the Champs Elysées. Direct on line 1 from Saint Paul to Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile, at the top of the Champs-Elysées if you want to see the Arc de Triomphe. If you go out at George V, you will reach the Champs-Elysées near the famed Avenue Georges V. If you stop at Concorde, you will see what is probably the most magnificient square ever: the Place de la Concorde.

Then, go to the  Bir-Hakeim bridge near the Eiffel tower, either by taxi or by Metro (Passy) and treat yourself with a dinner cruise on the seine. You will see more monuments in 2 hours than what you would be able to do by your own means, beginning with the Eiffel tower, the Alexandre III arch bridge and the Musée d'Orsay. You come accross one of the oldest bridge of Paris : the Pont Neuf and the Ile de la Cité.Of course you pass by Saint-Michel in the heart of the Latin Quarter, and you also see Notre Dame de Paris and other landmarks

If you still have some energy, you can spend some time at a café terrace in the Latin Quarter and try to experience the existentialist feel...