Meet Paris at its most prim and proper. This genteel area is a study in smart urban planning, with classical architecture and newer construction cohabiting as easily as the haute bourgeoisie inhabitants mix with their expat neighbors. There's no shortage of celebrities seeking some peace and quiet here, but you're just as likely to find well-heeled families who decamped from the center of the city in search of a spacious apartment. Passy, once a separate village and home to American ambassadors Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, was incorporated into the city in 1860 under Napoléon III.
A walk along the main avenues gives you a sense of Paris's finest Art Nouveau and Modernist buildings, including Castel-Béranger, by Hector Guimard, and the Fondation Le Corbusier museum, a prime example of the titular architect's pioneering style (it was one of Le Corbusier’s first Paris commissions). This neighborhood is also home to one of the city's best and most overlooked museums—the Musée Marmottan Monet—which has an astonishing collection of Impressionist art. Enjoy a dégustation (tasting) at the Musée du Vin or simply find a café on Rue de Passy and savor a moment in one of the city's most exclusive enclaves. For outdoor adventures, the Bois de Boulogne is the place to be, especially if you have kids in tow. At le Bois, you can explore the Pré Catelan and peacock-filled Bagatelle gardens, both meticulously landscaped and surrounded by woods. You can also admire contemporary art in the new Fondation Louis Vuitton, head to the old-fashioned amusement park at the Jardin d'Acclimatation, take a rowboat out on one of the park's two bucolic lakes, or rent a bike and hit 14 km (9 miles) of marked trails.
