Lone Palm in Paris's 11e Bastille is the Ben Benayoun tiki-tinged Californian cocktail bar on Rue Keller, with a 1950s palm-and-rattan room and house frozen daiquiris at €10.
Tip: Frozen daiquiris are the order; arrive before 21:00 for a banquette or after 00:30 for the late lull.
Address: 21 Rue Keller, 75011 Paris
Le Tango in Paris's 3e Marais is the cooperative-run queer dance hall on Rue au Maire, with themed Friday-Saturday nights and a 70s-tinged room that welcomes LGBT+ first and reinvests profits in the community.
Tip: €12 at the door; come for the salsa-and-pop early hours, stay for the late DJ shift after 01:00.
Raidd Bar in Paris's 4e Marais is the Rue du Temple landmark gay bar opened 2003, famous for the nightly midnight shower show where dancers perform inside a tank set into the wall.
Tip: Shower show is on at midnight every night; arrive 23:30 for a spot near the tank, the back room thins after 02:00.
Freedj in Paris's 4e Marais is the two-floor Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie gay bar with a ground-floor bar, foosball table and a basement dance floor that runs an electro programme until 04:00.
Tip: Happy hour 18:00-22:00; basement opens 22:00 and gets going by midnight. Glassed smoking room upstairs.
Bears' Den in Paris's 4e Marais is the three-level Rue des Lombards bear bar, with a street-level seating room, a basement karaoke level and a stone-walled cave dance floor below that.
Tip: Karaoke is on the first basement most nights from 21:00; the back cave gets going after midnight on Saturday.
Le Quetzal in Paris's 4e Marais is the corner-of-Verrerie cruise-friendly gay bar with a long daily happy hour and weekend DJs that pulls the after-work crowd before they move to the clubs.
Tip: Happy hour 17:00-22:00; weekend DJs start 23:00. The back room is busier after midnight.
Le Duplex in Paris's 3e Marais is one of the oldest gay bars on Rue Michel le Comte, now into its 38th year, with a mixed crowd that comes for new wave, disco and conversation rather than a dance floor.
Tip: Quieter than the Rue des Archives strip; arrive before 22:00 for a stool. The smoking terrace is the meeting spot.