There are any number of good reasons for going over to Longchamp to watch the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe and, not surprisingly, bored wives and demanding girlfriends underwhelmed by the thought of another afternoon at Folkestone or Kempton Park, tend to respond with alacrity to the prospect of a sporting weekend by the Seine.

Win, lose or draw, Paris remains one of the most fabulous capital cities in the world. There's the designer chic of the Boulevard St. Germain. There are the clothes, caf