I CAME across a headline recently that read "Paris: a city with many faces" and it occurred to me: on my few fleeting visits to the city how many, really, had I seen? I'd stayed in hotels a beret's throw from Notre Dame, scaled the Eiffel Tower (three times) and shopped on the Champs-Élysées, all firmly on the tourist trail.

It was time to experience a different side of Paris so my husband Christian and I found ourselves at Le Moulin de la Tuilerie, an 18th-century former tile-making mill in Gif-sur-Yvette in Paris's south-western suburbs, 14 miles south of the city centre and a world away.

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Surrounded by chattering streams and ancient woodland, it was the country retreat of Edward Duke of Windsor and his Duchess Wallis Simpson from 1952 to the late Sixties and is the first French property offered by The Landmark Trust, the British charity which restores historic buildings and lets them to holidaymakers.

We were staying at La Célibataire, one of two stone outbuildings which sleeps two (the other sleeps four and the main mill house sleeps 12). Set over two floors, with open kitchen/ sitting room and spacious en-suite bedroom, it is where British photographer Cecil Beaton used to stay when visiting the Windsors.

A large black-and-white picture of his, taken of the Duke and Duchess on their wedding day, frames the wall alongside other photos of the couple. They add to the elegance of the place, all exposed wooden floors and floral furnishings. There is a small patio overlooking the lawn where I imagined the Windsors entertaining Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (regular guests) on balmy summer evenings.

After a lazy breakfast (we bought provisions in the village), it was off to the city. Less than 45 minutes after boarding the train in Gif-sur-Yvette, we were pulling into Paris's central Gare du Nord station, street map in hand.

Time to see where Parisians play on a fine Sunday morning: Canal Saint-Martin, a short hop on the metro. Criss-crossed with iron footbridges and bordered by shaded towpaths, the canal (built in 1802 on the orders of Napoleon) has been gentrified over the past few years yet is still relatively undiscovered by tourists.

We strolled down its side streets, closed to traffic on Sundays, lined with artists' studios and boho-chic boutiques, buzzing with Parisians.
It is this intimate village air which can be hard to find in large cities that makes Paris so alluring.

Montmartre, high on a hill abutting Paris's northern boundary, is overrun with tourists but still manages to retain a "real Paris" feel. We immersed ourselves in its jumble of leafy squares and steep stone staircases before reaching Espace Dalí, close to the white-domed Basilica of Sacré C?ur.

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Filled with some 300 original artworks, the museum pays homage to just one of the legendary artists who set up their easels on the adjacent Place du Tertre (Monet and Van Gogh are said to have earned their pennies there too). Today it is the domain of portrait artists, surrounded by cafés, their tables spilling on to the street. While many tourists pause here for lunch, we headed a few streets south via the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen (Europe's largest flea market) to Les Progrès. It serves some of the best onion soup in town.

After a day in the bustling city it was blissful returning to the quiet of Gif-sur-Yvette.

One evening we splashed out on dinner at Le Canape, an intimate French restaurant that doubles as an art gallery (the walls are adorned with paintings) tucked below the 12th-century church on the village square.

The pork with maple syrup-baked potatoes was sublime.

This region has so much going for it that you could spend an entire week here and not venture into the city. One afternoon we headed to Orsay, a 10-minute drive east, for a picnic on the grassy banks of its pretty canal.

On another we drove 15 minutes west to Haute Vallée de Chevreuse, a national park scattered with picturesque villages, forests and ponds, linked by more than 150 miles of waymarked walking trails.

Everyone knows Versailles but hands up those who have heard of Château de Breteuil.

The grandiose home of the Breteuil dynasty since 1600, it stands proudly on the park's northern rim.

We joined a guided tour of its interior, a dazzling array of Swedish porcelain, rich tapestries and furniture (don't miss the Teschen Table encrusted with 128 precious stones) before losing ourselves in its gardens with rolling views down the valley.

They say that Paris has many faces. I can't say I'll ever know them all but that weekend I saw a new side to the city and it was enchanting.

GETTING THERE:
Eurostar (0843 2186 186/eurostar.com) offers return travel from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord from £69.

The Landmark Trust (01628 825 925/landmarktrust.org.uk) offers three nights at La Célibataire from £381 (two sharing), self-catering.

Carrentals.co.uk offers three days car hire from £99. Paris RER (ratp.fr) offers return rail trail from Gif-sur-Yvette to Paris's central Gare du Nord from £7.50pp. French Government Tourist Office: 0906 824 4123/ franceguide.com