Overview
The city centre is actually surprisingly compact and the métro
system makes getting around quite easy. A great way for first time
arrivals to get an idea of how Paris fits together
is to take a cruise on the River Seine or ascend
the Eiffel Tower and take in a sweeping view of
the city. With so much to see, time management is crucial and many
people opt to choose to concentrate on one or two of the arrondissements.
The nostalgic should wander around the mansions of the Marais district,
past the Musée Carnavalet, 23 rue de Sévigné,
3rd, Hôtel de Sully, 62 rue St-Antoine, 4th,
and Place des Vosges, home to the Maison de Victor
Hugo.
Those interested in modern art and design should head for the Centre
Georges Pompidou, place Beaubourg, 4th, Jean Nouvel’s
Institut du Monde Arabe, 1 rue des Fossés-St-Bernard,
5th, or the Grande Arche de la Défense with
its high-speed glass lift offering a spectacular view of the city.
The Grande Arche, which lies along the same geographical
axis as Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe and the
Champs-Elysées, was built a century and
a half later. This incongruity, the modern city juxtaposed with
the old, is all part of the charm of Paris.
Paris overflows with museums, ranging from the vast collections
of the Louvre to the small and quirky, such as
the Musée des Arts Forains, 53 avenue des-Terroires-de-France,
12th, a shrine to fairground art, with something for everyone scattered
through the metropolitan area.
Repeat visitors to Paris usually end up uncovering something new,
such as the rejuvenated Bercy district to the east
of the city, with its green spaces, popular bars and development
buzz or Belleville, with its grungy cosmopolitanism
and ethnic restaurants.
A new attraction is the Paris Plage in summer when
the car takes a back seat and the city’s citizens relax by
the Seine amidst a world of sand and deckchairs.
This is only one urban escape in a city with a sprinkling of parks
that offer respite from the bustle.
Tourist Information
Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau
25 rue des Pyramides
Telephone number: (0892) 68 3000.
Website: www.paris-touristoffice.com
Opening hours: (June-October) daily 0900
hrs - 1900 hrs, (November-May) Monday-Saturday 1100 hrs - 1900 hrs,
Sunday 1000 hrs - 1900 hrs.
Further tourist offices are located at the Gare de Lyon,
20 boulevard Diderot, 12th (open Monday to Saturday 0800 hrs - 1800
hrs), Gare du Nord, 18 rue de Dunkerque, 10th (open
0800 hrs - 1800 hrs), Opera, 11 rue Scribe, 9th (open 0900 hrs -
1830 hrs), Eiffel Tower (open daily 1100 hrs - 1840 hrs May to September).
Passes
The new Museum Pass allows free unlimited access
to more than 70 museums and monuments in the Paris region, including
the Arc de Triomphe, Musée National du Louvre, Musée
d’Orsay and Musée Rodin.
The cost of the pass varies €25 for one day, €44 for three
days and €62 for five days, from tourist offices, participating
museums and monuments, the main métro stations and FNAC stores.
The pass allows visitors to bypass queues but does not provide free
admission to special or temporary exhibitions. For more information,
visit www.museums-of-paris.com.
Key Attractions
Tour
Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)
The Eiffel Tower literally towers over the Champ de Mars in the
smart 7th arrondissement. The top (third) floor offers a sweeping
panorama of the city. From directly underneath there is a fascinating
view of the delicate ironwork of Gustave Eiffel,
who was commissioned to build the tower for the Exposition Universelle
in 1889, the centenary of the French Revolution. The Tour Eiffel
is also home to a number of restaurants, which offer views of Paris
and sky high prices to match.
Champ de Mars, 7th
Telephone number: (01) 4411 2323 (recorded information). Fax number:
(01) 4411 2322.
Website: www.tour-eiffel.fr
Transport: Métro Bir-Hakeim, RER Champ
de Mars-Tour Eiffel.
Opening hours: Daily
0930 hrs - 2300 hrs (September-mid June), daily 0900 hrd - 2400
hrs(mid June-August).
Admission: By lift:
€4 (first floor),€7.30 (second floor),€10.40 (third
floor), by stairs: €3.50 (first and second floors only), concessions
available.
Cathédrale
de Notre-Dame (Cathedral of Our Lady)
The stocky Notre-Dame Cathedral, located on the Ile-de-la-Cité,
could not be more different from the filigree Eiffel Tower. Bishop
Maurice de Sully began construction on the cathedral in 1163, to
outshine the new abbey situated at St-Denis and work was completed
in 1345. The result is a Gothic masterpiece, with 3 stunning rose
windows. Visitors should be prepared to climb the 387 spiral steps
to the top of the 75m (246ft) north tower. The views over the River
Seine and the city centre are well worth the climb. There is also
a treasury with various liturgical objects on display. A violent
storm in 1999 caused significant damage to the cathedral, though
by 2004 much of it had been repaired. The scaffolding, which has
blighted the cathedral for as long as anyone can remember, looks
set to remain for the foreseeable future.
6 Place du Parvis-Notre-Dame, 4th
Telephone number: (01) 4234 5610 or 4432 1672 Fax number: (01) 4051
7098.
E-mail: info@cathedraledeparis.com
Website: www.cathedraledeparis.com
Transport: Métro Cité, RER St-Michel-Notre-Dame.
Opening hours: Daily 0745 - 1845 hrs(cathedral),
daily 0930-1845 hrs (towers), Monday-Saturday 0930-1130 hrs and
1300-1730 hrs (treasury).
Admission: Free
(cathedral),€5.50 (towers),€2.50 (treasury), concessions
available.
La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur
(The Sacred Heart Basilica)
A long, wide series of steps lead to the snowy-white-domed Sacré-Coeur
that dominates the arty district of Montmartre. A mishmash of styles,
the Catholic church was built between 1870 and 1919, to fulfil a
vow made during the Franco-Prussian war. The interior is splendid
with neo-Byzantine mosaics and the domed tower offers a spectacular
view over Paris. The crypt contains an interesting collection of
religious relics and a slide show on the construction of the Basilica.
Below the church, a park tumbles down the hillside in a flurry of
benches that make an ideal spot for surveying the city skyline.
Parvis du Sacré-Coeur, 18th
Telephone number: (01) 5341 8900. Fax number: (01) 5341 8919.
Website: www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com
Transport: Métro Abbesses or Anvers.
Opening hours: Daily 0600-2300 hrs (Basilica),
daily 0930–1830 hrs (crypt and dome).
Admission:
Free (Basilica),€5 (dome and crypt), concessions available.
Musée National du Louvre
(Louvre National Museum)
The Louvre first opened to the public during 1793, following the
Revolution, as a showcase for the art treasures of the kings of
France. The museum is organised into 3 wings on 4 floors, Richelieu
(along rue de Rivoli), Sully (around cour Carrée) and Denon
(along the River Seine).
The vast permanent collection includes Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian
and East Asian antiquities, French, Spanish, Italian and northern
European sculpture and 19th-century objets d’art. The painting
collection is the strongest, with French, Italian, Dutch, German,
Flemish and Spanish masterpieces from the mid-13th to the mid-19th
centuries. Most famed French works include David’s Coronation
of Napoléon, Ingres’ The Turkish Bath, Géricault’s
depiction of disaster, The Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix’s
ode to revolution, Liberty Leading the People. The museum’s
greatest treasure, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa,
is in a bullet-proof case. There are plans to move it into its own
room, but for now it is on display in room 13, on the first floor
of the Denon wing. Excavations have exposed traces of the medieval
Louvre, which are on display together with the history of the Louvre
under the Cour Carrée, in the entresol level in the Sully
wing. Buying tickets from the official website in advance saves
unnecessary time spent queuing.
Cour Napoléon, 1st
Telephone number: (01) 4020 5050. Fax number: (01) 4020 5452.
E-mail: info@louvre.fr
Website: www.louvre.fr
Transport: Métro Palais Royal-Musée
du Louvre.
Opening hours: daily 0900-1800
hrs, Wednesday and Friday until 2145 hrs (from September 10), closed
Tuesday.
Admission: Permanent and temporary
exhibitions: €8.50, temporary exhibitions in Napoleon Hall
and permanent exhibitions combined: €11.50 free (first Sunday
of each month and 14 July), concessions available; advance tickets
can be purchased by telephone (telephone number: (01) 4691 5757),
from branches of FNAC and on the Internet.
Musée
Rodin (Rodin Museum)
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) worked and lived in this 18th-century
hôtel particulier. Now the Rodin Museum,
his sculptures populate the interior and gardens. Indoors, The
Kiss portrays eternal passion frozen in white marble, while
The Hand of God gives life to creamy white, half-formed
figures. Works of Rodin’s mistress and pupil, Camille Claudel,
and paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Rodin himself are also
on display.
The gardens are graced by the monumental bronze The Thinker,
whose godly physique contrasts sharply with the decrepitude of the
writhing figures of The Gates of Hell and the controversial final
portrait of Balzac, once described as ‘a block that disgraces
its author and French Art’.
77 rue de Varenne, 7th
Telephone number: (01) 4418 6110. Fax number: (01) 4418 6130.
Website: www.musee-rodin.fr
Transport: Métro Varenne, Invalides
or St Francois Xavier. RER Line C to Invalides. Bus 69, 82, 87 and
92.
Opening hours: Museum: Tuesday-Sunday
0930-1745 hrs, garden: Tuesday-Sunday 0930-1845 hrs (April-September),
museum: Tuesday-Sunday 0930-1645 hrs, garden: Tuesday-Sunday 0930-1700
hrs (October-March).
Admission: €5 concessions
available.
Musée d’Orsay
(Museum of Orsay)
The museum’s home, an impressively converted railway station
located by the banks of the Seine and is stunning, but the real
strength of this large museum lies in its collection of Impressionist
and Post-Impressionist art. The collection, covering the decisive
1848-1914 period, is arranged chronologically, beginning on the
ground floor, jumping to the third, then descending to the middle
level. Among the most famous works are Déjeuner sur l’Herbe
(Luncheon on the Grass), rejected from the Salon of 1863, five of
Monet’s paintings of Rouen Cathedral and the realist work,
L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World), by Gustave Courbet,
whose graphic depiction of the female sex continues to shock.
Entrances at 1 rue de la Légion d’Honneur and 1 rue
de Bellechasse, 7th
Telephone number: (01) 4049 4814.
Website: www.musee-orsay.fr
Transport: Métro Solférino;
RER Musée d’Orsay. Bus 24, 63, 69, 73, 83, 84 and 94.
Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
and Saturday 1000-1800 hrs, Thursday 1000-2145 hrs, Sunday 0900-1800
hrs (October-May), Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday-Sunday 0900-1800 hrs,
Thursday 0900-2145 hrs (June-September).
Admission:
€7, concessions available, free first Sunday of each month.
Musée National Picasso
(National Picasso Museum)
Paris-based Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) owned most
of this collection, the largest worldwide, housed in a 17th-century
mansion in the Marais. All phases of his art are represented, with
preparatory sketches and paintings covering the Blue Period, Rose
Period, Cubism, Classicism, Surrealism and sculptures ranging from
a huge plaster head to a small cat. Memorable works include the
Blue Period self-portrait Paolo as Harlequin, the surreal Nude in
an Armchair and poignant paintings of Marie-Thérèse.
Photographs are displayed alongside the works they inspired and
African masks with Picasso’s ‘primitive’ wood
carvings. There is also a glimpse of the artist’s personal
taste in paintings, with his Matisse and Cézanne paintings
displayed alongside his own.
Hôtel Salé, 5 rue de Thorigny, 3rd
Telephone number: (01) 4271 2521. Fax number: (01) 4804 7546.
Website: www.musee-picasso.fr
Transport: Métro Chemin Vert,
St-Paul or St Sebastien Froissart. Bus 29, 69, 75 and 96.
Opening
hours: Wednesday, Friday-Monday 0930-1800 hrs, Thursday
0930-2000 hrs (summer), Wednesday, Friday-Monday 0930-1730 hrs,
Thursday 0930-2000 hrs (winter).
Admission:
€5.50; concessions available, free first Sunday of each month;
extra charge for temporary exhibitions apply.
Centre
Georges Pompidou (Georges Pompidou Centre)
Considered outrageous in 1977, the Pompidou Centre, designed by
Piano and Rogers, has become part of the Parisian landscape, primary
coloured tubes and all. The building was revamped and extended a
few years ago, to cope with the huge numbers of people visiting
its expanding collection of contemporary art and multimedia library.
The centre re-opened on the first day of the new millennium.
Place Georges Pompidou, 4th
Telephone number: (01) 4478 1233.
E-mail: info@cnac-gp.fr
Website: www.centrepompidou.fr
Transport: Métro Hôtel de Ville
or Rambuteau; RER Châtelet-Les Halles.
Opening
hours: Wednesday-Monday 1100-2100 hrs, late-night openings
until 2300 hrs for some exhibits.
Admission:
Museum and all exhibits €10, exhibitions: €9 or €7
according to exhibition, free first Sunday of each month.
Paris Plage
Since its inception in 2001 Paris Plage has become
a highly successful annual event. The idea of shutting off a busy
3.5km section of riverfront expressway in the city centre and turning
it into a giant leisure oasis is both simple and brilliant, though
it has provoked the ire of some of the city’s taxi drivers.
A flurry of deckchairs and hammocks replace the cars and an open-air
swimming pool, mainly geared towards children, was introduced in
2004 alongside the stalls selling food, drinks and ice cream. Mist
sprays, sand and the sight of relaxing locals and tourists manage
to raise a smile from all but the most world-weary of Parisians.
Banks of the Seine between Tuileries Tunnel and the Henri IV bridge.
Opening times: July-August
Admission:
Free.
Further Distractions
Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg
Gardens)
This garden, part formal, part jardin à l’anglaise,
were created for Marie de Médicis (Henri IV’s widow),
along with the Palais du Luxembourg, which now houses the French
Senate. It is a favoured spot for a Sunday stroll, game of tennis,
chess or boules, pony ride or yacht trip on the lake.
Boulevard St-Michel, rue de Médicis, rue Guynemer, rue d’Assas,
rue Auguste-Comte or rue de Vaugirard, 6th
Telephone number: (01) 4234 2362.
Transport:
Métro Odéon; RER Luxembourg.
Opening
hours: Daily 0715-2130 hrs (April-September), daily 0800-dusk
(October-March).
Admission: Free.
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
This park spreads over 23 hectares between Gare du Nord and Belleville.
It was originally commissioned by Napoleon III and mixes grandeur
with wildlife. Its walkways are alive with the likes of wagtails,
tits, gulls, geese and swans. In the lake pike, tench and roach
abound. The park is perfect for escaping the city for a while, strolling
around its lofty inclines or even popping on some in-line skates
and heading around the skate trail.
Transport:
Métro Buttes Chaumont
Opening hours:
Daily dawn-dusk.
Admission: Free.
La Grande Mosquée de Paris (Paris
Grand Mosque)
Built between 1922 and 1926, close to the Jardin des Plantes, this
Hispano-Moorish mosque oversees France’s Muslim community.
There is free access and guided tours to the sunken garden and patios.
The prayer room, however, remains closed to the non-Muslim public.
There is also an authentic hammam (Turkish bath) with masseurs at
hand, as well as a wonderful mosaic courtyard complete with fig
trees and a fountain – the perfect setting for enjoying a
sweet mint tea served in tiny gilded glasses with some honeyed baklava.
In the adjoining restaurant, couscous and other Arabic dishes are
served.
1 place du Puits-de-l’Ermite (access via 39 rue Géoffroy-St-Hillaire),
5th
Telephone number: (01) 4535 9733. Fax number: (01) 4535 1623.
Website: www.mosquee-de-paris.org
Transport: Métro Place Monge or
Censier-Daubenton.
Opening hours: Monday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 1000-2100 hrs, Friday 1400-2100
hrs (women), Tuesday 1400-2100 hrs, Sunday 1000-2100 hrs (men),
tours Saturday-Thursday 0900-1200 hrs and 1400-1800 hrs (winter),
Saturday-Thursday 0900-1200 hrs and 1400-2200 hrs (summer); closed
Muslim holidays.
Admission: €3 (guided
visit); concessions available; free (tearoom); €15 (Turkish
baths – massages extra). |
