Sights in Paris
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Canal St-Martin
The tranquil, 4.5km-long Canal St-Martin was inaugurated in 1825 to provide a shipping link between the Seine and the northeastern Parisian suburbs. Emerging from below ground near place République, its shaded towpaths take you past locks, metal bridges and ordinary Parisian neighbourhoods. It’s a great place for a romantic stroll or cycle.
Note that many neighbourhood shops and bistros here are closed on Sundays and Mondays.
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Forum des Halles
Don’t get too excited. Tragically, the Forum des Halles is no longer a market, rather an unspeakably ugly, four-level, underground shopping centre constructed in 1970s glass-and-chrome style after Paris’ main wholesale food market dating to the early 12th century was moved to the southern suburb of Rungis, near Orly.
The upside is, dramatic change (for the better) is afoot. The dodgy park and dated arbours topping the underground shopping mall have been demolished, and cranes, diggers and an army of builders are busy at work creating La Canopée – a thoroughly contemporary, glass-topped, curvilinear building by architects Patrick Berger and Jacques Anziutti, inspired…
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Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création
This fine-arts centre, designed by Frank Gehry, is expected to open sometime in 2013. It’s located just south of the Jardin d’Acclimatation
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St-Martin Canal
The shaded towpaths of the tranquil, 4.5km-long St-MartinCanal are a wonderful place for a romantic stroll or a bike ride past nine locks, metal bridges and ordinary Parisian neighbourhoods. The waterbanks here have undergone a real urban renaissance in recent years, and the southern stretch in particular is an ideal spot for café lounging, quay-side summer picnics and late-night drinks. Hip new bistros have moved into the area (most closed Sunday and often Monday) and if you’re in Paris to tempt your tastebuds, you’ll wind up in these eastern suburbs sooner rather than later.
Linking the 10e arrondissement with Parc de la Villette in the 19e via the Bassin de la…
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Parc Floral de Paris
This magnificent botanical park is one of the highlights of the Bois de Vincennes. Natural landscaping and a magnificent collection of plants will keep amateur gardeners happy, while Paris’ largest play area (giant climbing webs and slides, jungle gyms, sandboxes, etc) will absolutely thrill families. Open-air concerts are staged throughout summer, making it a first-rate picnic destination.
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Passage Couverts
There are several covered shopping arcades off bd Montmartre , and walking through them is like stepping back into the sepia-toned Paris of the early 19th century. The passage des Panoramas, which was opened in 1800 and received Paris' first gas lighting in 1817, was expanded in 1834 with the addition of four other interconnecting passages: Feydeau, Montmartre, St-Marc and Variétés. The arcades are open till about midnight.
On the northern side of bd Montmartre, between Nos 10 and 12, is passage Jouffroy, which leads across rue de la Grange Batelière to passage Verdeau. Both contain shops selling antiques, old postcards, used and antiquarian books, gifts, pet toys,…
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Lac Daumesnil
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Musées Municipaux
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Musées Nationaux
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Jardin Alpin
This garden has 2000 mountain plants.
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Square Suzanne Buisson
A playground you can find easily is Square Suzanne Buisson.
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École de Botanique
The gardens of the École de Botanique is where students of Paris’ Botany School ‘practise’.
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Parc Astérix
The park stays open to10.30pm on some Saturdays in July and August; see website for more info.
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Église St-Louis en l’Île
The French baroque Église St-Louis en l’Île was built between 1664 and 1726.
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Jardin du Palais Royal
This elegant urban space, 21 hectares large, is fronted by the neoclassical Palais Royal (Royal Palace; closed to the public), constructed in 1624 by Cardinal Richelieu but mostly dating to the late 18th century. Louis XIV hung out here the 1640s and today it is the governmental Conseil d’État (State Council).
Jardin du Palais Royal is a perfect spot to sit, contemplate, picnic between boxed hedges and shop in the trio of arcades that frame the garden so beautifully: Galerie de Valois (east), where Charlotte Corday, Jean-Paul Marat’s assassin, once worked in a shop, is the most upmarket with designer boutiques like Stella McCartney, Pierre Hardy and Didier Ludot and…
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Port de Plaisance de Paris-Arsenal
Playgrounds are easy to find; one of them being Port de Plaisance de Paris-Arsenal.
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Maison de l’Air
The Maison de l’Air stages temporary exhibitions related to ecology and the environment.
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Château de Bagatelle
The 1775 Château de Bagatelle sits within the beautiful Parc de Bagatelle.
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Paris Philharmonic hall
The ambitious new home of the Orchestre de Paris, in the Parc de la Villette, has an auditorium of 2400 ‘terrace’ seats surrounding the orchestra. It's due to be completed in 2015.
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Archives Nationales
France’s National Archives are housed in the Soubise wing of the impressive, early 18th-century Hôtel de Rohan-Soubise, which also contains the Musée de l’Histoire de France.
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Musée de la Sculpture en Plein Air
Along quai St-Bernard, this open-air sculpture museum (also known as the Jardin Tino Rossi) has over 50 late-20th-century unfenced sculptures, and makes a great picnic spot. A salad beneath a César or a baguette beside a Brancusi is a pretty classy way to see the Seine up close, short of actually getting on it by joining a cruise.
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Tour de l’Horloge
The Tour de l’Horloge has held a public clock aloft since 1370. A joint ticket with Ste-Chapelle costs €11.
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Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée et de Paléontologie
Displays on comparative anatomy and palaeontology (the study of fossils) fill the Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée et de Paléontologie.
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Pré Catalan
The Pré Catalan includes the Jardin Shakespeare in which plants, flowers and trees mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays are cultivated.
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