Sights in France
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Roman Amphitheatre
Built around AD 100 to seat 24,000 spectators, this magnificent amphitheatre is wonderfully preserved, even retaining its upper storey. Its system of passages and exits are engagingly called vomitories and were designed so patricians attending combats never had to rub shoulders with the plebs up top. It lives on as Les Arènes, a sporting and cultural venue.
Les Arènes lives on as a frequent sporting and cultural venue - an excellent thing in itself though the scaffolding and temporary barriers do detract from its appeal as a historical site. Buy your ticket at the reception point, tucked into its northern walls.
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Fort de la Bastille
These days, the strategic importance of Fort de la Bastille might have waned, but the city and mountain views it proffers are spectacular. Three viewpoint indicators explain the surrounding vistas (glimpse Mont Blanc on clear days) and panels maps out hiking trails, some of which lead down the hillside.
To get to the fort, hop aboard the riverside Téléphérique Grenoble Bastille. The ascent in egg-shaped pods, which climb 264m from the quay over the swift waters of the River Isère, is almost more fun than the fort itself. Unsurprisingly, it gets crowded in summer - leave early to avoid the worst queues.
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Institut du Monde Arabe
The Institute of the Arab World, set up by France and 20 Arab countries to promote cultural contacts between the Arab world and the West, is housed in a highly praised building designed by Jean Nouvel; it opened in 1987. Its new-look museum, showcasing Arab art, artisanship and science, was unveiled in 2012.
Inspired by traditional latticed-wood windows, the stunning building blends modern and traditional Arab and Western elements, with thousands of mushrabiyah (or mouche-arabies) – photoelectrically sensitive apertures built into the glass walls that allow you to see out without being seen. The apertures are opened and closed by electric motors in order to regulate the…
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Parc du Château
On a rocky outcrop towering over Vieux Nice, this park offers a cinematic panorama of Nice and the Baie des Anges on one side, and the port on the other. The 12th-century castle was razed by Louis XIV in 1706; only the 16th-century Tour Bellanda remains. It is a fabulous place for picnics.
Other attractions include Cascade Donjon, an 18th-century artificial waterfall crowned with a viewing platform, and kids’ playgrounds. To get here, ride the Château Lift from beneath Tour Bellanda, or hike up the staircases on montée Lesage or the eastern end of rue Rossetti in Vieux Nice. From the port, follow montée Montfort.
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Tour Montparnasse
The 210m-high Montparnasse Tower, built in 1973 with steel and smoked glass and housing offices for 5000 workers, affords spectacular views over the city. (Bonus: its observation floor and terrace are about the only spots in Paris you can’t see this startlingly ugly, oversized lipstick tube, which in low-rise Paris sticks out like a sore thumb.)
Europe’s fastest lift/elevator whisks visitors up in 38 seconds to the indoor observatory on the 56th floor, with an exhibition centre, video clips, multimedia terminals and Paris’ highest restaurant, Le Ciel de Paris. Finish with a hike up the stairs to the open-air terrace on the 59th floor.
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Les Machines de l'Île de Nantes
The quirkiest sight in an altogether fairly quirky city has to be Les Machines de l'Île de Nantes. Inside this fantasy world it's perfectly possible to prance around like a Maharajah on the back of a 45-tonne mechanical elephant with a secret lounge inside its belly or voyage on a boat through rough and dangerous oceans where attacks from oversized squid and giant prawns are common. We can only think that Jules Verne would be smiling in his grave if he could see this lot! Gallery tickets are also good for the workshop, where you can watch these fantastical contraptions being built.
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Musée de l'Arles et de la Provence Antique
The fabulous story of Roman Arles takes centre stage at the state-of-the-art showpiece Musée de l'Arles et de la Provence Antiques. Within the triangular structure, which is fronted by a striking cobalt-blue façade, you can trace the area's evolution from 2500 BC through to the end of antiquity in the 6th century AD, or hone in on thematic aspects of trade, the economy and day-to-day life.
Highlights include Roman statues, artefacts, and a renowned assortment of early Christian sarcophagi from the 4th century.
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Château de Versailles
This splendid and enormous palace was built in the mid-17th century during the reign of Louis XIV – the Roi Soleil (Sun King) – to project the absolute power of the French monarchy, which was then at the height of its glory. Its scale and decor reflect Louis XIV's taste for profligate luxury and his boundless appetite for grandstanding. Some 30,000 workers and soldiers toiled on the structure, the bills for which all but emptied the kingdom's coffers. The château has undergone relatively few alterations since its construction, though almost all the interior furnishings disappeared during the Revolution and many of the rooms were rebuilt by Louis-Philippe (r 1830–48). The…
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Cathédrale Notre Dame
Most of Bayeux' spectacular Norman Gothic cathedral dates from the 13th century, though the crypt (accessible from the north side of the choir), the arches of the nave and the lower portions of the entrance towers are 11th-century Romanesque. The central tower was added in the 15th century; the copper dome dates from the 1860s. First prize for tackiness has got to go to 'Litanies de la Sainte Vierge', a 17th-century retable in the first chapel on the left as you enter the cathedral.
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Cimetière du Montparnasse
Opened in 1824, Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris’ second largest after Père Lachaise, sprawls over 19 hectares shaded by 1200 trees, including maples, ash, lime trees and conifers. Among its illustrious ‘residents’ are poet Charles Baudelaire, writer Guy de Maupassant, playwright Samuel Beckett, sculptor Constantin Brancusi, painter Chaim Soutine, photographer Man Ray, industrialist André Citroën, Captain Alfred Dreyfus of the infamous affair, actress Jean Seberg, and philosopher-writer couple Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as singer Serge Gainsbourg. Free maps are available from the conservation office.
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Spa de Vinothérapie Caudalie
To immerse yourself, literally, in the local liquid, at the Spa de Vinothérapie Caudalie you can take a red-wine bath, enjoy a Merlot wrap or order a Cabernet body scrub. Apart from the sheer novelty factor, the vine and grape extracts are said to promote blood-strengthening and anti-ageing. The spa is 20 minutes south of Bordeaux next to Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. It's best reached by your own wheels - exit the A62 at junction 1.
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Musée Picasso
One of Paris’ most beloved art collections opened its doors again after massive renovation works in summer 2013. Housed in the stunning, mid-17th-century Hôtel Salé, the Musée Picasso woos art lovers with more than 3500 drawings, engravings, paintings, ceramic works and sculptures by the grand maître (great master) Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). The extraordinary collection was donated to the French government by the artist’s heirs in lieu of paying inheritance tax.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside Paris from antiquity on. Highlights include works by Rodin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse and Picasso. Pick up a free audio guide and be sure to stop for a drink or meal on the delightful stone terrace off its café-restaurant and take time out in its tranquil cloister garden.
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Place du Tertre
It would be hard to miss the place du Tertre, one of the most touristy spots in all of Paris. Although today it’s filled with visitors, buskers and portrait artists, it was originally the main square of the village of Montmartre before it was incorporated into the city proper.
One of the more popular claims of Montmartre mythology is staked to La Mère Catherine at No 6: in 1814, so it’s said, Cossack soldiers first introduced the term bistro (Russian for ‘quickly’) into the French lexicon. Another big moment came on Christmas Eve, 1898, when Louis Renault’s first car was driven up the Butte to the place du Tertre, igniting the start of the French auto industry.
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Dalí Espace Montmartre
More than 300 works by Salvador Dalí (1904–89), the flamboyant Catalan surrealist printmaker, painter, sculptor and self-promoter, are on display at this surrealist-style basement museum located just west of place du Tertre. The collection includes Dalí’s strange sculptures (most in reproduction), lithographs, many of his illustrations and furniture, including the famous Mae West lips sofa.
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Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
Crowning the hill – with stunning city panoramas from its terrace – the 66m-long, 19m-wide and 27m-high basilica is lined with intricate mosaics and a superb example of late-19th-century French ecclesiastical architecture. One-hour discovery visits take in the main features of the basilica and crypt; rooftop tours climax on the stone-sculpted roof.
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Pont d'Avignon
The pont St-Bénézet was built between 1177 and 1185 to link Avignon with the settlement across the Rhône that later became Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. Yes, this is also the Pont d'Avignon mentioned in the French nursery rhyme. Many people find a distant view of the bridge from the Rocher des Doms or Pont Édouard Daladier much more interesting (and it's free).
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Château Royal de Blois
Blois' château and the former royal seat was intended more as an architectural showpiece than a military stronghold, and successive French kings have left their creative mark over the centuries. From the château's huge central courtyard you can view four distinct periods of French architecture: the Gothic Salle des États and original medieval castle; François I's Renaissance north wing (1515–24); the classical west wing (1635–38) constructed under Gaston d'Orléans, brother to Louis XIII; and Louis XII's red-brick Flamboyant Gothic east wing (1498–1503).
The impressive Salle des États Généraux (Estates General Hall, c 1220) has a soaring double barrel-vaulted…
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Théâtre Antique
Still regularly used for alfresco concerts and plays, the Théâtre Antique dates from the end of the 1st century BC. For hundreds of years it was a source of construction materials, with workers chipping away at the 102m-diameter structure (the column on the right-hand side near the entrance indicates the height of the original arcade).
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Aiguille du Midi
A jagged needle of rock rearing above glaciers, snowfields and rocky crags, 8km from the hump of Mont Blanc, the Aiguille du Midi (3842m) is one of Chamonix' most distinctive landmarks. If you can handle the height, the 360-degree views of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps from the summit are (quite literally) breathtaking.
Year-round the vertiginous Téléphérique de l'Aiguille de Midi cable car links Chamonix with the Aiguille du Midi. Halfway Plan de l'Aiguille (2317m) is a terrific place to start hikes or paraglide. In summer you will need to obtain a boarding card (marked with the number of your departing and returning cable car) in addition to a ticket. Advance…
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Arènes de Lutèce
The 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre Lutetia Arena once sat around 10,000 people for gladiatorial combats and other events. Found by accident in 1869 when rue Monge was under construction, it’s now used by locals playing football and, especially, boules and pétanque.
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Mosquée de Paris
Paris’ central mosque with striking 26m-high minaret was built in 1926 in an ornate Moorish style. Visitors must be modestly dressed and remove their shoes at the entrance to the prayer hall. The complex includes a North African–style salon de thé (tearoom) and restaurant and a hammam, a traditional Turkish-style bathhouse.
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Cathédrale St-Jean
This partly Romanesque cathedral, seat of Lyon’s 133rd bishop, was built between the late 11th and early 16th centuries. The portals of its Flamboyant Gothic facade, completed in 1480, are decorated with 280 square stone medallions. Don’t miss the astronomical clock in the north transept chiming at noon, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm daily.
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Jardin des Plantes
Founded in the early 19th century, the Jardin des Plantes is one of the most exquisite botanical gardens in France, filled with flowerbeds, duck ponds, fountains and towering redwoods (sequoias). There are hothouses and a children's playground at the northern end of the gardens, which are opposite the train station.
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St Bénézet's Bridge
The fabled Pont St-Bénézet (St Bénézet's Bridge) was completed in 1185, a bridge linking Avignon with the settlement across the Rhône that later became Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The 900m-long wooden structure was repaired and rebuilt several times before all but four of its 22 spans were washed away in the mid-1600s.
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