Things to do in France
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Eiffel Tower
When it was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World Fair), marking the centenary of the Revolution, the Tour Eiffel faced massive opposition from Paris’ artistic and literary elite. The ‘metal asparagus’, as some Parisians snidely called it, was almost torn down in 1909 but was spared because it proved an ideal platform for the transmitting antennas needed for the new science of radiotelegraphy. Named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, the tower is 324m high, including the TV antenna at the tip. This figure can vary by as much as 15cm, however, as the tower’s 7300 tonnes of iron, held together by 2.5 million rivets, expand in warm weather and contract when it’s …
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Musée du Louvre
The vast Palais du Louvre was constructed as a fortress by Philippe-Auguste in the early 13th century and rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal residence. In 1793 the Revolutionary Convention turned it into the nation’s first national museum.
The paintings, sculptures and artefacts on display in the Louvre Museum have been assembled by French governments over the past five centuries. Among them are works of art and artisanship from all over Europe and important collections of Assyrian, Etruscan, Greek, Coptic and Islamic art and antiquities. Traditionally the Louvre’s raison d’être is to present Western art from the Middle Ages to about the year 1848 (at wh…
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Musée d’Orsay
Facing the Seine from quai Anatole France, the Musée d’Orsay is housed in a former train station (1900). It displays France’s national collection of paintings, sculptures, objets d’art and other works produced between the 1840s and 1914, including the fruits of the Impressionist, post-Impressionist and art nouveau movements.
Many visitors to the museum go straight to the upper level (lit by a skylight) to see the famous Impressionist paintings by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Degas and Manet and the post-Impressionist works by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Seurat and Matisse, but there’s also lots to see on the ground floor, including some early works by Manet, Monet, Reno…
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Jardin du Luxembourg
When the weather is fine, Parisians of all ages come flocking to the formal terraces and chestnut groves of the 23-hectare Jardin du Luxembourg to read, relax and sunbathe. There are a number of activities for children here, and in the southern part of the garden you’ll find urban orchards as well as the honey-producing Rucher du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Apiary).
The Palais du Luxembourg, at the northern end of the garden, was built for Marie de Médicis, Henri IV’s consort; it has housed the Sénat (Senate), the upper house of the French parliament, since 1958. There are guided tours of the interior, usually at 10.30am one Saturday a month; advance reservations obligat…
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Basilique du Sacré Cœur
Perched at the very top of the Butte de Montmartre, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart was built from contributions pledged by Parisian Catholics as an act of contrition after the humiliating Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Construction began in 1873, but the basilica was not consecrated until 1919.
Some 234 spiralling steps lead you to the basilica’s dome, which affords one of Paris’ most spectacular panoramas; they say you can see for 30km on a clear day.
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Centre Pompidou
This centre has amazed and delighted visitors since it was inaugurated in 1977, not just for its outstanding collection of modern art, but also for its radical architectural statement.
The open space at ground level has temporary exhibitions and information desks, while the 4th and 5th floors house the Musée National d’Art Moderne, France’s national collection of art dating from 1905 onwards. About a third of the 50,000-plus works, including the work of the surrealists and cubists, as well as pop art and contemporary works, are on display.
West of the Pompidou, place Georges Pompidou and nearby pedestrian streets attract buskers, musicians, jugglers and mime artists,…
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Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris
Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris is the true heart of Paris; in fact, distances from Paris to all parts of metropolitan France are measured from place du Parvis Notre Dame, the square in front of Notre Dame. A bronze star, set in the pavement across from the main entrance, marks the exact location of point zéro des routes de France (point zero of French roads).
Notre Dame, the most visited site in Paris, with 10 million people crossing its threshold each year, is not just a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture but has also been the focus of Catholic Paris for seven centuries. Constructed on a site occupied by earlier churches – and, a millennium before that, a Gal…
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Sainte Chapelle
The place to visit on a sunny day! Security checks make it long and snail-slow to get into this gemlike Holy Chapel, the most exquisite of Paris’ Gothic monuments, tucked away within the walls of the Palais de Justice (Law Courts). But once in, be dazzled by Paris’ oldest and finest stained glass – the light on sunny days is extraordinary.
Built in just under three years (compared with nearly 200 for Notre Dame), Ste-Chapelle was consecrated in 1248. The chapel was conceived by Louis IX to house his personal collection of holy relics (including the Holy Crown now kept in the treasury at Notre Dame). The chapel’s exterior can be viewed from across the street from th…
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Palais des Papes
This Unesco World Heritage Site, the world’s largest Gothic palace, was built when Pope Clement V abandoned Rome in 1309 and settled in Avignon. The immense scale of the palace, with its cavernous stone halls and vast courtyards, testifies to the wealth of the popes; the 3m-thick walls, portcullises and watchtowers emphasise their need for defence.
Today it takes some imagination to picture the former luxury of these vast bare rooms. You can catch whispering glimpses in the wonderful 14th-century chapel frescos painted by Matteo Giovannetti; in the dark-blue walls of the Pope’s apartment, threaded with dusky red flowers; and in the superb Chambre du Cerf, alive with med…
reviewed
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Angélina
Take a break from the long trek along the Tuileries gardens and line up for a table at Angélina, along with lunching ladies, their posturing poodles and half the students from Tokyo University. This beautiful, high-ceilinged tearoom has exquisite furnishings, mirrored walls and fabulous fluffy cakes. More importantly, it serves the best and most wonderfully sickening ‘African’ hot chocolate in the history of time (€6.90), served with a pot of whipped cream. It’s a positive meal replacement (though breakfast is €16.50 to €27.50).
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Musée de l'Orangerie
Located in the southwestern corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, this museum, with the Jeu de Paume, is all that remains of the once palatial Palais des Tuileries, which was razed during the Paris Commune in 1871. It exhibits important Impressionist works, including a series of Monet's Decorations des Nymphéas (Water Lilies) in two huge oval rooms purpose-built in 1927 on the artist's instructions, as well as works by Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Sisley, Soutine and Utrillo. An audioguide costs €5.
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Le Piano Vache
Down the hill from the Panthéon, this bar is covered in old posters above old couches and is drenched in 1970s and ‘80s rock ambience. Effortlessly underground and a real student fave, bands and DJs play mainly rock, plus some goth, reggae and pop.
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L'As de Felafel
This favourite restaurant does deep-fried balls of chickpeas and herbs (€5). It’s always packed, particularly at weekday lunch.
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Arc de Triomphe
Located 2km northwest of place de la Concorde in the middle of place Charles de Gaulle (or place de l’Étoile), Paris’ Triumphal Arch is the world’s largest traffic roundabout. It was commissioned by Napoléon in 1806 to commemorate his imperial victories but remained unfinished when he started losing battles and then entire wars. It was not completed until 1836. Since 1920, the body of an Unknown Soldier from WWI, taken from Verdun in Lorraine, has lain beneath the arch; his fate and that of countless others is commemorated by a memorial flame that is rekindled each evening around 6.30pm.
From the viewing platform atop the arch (50m up via 284 steps and well worth …
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Cathédrale Notre-Dame
Victor Hugo declared it a 'gigantic and delicate marvel', Goethe professed that its 'loftiness is linked to its beauty' and, no matter the angle or time of day, you too will be captivated by Strasbourg's centrepiece Gothic cathedral. At once immense and intricate, the cathedral is a riot of filigree stonework and flying buttresses, leering gargoyles and lacy spires.
The west facade, most impressive if approached from rue Mercière, was completed in 1284, but the 142m spire – the tallest of its time – was not in place until 1439; its southern companion was never built.
On a sunny day, the 12th- to 14th-century stained-glass windows – especially the rose window over the w…
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La Seine
In the city of romance, the Seine River is its lifeblood. Formerly a major trade route, today the river's islands, bridges and quays evoke the most romantic visions of Paris. This nostalgia is heightened after dark when the Seine shimmers with the watery reflections of floodlit monuments and bridges. C'est magnifique!
A stroll along the Seine is a quintessential Parisian experience.
The attractions along the river's main island, Île de la Cité, read like a who's-who of Paris' finery; from Notre Dame to Sainte Chapelle, the Conciergerie and the flower market. By contrast, Île St-Louis has a village-like, provincial calm. The area's charming 17th-century stone houses, teaho…
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Musée National du Moyen Âge
The National Museum of the Middle Ages is housed in two structures: the frigidarium (cooling room) and other remains of Gallo-Roman baths dating from around AD 200, and the late-15th-century Hôtel de Cluny, considered the finest example of medieval civil architecture in Paris.
The spectacular displays at the museum include statuary, illuminated manuscripts, weapons, furnishings, and objets d’art made of gold, ivory and enamel. But nothing compares with La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn), a sublime series of late-15th-century tapestries from the southern Netherlands now hung in circular room 13 on the 1st floor. Five of them are devoted to the senses, whi…
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Le Bon Marché
Opened by Gustave Eiffel as Paris’ first department store in 1852, The Good Market (which also means ‘bargain’ in French) is the Left Bank’s chic one-stop shop. The icing on the cake is its glorious food hall.
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Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial
The huge Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial, 17km northwest of Bayeux, is the largest American cemetery in Europe. Featured in the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, it contains the graves of 9387 American soldiers, including 41 pairs of brothers, and a memorial to 1557 others whose remains were never found. White marble crosses and Stars of David stretch off in seemingly endless rows, surrounded by an immaculately tended expanse of lawn. The cemetery is overlooked by a large colonnaded memorial, centred on a statue dedicated to the spirit of American youth.
Opened in 2007, the visitor center, mostly underground so as not to detract from the si…
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Cours Saleya Markets
Split between its beautiful flower market and rightly famous food market. On Mondays from 6am to 6pm, flowers and food make way for an antiques market.
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Aux Trois Éléphants
In a street where each restaurant is more original than the next, ‘At the Three Elephants’ takes the tart. Customers – a very mixed bag – are plunged into a highly exotic world where the extravagant ‘hostesses’ are equal to the dishes on offer. The subtle flavours of the yum plameuk (squid salad) and the homok pla (steamed fish served in a banana leaf; €10) are both excellent choices.
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Pozzetto
Urban myth tells us that this gelato maker opened up when a group of friends from northern Italy couldn’t find their favourite ice cream here in Paris so they imported the ingredients to create it from scratch. Flavours – spatula’d, not scooped – include gianduia torinese (hazelnut chocolate from Turin) and zabaione, made from egg yolks, sugar and sweet Marsala wine, along with the more usual peach, pistachio and poire William.
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Barbizon, Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte Small Group Day Trip from Paris
9 hours (Departs Paris, France)
by Viator
Leave Paris for the day and take a small group day tour by minivan to visit the celebrated artists' village of Barbizon and two magnificent chateaux: Fontainebl…Not LP reviewed
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Berthillon
Berthillon is to ice cream what Château Lafite Rothschild is to wine. While the fruit flavours (eg cassis) produced by this celebrated glacier (ice-cream maker) are justifiably renowned, the chocolate, coffee, marrons glacés (candied chestnuts), Agenaise (Armagnac and prunes), noisette (hazelnut) and nougat au miel (honey nougat) are even richer. Choose from among 70 flavours.
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