La Republique
O-Chateau, a traditional Parisian loft that offers unique, enjoyable, layed back wine tastings in English.
Near the Louvre
* Cross Rue du Rivoli and find beautiful Metro entrance of hand blown Italian glass created for the Millennium.
* Enter Palais Royal. Notice fountains of silver balls. Walk through garden, exit back to rue de Petit Champs.
* Enter Galerie Vivienne, a enchanting covered shopping gallery from the 1800’s and walk through.
Notre Dame Cathedral, Ile St Louis and the Latin Quarter
* Notre Dame - visit interior, see Rose Window, Statue of Joan of Arc, Organ in back; view from back to see the Flying Buttresses
* Climb the tower of Notre Dame for a close-up look at the Gargoyles and a fantastic view of the River Seine.
* Walk down the main street on Ile St Louis, the island behind Notre Dame, to look at shops and doors; eat Bertillon ice cream.
* Cross Pont and walk along sidewalk to see the Bouquinistes (Booksellers) where books are sold from covered containers.
* Cross into the Latin Quarter, walk up the fascinating narrow streets. Shakespeare and Company, the famous bookstore is worth a stop; collectible books are found in the annex to the left.
* Enter the church of St Julien de Pauvre and contrast the simplicity there to Notre Dame’s grandness.
* Visit nearby St Severin Church and go to the nave to see the “palm tree ceiling”.
* Look at St Michel fountain.
* Tours are available here in quite a few languages
Montmartre
* Visit Montmartre. Take the Metro 12 to Larmarck or Abbesses Metro stop.
* Do not miss the smaller and older St Pierre of Montmartre Church.
* Take a look at the interior of Sacre Coeur for its mosaics. Climb the tower on a clear day for the hight over-look of Paris.
* Buy a small painting to take home from one of the artists in Place de Tertre.
* Behind the Abesses Metro stop, go into the garden and find the Wall of Love.
* Walk down Rue Lepic, another great shopping street. You can visit the Brasserie where the heroine in the movie Amelie worked.
* Walk down to Pigalle and see the Moulin Rouge - or even see the show there.
* The Montmartre Cemetery is lovely to stroll through. Degas is buried here.
The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees
* Reach Place de la Concorde, circle the place to your left and walk down Rue du Rivoli.
* Stop at Angelina’s for their famous hot chocolate.
*
The Grand Department Stores
*
* Next door to Galeries LaFayette is Printemps, another huge department store. They also have a dome of stained glass that you can eat lunch under in a nice restaurant. There is also a good view of Hotel de Ville from an upstairs cafe.
* Le Bon Marché at Sèvres Babylon on Left Bank is the high end department store- very Parisian.
Pere LaChaise Cemetery
* Make a trip out to the famous cemetery of Pere LaChaise. Buy a map at any florist nearby and find the tombs of Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Colette, Jim Morrison and more. (Hint: if you enter the cemetery at the Gambetta Metro stop, it is all downhill.)
The Left Bank
* The Left Bank is full of fun winding streets. Start at the Odeon Metro Stop. Across the street is the Commerce St Andre, an old shopping street.
* Rue du Buci is a lively street with many places to eat or drink.
* St Sulpice Church holds the famous obelisk with the brass line marking the movement of the earth and sun. Don’t miss the Pigalle sculpture of Mary at the back of the church.
* Walk down Rue du Cannards and find the sculpture of baby ducks high up on a wall over a blue door.
* Visit the St Germain des Pres Church, oldest in Paris.
* Across the way from the church is L es Deux Magots, a famous hangout for writers such as Hemingway.
* Walk down Rue de Seine to the beautiful building housing the Institute de France.
* Find the entrance of the Institute du France, go to the front, cross the street and you are on the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge always full of people and activity.
* Do not miss the Cluny Museum, small and easy to vist and make sure to visit the top floor for the magnificant Maiden and the Unicorn Tapestries.
The Jardins de Luxembourg and Surrounding Area
* Take a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens.
* Find the Statue of Liberty and Visit the incredible Medici Fountain in the garden.
* Watch children sailing boats in the pond.
* Walk up Rue Soufflot to the Pantheon; visit the interior.
* Head down nearby Rue Mouffetard for an interesting shopping street.
The Arts et Metiers Museum and Surrounding Area
* Take Metro 11 to the Art et Metiers Metro stop for a look at an incredible copper station.
* Visit the Art et Metiers Museum. See the chapel for the airplanes hanging from the ceiling & the model of the Statue of Liberty.
* Nearby is a wonderful shopping/pedestrian street, Rue Montorgueil.
* Walk to St Eustache Church and visit the interior.
* Dehillerinon rue Coquillerie is an interesting shop for kitchen supplies.
The Marais
* Take a walk in the Marais, one of Paris’ most beautiful areas.
* Visit the Carnavalet Museum for a look at the history of Paris as well as a lovely structure with garden.
* Walk Rue de Bretagne, a lively street with bistros, bakeriess and small stores. Have lunch at the "hidden" food court. It looks like a small alley, but a market and tens cafes reveal themselves when you walk in.
* Antique shoppers will want to walk into the Village St Paul and see the shops on Rue St Paul.
* The church of St Paul St Louis is especially lovely. Don’t miss the painting of Jesus Praying in the Garden by Delacroix.
* The Picasso Museum is in a wonderful building and worth a tour.
* Walk down historic Rue des Rosiers and have some great falafal there.
* See the many shops on Rue Francs Bourgeois and enter Place des Vosges, one of the most beautiful squares in Paris. The Victor Hugo Museum is in one corner there. The Hotel de Sully in another where you enter through the back garden.
Invalides, the Rodin Museum and Pont Alexander III
* For a look at Napoleon’s tomb, do not miss Invalide.. Check out the weapons museum there as well.
* Nearby is the Rodin Museum. Don’t miss the famous Thinker sculpture in the garden. This is a good place for a light lunch as well. There is a nice area to sit in the shade in the back.
* Stroll across the lovely Pont Alexander III, gilded and baroque shining in the sun with a great view of the Eiffel Tower on one side.
Bastille and the Surrounding Area
* Place de Bastille is a lively area with a column in the middle commerating the “Three Glorius Days”. The Richard Lenoir Market, the largest in Paris, is here on Thursdays and Sundays.
* An interesting market to visit is at Place d’Aligre, open every morning except Mondays. It has a permanant covered market that is interesting to see and is especially lively and fun to visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment