Rough Guide. Paris Directions

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The Eiffel Tower

The closer you get, the more impressive the

Eiffel Tower becomes. From the top, it’s just

magnificent.

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The appeal of Paris

very much lies in its

ability to feel like

two cities. One is a

place of grand

monuments and

world-class

museums; the other

a surprisingly small-

town kind of place, of low-

rise apartments, local

shops and neighbourhood

cafés. You should save a

little time to explore the

more intimate side of the

city, but the landmark

sights certainly shouldn’t

be missed, especially if it’s

your first time in Paris -

even if you’ve visited many

times before, it would be

hard to tire of the Sainte-

Chapelle or Eiffel Tower,

and you could spend days

strolling around the Louvre

alone.

The big six

Sacré-Cœur

Crowning the Butte Montmartre, the

white-domed Sacré-Cœur is an essential

part of the city skyline.

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The Louvre

The Louvre is simply one of the greatest art

galleries in the world, with a palatial setting

worthy of the collection inside.

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Notre-Dame

The great Gothic cathedral of Notre-

Dame, with its delicate tracery, exquisite

rose windows and soaring nave, is an

awe-inspiring sight.

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Sainte-Chapelle

The sumptuous interior of the Sainte-

Chapelle, its walls comprised almost entirely

of stained glass ranks among the finest

achievements of French High Gothic.

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Pompidou Centre

Famous for its radical “inside-out” archi-

tecture, the Pompidou Centre is one of the

city’s most recognizable and popular land-

marks.

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Famously described

by Hemingway as “a

moveable feast”,

Paris won’t

disappoint whatever

time of year you

visit. You’ll see

another side to the

city, however, if you

time your trip to

coincide with one of

its key festivals or events.

Turn up on Bastille Day,

for example, and you’ll find

Parisians in carnival mood,

celebrating the 1789

storming of the Bastille

with fireworks and parties.

Later on in July, you can

join the crowds lining the

Champs Elysées to cheer

home the Tour de France

and then work off the

excitement by lying back in

a deckchair on the Seine’s

Paris Plage.

Paris calendar

Bastille Day

July 14 is the country’s most important

national holiday, celebrated with dancing,

fireworks and a military parade down the

Champs Elysées.

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Paris Plage

For four weeks in the height of summer,

tonnes of sand are laid out as a beach

along a stretch of the Seine, creating a

kind of Paris-Sur-Mer.

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Nuit Blanche

During Nuit Blanche (Sleepless Night)

hundreds of galleries, cafés and public

buildings remain open all night, with music

and cultural events held city wide.

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The Tour de France

Join in with the excitement as the world’s

most famous cycle race sprints home down

the Champs Elysées at the end of July.

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Foire du Trône

One of the city’s biggest funfairs, held in

April and May, in the Bois de Vincennes.

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The quais

The tree-lined

quais

are perfect for relaxing

walks or a restful pause, especially on

Sundays when parts of the Right Bank

quai

are closed to traffic.

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Sometimes referred

to as Paris’s main

avenue, the Seine

sashays through the

centre in a broad

arc, dividing the Left

Bank from the Right

Bank and taking in

the capital’s grandest

monuments on its way. It

was the Seine that brought

the city into being and for

centuries was its lifeblood,

a major conduit of trade

and commerce. These

days, its leafy quais

provide welcome havens

from the city’s bustle and

its numerous bridges

afford fine and unexpected

vistas, while river trips are

a relaxing way to see some

of the capital’s best-known

sights.

The Seine

Bateaux Mouches

An hour’s trip in a Bateau Mouche is a great

way to get a close-up view of the classic

buildings along the Seine.

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Batobus

A refreshing and picturesque change to the

Métro, this handy river bus calls at many of

the big sights, including Notre-Dame and

the Louvre.

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Pont Alexandre III

The most extravagant bridge in the city –

witness its single iron arch spanning 109m,

topped off with exuberant Art Deco lamps

and statues of river nymphs.

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Pont-Neuf

Built in 1607, this elegant arched bridge is

Paris’s oldest and affords fine downstream

views.

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Pont des Arts

The Pont des Arts is a graceful link between

the Louvre and St-Germain, with its

benches perfect for sitting out in the sun-

shine and gazing as the river flows by.

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Over the past few

decades Paris has

commissioned some

of the boldest

architectural

projects in Europe.

A large number are

the legacy of

François Mitterrand,

who, like many a

leader of France

before him, was

keen to leave his

stamp on the capital

and enhance the

nation’s prestige.

Many of his

projects, such as the

glass pyramid

erected in the very

heart of the Louvre

palace, were hugely

controversial at first but are

now widely admired,

testament to a new go-

ahead spirit in the city.

Contemporary architecture

Fondation Cartier

The Fondattion Cartier’s art gallery

remains the most perfect expression of

Jean Nouvel’s work, its walls apparently

dissipating into planes of glass and light-

filled air.

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Grande Arche de la

Défense

The sheer scale of this contemporary

riposte to the Arc de Triomphe is staggering.

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The Pyramid

I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid arose in 1989 in

the Louvre’s historic courtyard, initially

shocking all of Paris.

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Bibliothèque Nationale

Dominique Perrault’s four book-shaped

glass towers are an astounding sight, but

it’s the garden sunk between them that

makes this one of Paris’s boldest buildings.

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Institut du Monde Arabe

Jean Nouvel’s Arab institute is best loved for

its exquisite

moucharabiyah

facade, which

blends traditional Arabic art with the latest

technology.

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Cité des Sciences

Four times the size of the Pompidou Centre,

this stunningly huge complex is the science

museum to end all science museums.

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Paris’s galleries

house one of the

finest

concentrations of art

in the world, ranging

from the vast

treasure trove of the

Louvre to small,

specialist collections

built up by wealthy

individuals. The city’s

collections encompass

Greek and Roman

antiquities, oriental art

and masterpieces

representing all the major

art movements from the

Renaissance onwards. As

well as exceptional

paintings by native artists

such as Matisse, Monet

and Renoir, there is a

particularly rich legacy of

works by foreign painters

– Kandinsky, Picasso and

Dalí among them – who

were drawn to the city in

the nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries a time

when, for any aspiring

artist, Paris was the only

place to be.

Art galleries

The Louvre

The Louvre’s collections represent not just

the best of all French art, but also

Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Islamic

pieces, as well as superb galleries of

European painting and sculpture.

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Musée Marmottan

Monet’s paintings of Giverny, as well as

several of his

Waterlilies

, steal the show

at this gallery of Impressionists.

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