June 25th, 2009 Posted in travel, tips, sights, attractions, capitals, top 10, vacations, europe, france, holidays, vacation, hotels | No Comments »
CHAMPS-ELYSEES
Nipped and tucked artfully in the last decade to simultaneously send much of its parking underground and radically widen its sidewalks, the Champs-Elysees is a pleasant, if people-choked, place to stroll, rimmed with ultra-luxe designer megastores like the LV-logo’d Louis Vuitton HQ. Like the cord in a pearl necklace, it strings together some of the city’s splashiest sites. At one end is the Arc de Triomphe, which gives the strip its alternate name, “the Voie Triumphale” (victorious way), a nod to its role as home of splashy military parades. A Napoleonic pet project, it was finished by one of his successors and is a tribute to France’s armies; the flame at the tomb of the unknown soldier flickers 24/7 below (skip a trip up to the top — La Defense is better — see below). Continue east down the Champs Elysees, past all those swanky boutiques and pricey cafes, and you’ll scythe through Place de la Concorde. It’s ironically named, since where the site where the obelisk now stands was at one time the prime chopping block in the city where Marie Antoinette & Co. were offed by the mob. It terminates at the Tuileries gardens, the manicured grounds of a now-demolished royal palace.
Info: 8th arrondissement, Metro: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile
LA DEFENSE
Gleaming at the western edge of Paris, just past the tony suburb of Neuilly, sits the most bombastic of Mitterand’s landscape-changing projets grands — memorials equal in size to his ego, as well as the greatness of France. La Defense was imagined as the Gallic retort to London’s Docklands, a sparkling new business center that would provide world-beating facilities. It didn’t quite manage that, and some of its ’80s-era office blocks are now quite dated — but the whole thing’s made worthwhile thanks to La Grande Arche de La Defense, the space-age counterpoint to the Arc de Triomphe that looks like the original reimagined by Steven Spielberg. The Carrara-marble-faced structure is actually the brainchild of Danish architect Johan Otto von Speckelsen, and is almost a perfect cube, its dimensions within 14 feet each way. Ride the spindly elevator at its core to the roof and enjoy a stunning view across Paris, including a snap-happy vista of the rival arch.
Metro: La Defense.
THE EIFFEL TOWER
Oscar Wilde quipped that his favorite place in Paris was the old restaurant inside here, since it was the only place he could sit in the city and not have to look at the Eiffel Tower. Wilde wasn’t a fan of the newfangled building, but history has proven him wrong. Originally intended as a temporary structure to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, the 984-foot-tall, cast-iron tower still stands more than a century later and is now an icon of France. Unlike most Gallic monuments, this was long owned by one of Eiffel’s descendants who’s proved a troublesome figure: She threatened to paint the tower a garish shade in the early 1990s and also vowed to sell branding rights to Coca Cola before the millennium. This was the site of France’s countdown clock, so the holiday-snap potential amped up the price considerably (thankfully, it’s now owned and managed by the city of Paris). And though on a good day, the views from the top are far-reaching, you’ll actually see and notice more from the second level. Note, too, that the elevators are vintage and quite wobbly — this is no place for anyone with even a minor fear of heights.
Info: Champs de Mars, 7th +33 1 44 11 23 45, www.tour-eiffel.fr. Sept.-May 9:30 a.m.-11:45 p.m. (last elevator 10:30 p.m.), June-Aug. 9:30 a.m.-12:45 a.m. (last elevator 11 p.m.). Metro: Bir-Hakeim
THE MARAIS
The Marais is where real-life Paris best reflects the Paris of the movies. Built between 16th and 18th centuries, its winding streets and wrought-iron-accented buildings are evocative and romantic, a perfect place to stroll and imagine you’re a gamine waif in the Piaf mold. Though it’s now a glut of galleries, great cafes and funky boutiques, the Marais was a cramped, working class ‘hood until the World War II — hence the preservation of its architecture, since there was no money to make it over. Zigzag between three drags to see the trio of communities on which the Marais has its foundations. Rue des Rosiers is full of Middle Eastern bakeries and kosher shops, a nod to its longtime Jewish influence. Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, ironically named after its impoverished, tax-exempt original residents, is the chattering classes’ favorite strip, full of pricey boutiques and restaurants. The rainbow flags and thumping music that fill Rue St Croix de la Bretonnerie are a tip-off that this is Paris’s answer to 8th avenue, a gay-heavy drag that’s home to bars and X-rated shops.
Info: 4th arrondissement, Metro: St Paul
THE MARKETS
Paris’s markets are more appealing than those almost anywhere else. No wonder, since these marches aux puces gave us the name flea market (”puces” is French for the pesky critters). Even if you’re not a shopaholic, strolling along the aisles of these markets, listening to the babbling of French haggling, is an unmissable, only-in-Paris experience. There are four main markets, of which the biggest is the Puces de St-Ouen, though it’s now far from cheap, thanks to the tony dealers who clog its 2,500 pitches. Hit the Lécuyer-Vallés section for the best bargain browsing, then the rue des Rosiers for an orgy of Art Deco. (Get there at dawn on Saturday to sift through the stock while stall-holders set up starting around 5 a.m.) The handiest venue is the Aligre market, which sells fruits and vegetables alongside a riot of bizarre bric-a-brac, while the most appealing is at Porte de Vanves, a smaller set-up with just 300 or so stalls and totally chaotic, but great for clothes and costume baubles.
Info: Puces de Vanves, Avenues Georges-Lafeneste and Marc-Sangnier, 14th. Sat. and Sun. 7 a.m.-7 p.m., www.pucesdeparis-portedevanves.com. Metro: Porte de Vanves.
Puces d’Aligre, Place d’Aligre, 12th Tues.-Sat. 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Metro: Ledru-Rollin.
Puces de St-Ouen, Avenue de la Porte de Clignancourt 18th, Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Mon. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. +33 1 40 12 32 58, www.parispuces.com. Metro: Porte de Clignancourt.
MONTMARTRE
OK, so it’s a cliché of Paris, never better shorthanded than with Baz Luhrman’s TB-and-sequins epic “Moulin Rouge.” But despite the hordes of workmanlike portrait daubers on Place du Tertre and the faux-boho cafes, Montmartre retains much of its down-home charm, a throwback to when this hill — the highest in Paris — was a rustic farming area. Indeed, there’s still a tiny vineyard on the northern flank of the hill, though all but one of the windmills that once spiked its summit are gone. Hike up to the butte-topping basilica, the Sacre-Coeur, on foot or use a Metro ticket for the funicular nearby. Once at the top, start ambling aimlessly around the back streets — it’s the best way to explore. The views from the usually deserted Place du Calvaire are stunning. The Sacre Coeur itself isn’t worth poking around inside, however. Built as an act of contrition after Prussia obliterated France in an 1870 war, the interior is, frankly, rather tacky and doesn’t match the dreamy, meringue-like exterior. Make sure to access the neighborhood via Abbesses metro station. Not only is it more salubrious than Pigalle, but it’s a rare example of a slinky Guimard Metro station entrance surviving intact.
Info: 9th and 18th arrondissements, Metro: Abbesses
MUSEE DU LOUVRE
The Louvre is not a user-friendly museum — it’s far too big for that. Housed in a onetime royal palace, it’s huge for the sake of being huge (and grabbing the Guinness-endorsed title of largest museum in the world). Make a plan of attack before you enter and it’s a manageable feast of world-famous art. The palace/museum is sectioned into three wings — for the casual visitor, much of the must-see work is in Denon. “Mona Lisa” is here, sitting in the just-rehabbed Salon des Etats alongside Veronese’s sprawling “Feast at Cana,” which was allegedly carried from Venice by Napoleon’s looters rolled up in an extra-large carpet. Sinewy-hipped “Venus de Milo” slinks her way through the ground-floor antiquities gallery in Sully, which also has a superb excavation of the foundations of the original Louvre. If you have energy or time, scoot through the Richelieu wing for the twinkly trinkets and French sculpture. To avoid the crowds in-season entering through IM Pei’s still-controversial pyramid, go to ticketnet.fr or a branch of FNAC where you can buy a ticket in advance for an extra euro and duck in via passage Richelieu.
Info: Rue de Rivoli, 1st , +33 1 40 20 50 50, www.louvre.fr Thurs., Sat.-Mon. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Wed. and Fri. 9 a.m.-10 p.m. $13, $8.50 after 6 p.m. on Wed. and Fri. Metro: Palais Royal Musee du Louvre
MUSEE D’ORSAY
The museum that changed museums round the world, this stunning conversion of a 19th-century train station inspired other equally impressive reimaginings. (Yes, Tate Modern, we mean you.) It’s where you can gorge yourself on the art for which France is best known: 19th century Impressionism and its hangers-on. Almost every room on its three tiers has a household-name painting in it. Upstairs, for example, look for five of Monet’s “Rouen Cathedral” sequence, part of his exploration of the power of light. Then there’s Seurat, who painted a few pointillist masterpieces before he died too young. His trippy, colored “Cirque” is here. You’ll also find clutches of Klimt, Rodin and nightmare-made-real specialist Odilon Redon. But special note needs to be taken of Manet, whose two most earthquake-inducing works are on show. First, the hyper-sexualized “Dejeuner sur L’Herbe”, where a stark naked woman picnics sans shame with a set of dandies. Second, “Olympia,” where the same model is pictured reclining on a couch — she oozes not modesty but raunchy impertinence and is shamelessly bedecked in jewels and trinkets that trumpet she’s for sale. Together, these seismic pictures — which shook moral and aesthetic maxims simultaneously — helped pave the way for much of what else is on show at the Musee D’Orsay.
Info: 1 rue de la Legion d’Honneur, 7th +33 1 40 49 48 14, www.musee-orsay.fr Tues.-Wed., Fri.-Sun. 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Thurs. 9:30 a.m.-9:45 p.m. $13. Metro: Solférino
MUSEE RODIN
Hidden in a grand mansion that Rodin wrangled from the state while alive in exchange for his work after he died, this is one of Paris’s finest collections. It holds all his greatest hits from the moody “Burghers of Calais” to the sequence of sculptures based on Dante’s “Inferno.” Rodin was commissioned to design the doors for a never-completed decorative-arts museum and took the poem as inspiration. He then amputated elements from the doors and turned them into standalone pieces like “The Thinker” (aka “Dante”) and The Kiss (aka the doomed lovers Paolo and Francesca), each of them oozing his muscular sensuality. Don’t miss “The Cathedral,” his pair of hands that look like they’re joined in prayer until you realize they’re both right hands clasped together, and the smattering of work by his lover-cum-muse-cum-victim Camille Claudel, who was driven mad by Rodin’s overbearingness. She was a superb talent in her own right. The surrounding, much-loved gardens, where some of his monumental bronzes sit (including the Inferno doors), are a gorgeous place to linger on a warm summer afternoon — bring a book.
Info: Hotel Biron, 79 rue de Varenne, 7th, +33 1 44 18 61 10 www.musee-rodin.fr, April-Sept. Tues.-Sun. 9:30 a.m.-5:45 p.m., Oct.-March Tues.-Sun. 9:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. $8.50. Metro: Varenne.
NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL
A true Gothic masterpiece, the back and sides of this church look like they’re made from lace dipped in concrete (those buttresses actually helped architects enlarge the storytelling stained-glass windows and so open up the interior after the squat Roman style). Originally started in 1163, what’s actually on show now is a 19th-century renovation by the hard-working Viollet Le Duc, as the church fell into disrepair during the French Revolution. That’s why we have Quasimodo — Victor Hugo, a huge fan of the then-dilapidated pile, wrote “Hunchback of Notre Dame” to draw attention to the church. (It worked.) The highly ornamented outside was intended as a 3D picture-book for the illiterate masses of the Middle Ages, and would have been brightly painted when the cathedral was first finished. The interior’s dark and atmospheric — look for the statue of Joan of Arc — and there’s a slight bend in the nave at the altar’s end, giving the church a shape which is intended to ape Christ’s lolling head on the cross. Stroll a few yards west from the façade and you’ll find the star embedded in the sidewalk from which all distances from Paris are measured — in kilometers, of course.
Info: 6 Parvis Notre Dame, 4th +33 1 42 34 56 10, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6:45 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 8 a.m.-7:15 p.m., www.notredamedeparis.fr. Free. Metro: Cite