Have you ever visit this wonderful city?
Paris is the capital city of France. It is situated on the River Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (“Région parisienne”). Paris has an estimated population of 2,153,600 within city limit (2005 est.) The Paris urban area has a population of 9.93 million and a commuter belt around the same completes the Paris “aire urbaine” (roughly: “metropolitan area”) that, with its population of 12 million, is one of the most populated areas of its kind in Europe.
Paris’ location at a crossroads between land and river trade routes in lands of abundant agriculture had made it one of France’s principal cities by the 10th century, rich with royal palaces, wealthy abbeys and a cathedral; by the 12th century Paris had become one of Europe’s foremost centres of learning and the arts. Today, Paris is a major influence in politics, fashion, business, arts and science. The city serves as an important hub of intercontinental transportation and is home to universities, sport events, opera companies and museums of international renown, making it an attraction for over 30 million foreign visitors per year.
There are many tourist attraction in Paris, especially fir historic buildings, like
Palais Garnier (click to see the link within the blog)
The Palais Garnier, also known as the Opéra de Paris or Opéra Garnier, but more commonly as the Paris Opéra, is a 2,200 seat opera house in Paris, France. A grand landmark designed by Charles Garnier in the Neo-Baroque style, it is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of its time.Upon its inauguration in 1875, the opera house was officially named the Académie Nationale de Musique – Théâtre de l’Opéra. It retained this title until 1978 when it was re-named the Théâtre National de l’Opéra de Paris. After the opera company chose the Opéra Bastille as their principal theatre upon its completion in 1989, the theatre was re-named as the Palais Garnier, though its more official name, the Académie Nationale de Musique, is still sprawled above the columns of its front façade. In spite of the change of names and the Opera company’s relocation to the Opéra Bastille, the Palais Garnier is still known by many people as the Paris Opéra, as have all of the many theatres which have served as the principal venues of the Parisian Opera and Ballet since its founding.
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris, France. It is the tallest structure in Paris and one of the most recognized monuments in the world. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is the most visited monument in the world; 6,428,441 people visited the tower in 2005 and more than 200,000,000 since its construction. Including the 24 m (78.7 ft) antenna, the structure is 324 m (1,063 ft) high (since 2000), which is equivalent to about 81 levels in a conventional building.
The Louvre
The Louvre Museum in Paris, France, is the most visited and one of the oldest, largest, and most famous art galleries and museums in the world. The Louvre has a long history of artistic and historic conservation, inaugurated in the Capetian dynasty until today. The building was previously a royal palace and is famous for holding several of the world’s most beautiful works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, Madonna of the Rocks, and Alexandros of Antioch’s Venus de Milo.
Arc de Troimphe
The Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly the Place de l’Étoile, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, and today also includes the tomb of the unknown soldier.
The Arc is the lynchpin of the historic axis – a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the Louvre Palace to the outskirts of Paris. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail and set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant nationalistic messages, until World War I.
The monument stands over 51 meters (165 ft) in height and is 45 meters wide. It is the second largest triumphal arch in existence Its design was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus; The Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that in the Paris victory parade marking the end of hostilities in World War I, an early daredevil flew his biplane through it, and was caught in a newsreel.
Avenue of Champ Elysee
The Champs-Élysées is the most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris. Its full name is actually “Avenue des Champs-Élysées”. With its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, the Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and with rents as high as $1.25 million a year for 1,000 square feet of space, it remains the 2nd most expensive strip of real estate in the world (the first in Europe) after New York City’s Fifth Avenue. The name refers to the Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed in Greek mythology.
The Champs-Élysées is known as La plus belle avenue du monde (“The most beautiful avenue in the world”). The arrival of global chain stores in recent years has slightly changed the character of the avenue, and in a first effort to stem these changes, the Paris City government (which has called this “banalization”) decided in 2007 to ban the Swedish clothing chain H&M from opening a store on the avenue. This street is also very popular with many of the rich and famous.
Les Invalides
Les Invalides in Paris, France consists of a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose. It is also the burial site for some of France’s war heroes.
Above: The coffin o Napoleon Bonaparte under the the dome of Les Invalides
The most notable tomb at Les Invalides is that of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) in the crypt under Mansart’s dome. Napoleon was initially interred on Saint Helena, but King Louis-Philippe arranged for his remains to be brought to St Jerome’s Chapel in Paris in 1840. A renovation of Les Invalides took many years, but in 1861 Napoleon was moved to the most prominent location under the dome at Les Invalides.
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou (constructed 1971–1977 and known as the Pompidou Centre in English) is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the IVe arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles and the Marais. It houses the Bibliothèque publique d’information, a vast public library, the Musée National d’Art Moderne, and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research. Because of its location, the Centre is known locally as Beaubourg. It is named after Georges Pompidou, who was president of France from 1969 to 1974, and was opened on January 31, 1977. The building was designed by the architects Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Sue Rogers and engineers Peter Rice and Edmund Happold, whose design was not very popular at first. However, under the guidance of its first director, Pontus Hultén, it quickly became a noted attraction in Paris.
Conciergerie
The Conciergerie was originally a part of the palace of King Philippe IV (Philippe the Fair) (1284–1314). It was a section of the palace precinct controlled by a person of high degree, the concierge or keeper of the royal palace. Its ground floor levels, built in Philip’s reign, are dominated by the Guardroom and the Hall of Men-at-arms, which are exceptional examples of medieval secular architecture. The latter is particularly striking: 209 feet long, 90 feet wide and 28 feet high. It was used as a dining-room for the 2,000 staff who worked in the palace. It was heated with four large fireplaces and lit by many windows, now blocked up. It was also used for royal banquets and judicial proceedings.
The royal family abandoned the palace in 1358, moving across the river to the Louvre. In 1391 the building was converted for use as a prison. Its prisoners were a mixture of common criminals and political prisoners. In common with other prisons of the time, the treatment of prisoners was very dependent on their wealth, status and connections.After the Restoration of the Bourbons in the 19th century, the Conciergerie continued to be used as a prison for high-value prisoners — most notably the future Napoleon III.
The Conciergerie was decommissioned in 1914 and was opened to the public as a national historical monument. It is today a popular tourist attraction.
Grand Palais (Grand Palace)
The Grand Palais (“Grand Palace”) is a large glass exhibition hall that was built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. It is located in the VIIIe arrondissement of Paris, France.
Built at the same time as the Petit Palais and the Pont Alexandre III, the exterior of this massive palace combines an imposing Classical sont façade with a riot of Art Nouveau ironwork.
The building was closed for 12 years for extensive restoration work after one of the glass ceiling panels fell in 1993. It reopened on Saturday 24 September 2005.
A little known fact is that the Grand Palais has a major police station in the basement which helps protect the exhibits on show, and particularly the picture exhibition “Salons” as the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Salon d’Automne and Salon “Comparaisons”.
Jardin du Luxembourg
The Jardin du Luxembourg (familiar nickname Luco) is a 224,500 m² public park and the largest in the city, located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Luxembourg is the garden of the French Senate, which is itself housed in the Luxembourg Palace.
The palace and gardens were built by architect Salomon de Brosse for Marie de’ Medici from 1615 to 1627.
The gardens include a large fenced-in playground that is very popular with local young children and their parents. Adjacent to it is an excellent puppet theatre and a merry-go-round. On occasion, pony rides are also available. In addition, free musical performances are presented in a gazebo on the grounds and there is an anonymous, inexpensive restaurant nearby, under the trees, with both indoor and outdoor seating from which you can enjoy the music over a glass of wine.
The garden is enjoyable for its calm. On the little pond children play with miniature boats. The garden contains various statues and sculptures. Surrounding the pond are a series of statues of former French queens. The École nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris and the Odéon theatre stand next to the Luxembourg Garden.
Musee de Orsay
The Musée d’Orsay (in English: The Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine, housed in the former Orsay railway station. It holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist masterpieces by popular painters such as Monet and Renoir. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum’s opening in 1986.
Pere Lachaise Cemetary
Père-Lachaise Cemetery (French: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise) (officially, cimetière de l’Est “eastern cemetery”) is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France at 118 acres[1] (48 ha), though there are larger cemeteries in Paris suburbs.
Père-Lachaise is one of the most famous in the world. Located in the 20e arrondissement, it is reputed to be the world’s most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three Great War memorials.
Above: Frederick Chopin’s grave
Père-Lachaise is located on Boulevard de Ménilmontant. Métro station Philippe Auguste on line 2 is next to the main entrance, while the station called Père Lachaise, on lines 2 or 3, is 500 metres away near a side entrance.
