Constructed by Louis XV in honor of, well, himself, the Pl. de la Concorde quickly became ground zero for all public grievances against the monarchy. During the Reign of Terror, the complex of buildings was renamed place de la Révolution, and 1343 aristocrats were guillotined there in less than a year. Louis XVI met his end near the statue that symbolizes the French town of Brest, and the obelisk marks the spot where Marie-Antoinette, Charlotte Corday (Marat’s assassin), Lavoisier, Danton, and Robespierre lost their heads. Flanking either side of Concorde’s intersection with the wide Champs-Élysées are reproductions of Guillaume Coustou’s Cheveaux de Marly. Also known as Africans Mastering the Numidian Horses, the original sculptures are now in the Louvre to protect them from pollution. The place is ringed by eight large statues representing France’s major cities: Brest, Bordeaux Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen, and Strasbourg. At night, the Concorde’s dynamic ambience begins to soften, and the obelisk, fountains, and lamps are dramatically illuminated. On Bastille Day, a military parade led by the President of the Republic marches through Concorde (usually around 10am) and down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, and an impressive fireworks display lights up the sky over the place at night. At the end of July, the Tour de France finalists pull through Concorde and into the home stretch on the Champs-Élysées. Tourists be warned: between the Concorde’s monumental scale, lack of crosswalks and heavy traffic, crossing the street here is impossible at best, fatal at worst.
Concorde.
Opéra
OPÉRA NATIONAL DE PARIS/OPÉRA GARNIER
pl. de l’Opéra
THEATER
08 92 89 90 90 www.operadeparis.fr
Formerly known as the Opéra National de Paris before the creation of the Opéra Bastille in 1989, this splendid historic structure is now better known as Opéra Garnier. Architect Garnier was extensively inspired by his studies in Greece, Turkey, and Rome, and it definitely shows; the Opéra’s wondrous frescoes and dazzling stone and marble designs regularly leave visitors speechless. That being said, visiting the Opéra is a roll of the dice. The building is periodically closed due to performances or set construction, and these interruptions are rarely listed on the website. We also advise that you take one of the guided tours, as the guides are all extremely knowledgeable. You might get a tour guide with a nearly incomprehensible French accent, so try to schedule this visit later in your stay when you’re well accustomed to English à la frog.
Opéra. €9, under 25 €5. Guided visit €12, over 60 €10, students €9, ages 12 and under €6, big families €30. Open daily 10am-4:30pm; may be closed on performance days, so check the website.
NOTRE DAME DE LORETTE
18bis rue de Châteaudun
CHURCH
01 48 78 92 72 www.notredamedelorette.org
Constructed between 1823 and 1836 by architect Hippolyte Le Bas, Notre Dame de Lorette is a remarkably ornate Neoclassical church in an otherwise average residential neighborhood. At the time of its construction, it pushed the limits of socially acceptable extravagance, and even compelled a cadre of church officials, journalists, and other Parisiens to disapprove of its borderline-vulgar extravagance. The four massive and intricately carved pillars that support the church’s blackening entrance will remind you of the Parthenon; splendid frescoes adorn the ceilings of each of the four chapels, and portray the Virgin Mary and the four principal sacraments (baptism, eucharist, wedding, and anointing of the sick, for those not in the know) in detail. Though a must-see for lovers of art and architecture, Notre Dame de Lorette remains an active neighborhood church, so try to avoid Mass times unless, of course, you want to go for Mass. Given some serious disrepair, the future of the church’s renovation or closing is perpetually up in the air. Catch it while it’s still here.
Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Reception M-F 2:30-6:30pm, Sa 5-6:30pm. Open for visitors daily 9am-6pm.
Canal St-Martin and Surrounds
It seems that the number of sketchballs and number of cool sights in a given neighborhood are inversely related. While the 10ème doesn’t offer much in the way of landmarks or museums, there are a few quick sights that you might want to check out; Le Marché Saint-Quentin could take a bit longer.
LE MARCHÉ SAINT-QUENTIN
Corner rue de Chabrol and bld. Magenta
HISTORIC SIGHT, MONUMENT
The largest covered market in Paris, Le Marché Saint-Quentin was constructed in 1865 and renovated in 1982. A series of huge windows allow the sun to pour in, and keep the complex warm even in winter. Come here for the finest cheeses, fish, and meats, or just experience the delicious mix of aromas and mingle with veteran foodies who spend their days browsing for the finest permutation of camembert. There’s a bistro in the middle of the market for those who can’t wait until they get home to chow down on their produce.
Gard de l’Est. Open M-Sa 8:30am-1pm and 4-7:30pm.
Bastille
In the 11ème, the term “Sights” is a bit of a misnomer—there are few monumental ones that still exist in this neighborhood, aside from the place de la Bastille. Still, the symbolic historical value of the arrondissement remains, and the lively neighborhood provides many of its own contemporary diversions. The 12ème boasts giant monoliths of modern architecture, like the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Omnisports. Most of the construction is commercial, fitting the working-class background of the area, but a bit of old-fashioned charm can be seen in the funky Viaduc des Arts near the Bastille. There are generally more hospitals than museums in the neighborhood, but in October 2007 the arrondissement welcomed a new museum, the Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, which is a must-see if only for its present relevance. It is housed in the Palais de la Porte Dorée along with the aquarium; if you make it there, hop on over to the nearby Bois de Vincennes for the impressive château and grounds.
MALHIA KENT
19 av. Daumesnil
WORKSHOP
01 53 44 76 76 www.malhia.com
Fulfilling every Project Runway fantasy, this workshop gives an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at fashion. Artisans weave gorgeously intricate fabrics that become haute couture for houses like Dior and Chanel. Also gives you a chance to buy clothing—mostly jackets and blazers—before a label is attached and the price skyrockets.
Gare de Lyon. Clothing usually €75-300. Open M-F 9am-7pm.
BASTILLE PRISON
HISTORIC LANDMARK
Visitors to the prison subsist on symbolic value alone--it’s one of the most popular sights in Paris that doesn’t actually exist. On July 14, 1789, an angry Parisian mob stormed this bastion of royal tyranny, sparking the French Revolution. They only liberated a dozen or so prisoners, but who’s counting? Two days later, the Assemblée Nationale ordered the prison demolished. Today, all that remains is the ground plan of the fortress, still visible as a line of paving-stones in the place de la Bastille.
The proletariat masses couldn’t have chosen a better symbol to destroy. The prison was originally commissioned by Charles V to safeguard the eastern entrance to Paris; strapped for cash, Charles “recruited” a press-gang of passing civilians to lay the stones for the fortress. Construction was completed by the end of the 14th century, and the Bastille’s formidable towers rose 100 ft. above the city. After serving as the royal treasury under Henry IV, the building was turned into a state prison by Louis XIII. Internment there, generally reserved for heretics and political dissidents, was the king’s business, and as a result it was often arbitrary. But it was hardly the hell-hole that the Revolutionaries who tore it down imagined it to be. Bastille’s titled inmates were allowed to furnish their suites, use fresh linens, bring their own servants, and receive guests; the Cardinal de Rohan famously held a dinner party for 20 in his cell. Notable prisoners included the Mysterious Man in the Iron Mask (made famous by writer Alexandre Dumas), the Comte de Mirabeau, Voltaire (twice), and the Marquis de Sade, who wrote his notorious novel Justine here.
On the day of the “s
torm,” the Revolutionary militants, having ransacked the Invalides for weapons, turned to the Bastille for munitions. Surrounded by an armed rabble, too short on food to entertain the luxury of a siege, and unsure of the loyalty of the Swiss mercenaries who defended the prison, the Bastille’s governor surrendered. His head was severed with a pocket knife and paraded through the streets on a pike. Despite the gruesome details, the storming of the Bastille has come to symbolize the triumph of liberty over tyranny. Its first anniversary was cause for great celebration in revolutionary Paris. Since the late 19th century, July 14 has been the official state holiday of the French Republic. It is a time of glorious firework displays and copious amounts of alcohol, with festivities concentrated in the pl. de la Bastille.
Bastille.
JULY COLUMN TOWER
Towering above the the always-busy pl. de la Bastille, this light-catching column commemorates a group of French freedom fighters—though, somewhat illogically, not those who stormed the Bastille. Topped by the conspicuous gold cupid with the shiny bum, the pillar was erected by King Louis-Philippe in 1831 to pay homage to Republicans who had died in the Trois Glorieuses, three days of street fighting that engulfed Paris in July of 1830. Victims of the Revolution of 1848 were subsequently buried here, along with two mummified Egyptian pharaohs (we’re not sure what their involvement was). The column is closed to the public. Bastille. In the center of pl. de la Bastille.
Butte-aux-Cailles and Chinatown
There are no monuments in the 13ème to speak of, and that’s to its credit. Diverse, residential, and pleasantly odd, the neighborhoods here retain the daily rhythm of Parisian life, and remain uninterrupted by the troops of pear-shaped tourists in matching fanny packs that plague the more pristine arrondissements. Though short on medieval cathedrals, hidden gems from Paris’s more recent legacy of perturbed Bo(hemian)-Bo(urgeosie)s and globalization are scattered throughout the area. Adventurous wanderers will enjoy getting lost in the quirky and sprawling Chinatown, the and working class Butte-aux-Cailles harbors a thriving street-art culture.
QUARTIER DE LA BUTTE-AUX-CAILLES
NEIGHBORHOOD
Intersection of rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles and rue 5 diamants
Once a working class neighborhood, the Quartier de la Butte-aux-Cailles was home to the soixantes-huitards, the activists who nearly paralyzed the city during the 1968 riots. Permutations of the district’s original counter-culture remain alive and well: dreadlocks are the hairstyle of choice, and the fashionably disaffected tag walls with subversive graffiti and are armed with guitars at all times. Funky restaurants like Chez Gladines and the co-operative Le Temps des Cerises line the cobbled streets, and attract a boisterous, artsy crowd. L’Église de Ste-Anne, which stands on the corner of rue Bobillot and rue de Tolbiac, boasts a gorgeous stained-glass collection that refracts the afternoon sun into red, blue, and purple light.
Corvisart. Exit onto bld. Blanqui and then turn onto rue 5 diamants, which will intersect with rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles.
QUARTIER CHINOIS
Just south of rue de Tolbiac
NEIGHBORHOOD
Spread out over four Metro stops just south of rue de Tolbiac, Paris’s Chinatown is home to a significant population of Cambodian, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese immigrants. Signs change from French to Asian languages, and restaurants advertise steamed dumplings in lieu of magret de canard. Non-residents roam the streets looking for the best Asian cuisine Paris has to offer.
Porte d’Ivry, Porte de Choisy, Tolbiac and Maison Blanche are near Chinatown.
BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE: SITE FRANCOIS MITTERRAND
11 quai Francois Mauriac
LIBRARY
01 53 79 59 59 www.bnf.fr
With its wide windows and and towering steel frame, the library is an imposing piece of architecture worthy of the 13 million volumes it houses. Highlights of the collection include Gutenberg Bibles and first editions from the Middle Ages, and are displayed in rotation the Galerie des Donateurs. The exhibit can be accessed for free. Scholars hunker down beneath the vaulted ceiling of the library’s imposing reading room, or lounge on the extensive deck, surveying the Seine with cigarettes in hand.
Quai de la Gare. Day pass to reading rooms €3.30; 15-day pass €20; annual membership €35, students €18. Tours €3. Open M 2-7pm, Tu-Sa 10am-7pm, Su 1pm-7pm. Tours Tu-F 2pm, Sa-Su 3pm.
Montparnasse
CIMITIÈRE MONTPARNASSE
3 bld. Edgar Quinet
CEMETERY
01 44 10 86 50
Opened in 1824, Cimitière Montparnasse is the prestigious final resting place of countless famed Frenchman, and an escape from the touristy hustle and bustle of Montparnasse. Be sure to stop at the security station at the Boulevard Quinet entrance for a map marking the resting places of the cemetery’s celebrities. The map reads like a Who’s Who? of French greatness: Charles Baudelaire, Alfred Dreyfuss, Guy de Maupassant, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (the two are buried together), among many others, hold real estate here. The presence of these great minds is surely enough to make humanities buffs shed a tear, and the graves continue to be lovingly adorned with cigarette butts, beer bottles, Metro tickets, and personal statements of gratitude in several languages. The rest of the cemetery, however, leaves a bit to be desired. The broken windows, bright green trash receptacles, and candy-cane-striped “Do Not Enter” signs detract from the solemn beauty of the cemetery. Local residents have co-opted the grounds for their own purposes; kids play tag, older kids from the “banlieues” bum cigarettes off tourists, and locals drink excessively. Nonetheless, the cemetery showcases some delightful architecture, an impressive list of tenants, and relatively few tourists.
Edgar Quinet, opposite the Square Delambre. Free. Open 24hr.
CATACOMBS
1 av. du Colonel Henri Roi-Tanguy
HISTORIC LANDMARK
01 43 22 47 63 www.catacombes-de-paris.fr
The Catacombs were originally the site of some of Paris’s stone mines, but were converted into an ossuary (i.e., place to keep bones) in 1785 due to the stench arising from overcrowded cemeteries in Paris. A journey into these tunnels is not for the handicapped or the light of heart—it’s a 45min. excursion, and there are no bathrooms, so we recommend that all middle-aged men double down on their Maxiflow the night before, and handle business before you descend into the abyss. The visitor enters down a winding spiral staircase, and soon thereafter, is greeted by a welcoming sign: “Stop, here is the Empire of Death.” The visuals are quite unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Morbid-themed graffiti lines the walls, and the view of hundreds of thousands of bones makes you feel, well, quite insignificant in the grander scheme of things. Try to arrive before the opening at 10am; nestled twice as deep below ground as the Metro, the Catacombs offer a refreshing respite from the midday heat in the summer, and hordes of tourists form extremely long lines to get out of the beating sun. The visitor’s passage is well-signed, so don’t worry about getting lost. Try trailing behind the group a little for the ultimate creepy experience; you won’t be disappointed.
Denfert Rochereau. Cross av. Roi-Tanguy with lion on your left. €7, over 60 €5.50, 14-26 €3.50, under 14 free. Open Tu-Su 10am-4pm.
Passy and Auteuil
With streets named after Theopold Gautier, Benjamin Franklin, George Sand, and other illustrious figues, the 16ème echoes with previous eras of high culture. Remnants of these periods are now housed in the Quarter’s many museums. Fans of Last Tango in Paris can wander onto the Bir-Hakeim bridge where scenes were shot, and Honoré de Balzac’s devotees can lovingly touch the desk where he wrote. Though packed with tourists, Trocadero and its surroundings feature wonderful views of the Eiffel Tower, and boast a bustling center of street art, not to mention the graves of some of Paris’s most notable residents.
CIMITIÈRE DE PASSY
2 rue du Commandant-Schloesing
CEMETERY
01 53 70 40
80
Opened in 1820, this cemetery is home to some of Paris’s most notable deceased, including the Givenchy family, Claude Debussy, Berthe Morisot, and Édouard Manet. The idiosyncrasies and enduring rivalries of these figures continue even in death; the graves here look more like little mansions than tombstones. The tomb of Russian artist Marie Bashkirtseff is a recreation of her studio, and stands at an impressive 40 ft. Morisot and Manet are buried in a more modest tomb together. We suspect that Morisot’s husband would not have approved. Well-groomed and quiet, the graveyard is more of a shadowy garden, with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower.
Let's Go Europe 2011: The Student Travel Guide Page 55