Tourist Attractions of Paris

Sightseeing Overview

The city center is actually surprisingly compact and the metro system makes getting around fairly easy. A good way for first time arrivals to get an idea of how Paris fits together is to take a cruise on the River Seine or ascend the Eiffel Tower and take in a sweeping view of the city. With so much to see, time management is crucial and many people opt to choose to concentrate on one or two of the arrondissements.

The nostalgic should wander around the mansions of the Marais district, past the Musee Carnavalet, 23 rue de Sevigne,
3rd; Hotel de Sully, 62 rue St-Antoine, 4th, and Place des Vosges, home to the Maison de Victor Hugo. Those interested in modern art and design should opt for the Center Georges Pompidou, place Beaubourg, 4th; Jean Nouvel’s Institut du Monde Arabe, 1 rue des Fosses-St-Bernard, 5th; or the Grande Arche de la Defense with its high-speed glass lift offering a spectacular view of Paris. The Grande Arche, which lies along the same geographical axis as Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees, was built a century and a half later. This incongruity (the modern city juxtaposed with the old) is all part of the charm of Paris.

Paris overflows with museums, ranging from the vast collections of the Louvre to the small and quirky - such as the Musee des Arts Forains, 53 avenue des-Terroires-de-France, 12th, a shrine to fairground art, with something for everyone scattered through the metropolitan area.

Repeat visitors to Paris usually end up uncovering something new, such as the rejuvenated Bercy district to the east with its green spaces, popular bars and development buzz or Belleville, with its grungy cosmopolitanism and ethnic restaurants. A new attraction is the Paris Plage in summer when the car takes a back seat and the city’s citizens relax by the Seine amidst a world of sand and deckchairs. This is only one urban escape in a city with a sprinkling of parks that offer respite from the bustle.

Passes
The new Museum Pass allows free unlimited access to more than 70 museums and monuments in the Paris region, including the Arc de Triomphe, Musee National du Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and Musee Rodin. The pass is for sale (€25 for one day, €44 for three days and €62 for five days) from tourist offices, participating museums and monuments, the main metro stations and FNAC stores. The pass allows visitors to bypass queues but does not provide free admission to special or temporary exhibitions. For more information, visit www.museums-of-paris.com

Key Attractions:

Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)

The Eiffel Tower literally towers over the Champ de Mars in the smart 7th arrondissement. The top (third) floor offers a sweeping panorama of Paris. From directly underneath there is a fascinating view of the delicate ironwork of Gustave Eiffel, who was commissioned to build the tower for the Exposition Universelle in 1889, the centenary of the French Revolution. The Tour Eiffel is also home to a number of restaurants, which offer views of the city and sky high prices to match.

Cathedrale de Notre-Dame (Cathedral of Our Lady)

The stocky Notre-Dame Cathedral, situated on the Ile-de-la-Cite, could not be more different from the filigree Eiffel Tower. Bishop Maurice de Sully began construction on the cathedral in 1163, to outshine the new abbey at St-Denis; work was completed in 1345. The result is a Gothic masterpiece, with three stunning rose windows. Visitors should be prepared to climb the 387 spiral steps to the top of the 75m (246ft) north tower. The views over the River Seine and the city center are well worth the effort. There is also a treasury with various liturgical objects on display. A violent storm in 1999 caused significant damage to the cathedral, though by 2004 much of it had been repaired. The scaffolding, which has blighted the cathedral for as long as anyone can remember, looks set to remain for the foreseeable future.

La Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (The Sacred Heart Basilica)

A long, wide series of steps lead to the snowy-white-domed Sacre-Coeur that dominates the arty district of Montmartre. A mishmash of styles, the Catholic church was built between 1870 and 1919, to fulfil a vow made during the Franco-Prussian war. The interior is splendid with neo-Byzantine mosaics and the domed tower offers a spectacular view over Paris. The crypt contains an interesting collection of religious relics and a slide show on the construction of the Basilica. Below the church, a park tumbles down the hillside in a flurry of benches that make an ideal spot for surveying the city skyline.

Musee National du Louvre (Louvre National Museum)

The Louvre first opened to the public in 1793, following the Revolution, as a showcase for the art treasures of the kings of France. The museum is organized into three wings on four floors - Richelieu (along rue de Rivoli), Sully (around cour Carree) and Denon (along the River Seine). The vast permanent collection includes Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian and East Asian antiquities, French, Spanish, Italian and northern European sculpture and 19th-century objets d’art. The painting collection is the strongest, with French, Italian, Dutch, German, Flemish and Spanish masterpieces from the mid-13th to the mid-19th centuries.

Most famed French works include David’s Coronation of Napoleon, Ingres’ The Turkish Bath, Gericault’s depiction of disaster, The Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix’s ode to revolution, Liberty Leading the People. The museum’s greatest treasure, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, is in a bullet-proof case. There are plans to move it into its own room, but for now it is on display in room 13, on the first floor of the Denon wing. Excavations have exposed traces of the medieval Louvre, which are on display together with the history of the Louvre under the Cour Carree, in the entresol level in the Sully wing. Buying tickets from the official website in advance saves unnecessary time spent queuing.

Musee Rodin (Rodin Museum)

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) lived and worked in this 18th-century hotel particulier. Now the Rodin Museum, his sculptures populate the interior and gardens. Indoors, The Kiss portrays eternal passion frozen in white marble, while The Hand of God gives life to creamy white, half-formed figures. Works of Rodin’s mistress and pupil, Camille Claudel, and paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Rodin himself are also on display. The gardens are graced by the monumental bronze The Thinker, whose godly physique contrasts sharply with the decrepitude of the writhing figures of The Gates of Hell and the controversial final portrait of Balzac, once described as ‘a block that disgraces its author and French Art’.

Musee d’Orsay (Museum of Orsay)

The museum’s home, an impressively converted railway station by the banks of the Seine, is stunning, but the real strength of this large museum lies in its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. The collection, covering the decisive 1848-1914 period, is arranged chronologically, beginning on the ground floor, jumping to the third, then descending to the middle level. Among the most famous works are Manet’s Dejeuner sur l’Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass), rejected from the Salon of 1863, five of Monet’s paintings of Rouen Cathedral and the realist work, L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World), by Gustave Courbet, whose graphic depiction of the female sex continues to shock.

Musee National Picasso (National Picasso Museum)

Paris-based Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) owned most of this collection, the largest worldwide, housed in a 17th-century mansion in the Marais. All phases of his art are represented, with preparatory sketches and paintings covering the Blue Period, Rose Period, Cubism, Classicism, Surrealism and sculptures ranging from a huge plaster head to a small cat. Memorable works include the Blue Period self-portrait Paolo as Harlequin, the surreal Nude in an Armchair and poignant paintings of Marie-Therese. Photographs are displayed alongside the works they inspired and African masks with Picasso’s ‘primitive’ wood carvings. There is also a glimpse of the artist’s personal taste in paintings, with his Matisse and Cezanne paintings displayed alongside his own.

Center Georges Pompidou (Georges Pompidou Center)

Considered outrageous in 1977, the Pompidou Center, designed by Piano and Rogers, has become part of the Parisian landscape, primary colored tubes and all. The building was revamped and extended a few years ago, to cope with the huge numbers of people visiting its expanding collection of contemporary art and multimedia library. The center re-opened on the first day of the new millennium.

Paris Plage

Since its inception in 2001 Paris Plage has become a highly successful annual event. The idea of shutting off a busy 3.5km section of riverfront expressway in the city center and turning it into a giant leisure oasis is both simple and brilliant, though it has provoked the ire of some of the city’s taxi drivers. A flurry of deckchairs and hammocks replace the cars and an open-air swimming pool, mainly geared towards children, was introduced in 2004 alongside the stalls selling food, drinks and ice cream. Mist sprays, sand and the sight of relaxing locals and tourists manage to raise a smile from all but the most world-weary of Parisians.

Banks of the Seine between Tuileries Tunnel and the Henri IV bridge
Opening times: Jul-Aug
Admission: Free.

Further Distractions:

Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens)

This garden, part formal, part jardin a l’anglaise, were created for Marie de Medicis (Henri IV’s widow), along with the Palais du Luxembourg, which now houses the French Senate. It is a favored spot for a Sunday stroll, game of tennis, chess or boules, pony ride or yacht trip on the lake.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

This appealing park spreads over 23 hectares between Gare du Nord and Belleville. It was originally commissioned by Napoleon III and mixes grandeur with wildlife. Its walkways are alive with the likes of wagtails, tits, gulls, geese and swans. In the lake pike, tench and roach abound. The park is perfect for escaping the city for a while, strolling around its lofty inclines or even popping on some in-line skates and heading around the skate trail.

Transport: Metro Buttes Chaumont
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Admission: Free.

La Grande Mosquee de Paris (Paris Grand Mosque)

Built between 1922 and 1926, close to the Jardin des Plantes, this Hispano-Moorish mosque oversees France’s Muslim community. There is free access and guided tours to the sunken garden and patios. The prayer room, however, remains closed to the non-Muslim public. There is also an authentic hammam (Turkish bath) with masseurs at hand, as well as a wonderful mosaic courtyard complete with fig trees and a fountain - the perfect setting for enjoying a sweet mint tea served in tiny gilded glasses with some honeyed baklava. In the adjoining restaurant, couscous and other Arabic dishes are served.