Museums of Paris

Some of the best historic collections in France can be seen in the hundreds Paris museums and complexes. Many of these collections are located right in the heart of the city, housed in beautiful buildings.

Musee Rodin
This 18th-century former hotel is where Auguste Rodin once lived and many of his works are housed here. The museum and the large garden may be visited separately. The magnificent garden contains more than 2,000 rose bushes.

Museum open: April to September, Tuesday to Sunday - 09:30 to 17:45
October to March, Tuesday to Sunday - 09:30 to 16:45

Musee Carnavalet - 23 Rue de Sevigne, Paris

This museum is dedicated to the history of Paris through to modern times, and is housed in two adjacent historic mansions. which were formerly hotels. There is a very interesting section devoted to the Revolution which includes models of guillotines, execution orders, and objects used by the royal family during their final days.

Museum open: daily - 10:00 to 17:40, closed Mondays and bank holidays

Musee de Notre Dame - 10, Rue du Cloître Notre Dame, Paris

Charting the history of the world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral with numerous paintings, engravings, medallions and other objects and documents.

Museum open: 14:30 to 18:00, closed - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Musee de la Mode et du Costume de la Ville de Paris - 10 Avenue Pierre-Ier de Serbie, Paris

Housed in Palais Galliera, this museum features a collection of French costume and fashion accessories from the 18th century to the present day.
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Nightlife in Paris

The temptation to make a beeline for the Champs-Elysees and Trocadero should be avoided unless visitors want to end up crammed alongside fellow tourists in overpriced bars with large egos but little atmosphere. The livelier action has now moved on to the likes of bustling Bastille, which may have been deserted by the real local cognoscenti, but still boasts plenty of colourful small bars, popular clubs and unique little drinking dens.

These days anyone wanting to really mix it with the style crowd and have an ‘authentic’ Parisian night out should break east to raffish Menilmontant, which boasts an increasingly sophisticated and eclectic nightlife scene that was kicked off by the legendary Cafe Charbon on rue de Oberkampf, a street now overflowing with bars. The smart money is on Belleville being the next new ‘in’ place, though the scene in this rough-around-the-edges part of town is far less obvious and it is just that bit further from the centre.

Back in the heart of the city, the Marais has managed an impressive renaissance of late and now offers plenty of bars, chic cafes and a perhaps surprisingly active gay and lesbian scene. Pigalle is the seedy sex centre of Paris but home to some good music venues and the Moulin Rouge cabaret, 82 boulevard Clichy, 18th, where the cancan is still performed.

The minimum legal age for drinking alcohol (beer and wine) is 16 years of age, rising to 18 years for stronger drinks and spirits. The average price of a drink while out and about in Paris is €4, although prices can vary dramatically depending on the location. Bars are usually licensed until 0100 but this does vary according to the individual venue and area. Bouncers frequently turn potential punters away and many of the smarter clubs are (or claim to be) private. There is no sure way of gaining admission, although being foreign, dressed identically to everyone inside, accompanied by a regular or simply beautiful helps. Admission prices (usually around €15-20) often include one free drink. Clubs open at around 2300 and tend not to close until dawn; it is coolest to arrive around 0300, or at least after midnight.

Pariscope is one of the best sources of information for nightlife listings.

Bars: The lines between cafes and bars in Paris are very blurred with cafes where you can settle in with a beer and a croissant for breakfast and bars when you can enjoy a late night sandwich along with your cocktail. The 1990s craze for Irish and British pubs has to some extent run its course with the new focus on more funky and interesting bars that have more in common with East Berlin than the East End of London. With the exception of Anglo/Irish bars, beers on tap (biere a la pression) are normally served as a demi (25cl).

The once trendy Buddha Bar, 8 bis rue Boissy d’Anglas, 8th, has lost much of its shine, with the bars in Menilmontant now the place to see and be seen. Cafe Charbon, 109 rue Oberkampf, 11th, the bar that kicked the rejuvenation of the area is still going strong and has stayed at the head of the game by adding a club venue, while Le Mecano Bar, 99 rue Oberkampf, 11th, so called because of its toolbox decor, is one of most popular bars in the area with a grungy feel. Nearby Lou Pascalou, 14 rue des Panoyaux, 20th, is a relaxed place to hang out with some of the most unusual toilets in the city. The scene in Menilmontant is constantly evolving so visitors are advised to just wander around rue de Oberkampf and explore some its side streets for the latest ‘in’ bar.

The Marais (3rd and 4th) is packed with a happy melange of gay and straight bars. Vibrant gay bars include the Coffe Shop, 3 rue Ste-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, and Amnesia, 42 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 4th. Le Central, 33 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 4th, is one of the city’s oldest gay bars, with a more sedate clientele. Paris’ sole gay-only hotel is situated above the cafe. There are also a number of quirky little straight bars in and around rue Vieille-du-Temple, including La Chaise au Plafond, 10 rue du Tresor, 4th, with its ceiling decorated with Frisian cows and a lovely terrace, Au Petit Fer a Cheval, 30 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 4th, named after its huge horseshoe-shaped bar, and L’Etoile Manquante, 30 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 4th. Also in the Marais is the Web Bar, 32 rue de Picardie, 3rd, a silversmith’s atelier turned into a hip but relaxing cybernet haunt. (more…)

Sightseeing in Paris

The city centre 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 Centre 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

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. (more…)