La Tour Eiffel and other Paris, France Things to Do Tips

It's funny to think that a construction so abhorred by the French public upon its conception could become the monument most closely associated with the country. Born out of a contest to design the 1,000 foot tower for the 1889 World Expo, the tower was slated for the junkyard even as it was being built. Somewhere along the way the people realized it might actually have some use, like hosting a forest of television and radio antennae. Or acting as the launching pad for some 300 suicides.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower up close is amazingly overwhelming and incomparable to the view from across town. It was once the tallest building in the world - losing that title in 1930 to New York's Chrysler Building.

The best time of day to take in the view from the tower is around sunset as the City of Lights starts to glow. On a clear day you can see the landscape for over 50 miles.

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Directions: Métro: Trocadéro, Ecole Militaire, or Bir-Hakeim. RER: Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel
Website: www.tour-eiffel.fr

The Gare D'Orsay was built in 1898 for the onslaught of trains expected for the 190o World's Fair (remember La Tour Eiffel) but eventually abandoned in the 1960s when the platforms proved too short for modern trains. Orson Welles shot scenes from "The Trial" in the vacant space before the station was reopened in 1986 as a museum. The interior is full of post-modern architecture. If time is limited, the gift shop sells the "Guide for Visitors in a Hurry."

A spectacular collection of art produced between 1848 where the Louvre ends and 1908 where the Pompidou picks up. Much of the work created during this time was French and mostly Impressionist. The Orsay is not just an Impressionism museum, much more was happening during this period. The rise and fall of literary salons and the creation of the avant garde movement occured. This is the place to see van Gogh, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Renior.

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Address: 1 rue de Bellechasse or 62 rue de Lille
Directions: On the Left Bank, on the banks of the Seine.
Website: www.musee-orsay.fr

The Arc de Triomphe remains the largest triumphal arch in the world. The sculpture surrounding it includes Francois Rude's "La Marseillaise" depicting the uprising of 1792. Climb the 164 foot arch for one of the best views of Paris (save for the Eiffel Tower), highlighting the city's unmistakeable design. The arch marks the intersection of the 8e, 16e, and 17e arrondissements and radiating out are 12 avenues. Gaze along the lines to La Defense, down the Champs-Elysee to place de la Concorde and on to the Louvre.

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Address: Place Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, 8e
Directions: Métro: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. Bus: 22, 30, 31, 52, 73, or 92
Website: www.monuments.fr

This white concoction was dreamt up by overzealous Catholics to expiate the sins of the citizens participating in the Paris Commune of 1871, massacred by government troops that same year. Designed by Paul Abadie and built between 1875 and 1914, the Sacre-Coeur met with criticism even during construction (the French are very picky) but today is the most popular postcard subject of Paris. The Romanesque-Byzantine structure looks white because the stone secretes calcite when wet. The more it rains, the more the Sacre Coeur gleams. The interior is hardly awe-inspiring, though the red-toned stained glass can give off a fiery glow in the evenings. Consider a visit to the 367-foot bell tower for a magnificent view of the city, although you can achieve almost the same effect from the top steps in front of the basilica.

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Address: Place St-Pierre, 18e
Directions: Métro: Abbesses; then take the elevator to the surface and follow the signs to the funiculaire, which goes up to the church for the price of a Métro ticket

Rising above the city on the highest hill in Paris is the home to a once-thriving artistic community. Even now, after many of the artists have headed to the cheaper areas, Montmartre remains first and foremost a village where a special breed of Parisian lives and drinks. A trip through the streets affords you glimpses of gardens, small cafes filled with locals, and perhaps the sound of a practicing violinist.

Today the aggressive third-rate painters are clustered around the place du Tertre, one of the most tourist attacked spots in the entire city, are the only reminders of Montmartre's artistic heritage. Real artists live behind the hill, in homes on avenue Junot. The last remaining vineyard is Paris can be found on rue des Saules. It produces 125 gallons of wine per year.

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Address: Near Sacre Coeur
Directions: Métro: Abbesses; then take the elevator to the surface and follow the signs to the funiculaire, which goes up to the church for the price of a Métro ticket

When it comes to name-dropping, this cemetery knows no peer; it has been called the "grandest address in Paris." A free map of Père-Lachaise is available at the newsstand across from the main entrance.

Everybody from Sarah Bernhardt to Oscar Wilde to Richard Wright is here, along with Honoré de Balzac, Jacques-Louis David, Eugène Delacroix, Maria Callas, Max Ernst, and Georges Bizet. Colette was taken here in 1954; her black granite slab always sports flowers, and legend has it that cats replenish the roses. In time, the little sparrow, Edith Piaf, followed. The lover of George Sand, poet Alfred de Musset, was buried under a weeping willow. Napoleon's marshals, Ney and Masséna, lie here, as do Frédéric Chopin and Molière. Marcel Proust's black tombstone rarely lacks a tiny bunch of violets (he wanted to be buried beside his friend/lover, composer Maurice Ravel, but their families wouldn't allow it).

Some tombs are sentimental favorites: Love-torn graffiti radiates 1km (half a mile) from the tomb of Doors singer Jim Morrison. The great dancer Isadora Duncan came to rest in the Columbarium, where bodies have been cremated and "filed" away. If you search hard enough, you can find the tombs of that star-crossed pair Abélard and Héloïse, the ill-fated lovers of the 12th century--at Père-Lachaise they've found peace at last. Other famous lovers also rest here: A stone is marked "Alice B. Toklas" on one side and "Gertrude Stein" on the other, and eventually France's First Couple of film were reunited when Yves Montand joined his wife, Simone Signoret. (Montand's gravesite attracted much attention in 1998: His corpse was exhumed in the middle of the night for DNA testing in a paternity lawsuit--he wasn't the father.)

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Address: 16 rue du Repos
Directions: Métro: Père-Lachaise

Notre-Dame is the heart of Paris and even of the country itself: Distances from the city to all parts of France are calculated from a spot at the far end of place du Parvis, in front of the cathedral, where a circular bronze plaque marks Kilomètre Zéro.

The cathedral's setting on the banks of the Seine has always been memorable. Founded in the 12th century by Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, Notre-Dame has grown over the years, changing as Paris has changed, often falling victim to whims of decorative taste. Its flying buttresses (the external side supports, giving the massive interior a sense of weightlessness) were rebuilt in 1330. Though many disagree, we feel Notre-Dame is more interesting outside than in, and you'll want to walk all around it to fully appreciate this "vast symphony of stone." Better yet, cross over the pont au Double to the Left Bank and view it from the quay.

If possible, come to see Notre-Dame at sunset. Inside, of the three giant medallions warming the austere cathedral, the north rose window in the transept, from the mid-13th century, is best. The main body of the church is typically Gothic, with slender, graceful columns. In the choir, a stone-carved screen from the early 14th century depicts such biblical scenes as the Last Supper. Near the altar stands the 14th-century Virgin and Child , highly venerated among Paris's faithful. In the treasury are displayed vestments and gold objects, including crowns. Exhibited are a cross presented to Haile Selassie, former emperor of Ethiopia, and a reliquary given by Napoleon. Notre-Dame is especially proud of its relic of the True Cross and the Crown of Thorns.

To visit those gargoyles immortalized by Hugo, you have to scale steps leading to the twin towers rising to a height of 68m (225 ft.). Once there, you can inspect the devils (some giving you the raspberry), hobgoblins, and birds of prey. Look carefully and you may see hunchback Quasimodo with Esmerelda.

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Address: 6 place du Parvis Notre-Dame
Directions: Métro: Cité or St-Michel. RER: St-Michel
Website: www.paris.org/Monuments/NDame

Despite the stories and the general wackiness of his reputation, visiting Napolean's Tomb is a must simply to see the ornate burial chamber created for such a little man. He lies ensconced in five coffins, one inside the other.

Napolean's Tomb is part of the Hotel Des Invalides, commissioned by Louis XIV to accomodate soldiers during military campaigns. The rooms are baren but the stroll is pleasant and the location is incomparable, a short stroll away is La Tour Eiffel, the Seine, and the Trocadero. From there all of Paris unfolds at your feet, if you squint you can see Notre Dame.

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Address: Place des Invalides, 7e
Directions: Métro: Latour-Maubourg, Varenne, or Invalides

The Louvre is the world's largest palace and museum. As a palace, it leaves us cold, except for the Cour Carrée. As a museum, it's one of the greatest art collections ever. To enter, you pass through I. M. Pei's controversial 21m (71-ft.) glass pyramid--a startling though effective contrast of ultramodern against the palace's classical lines. Commissioned by the late president François Mitterrand and completed in 1989, it allows sunlight to shine on an underground reception area with a complex of shops and restaurants. Ticket machines relieve the long lines of yesteryear.

Read more in my travelogue.

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Address: 34-36 quai du Louvre
Directions: Métro: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre
Website: www.louvre.fr