Tour Eiffel and other Paris, France Things to Do Tips

The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. A design competition had been organized and 700 proposal entered the contest. Gustav Eiffel was the chosen architect. The Prince of Wales who would later become King Edward VII of England, opened the tower.

At 300 metres (320.75m including antenna), and 7000 tons, it was the world's tallest building until 1930. 1652 steps lead to the top.

The tower has three platforms. There are two restaurants, first of all "Altitude 95" which is located on the first floor. The name comes from its height, 95 meters above sea level.
Le Jules Verne restaurant is on the second platform and as you can guess it's extremely expensive and reservations are absolutely necessary. It even has a Michelin star. The top platform has a bar, souvenir shop, and (recently restored) office of the architect, Gustave Eiffel.

Most people though visit the Eiffel tower for its' breathtaking views over the city of Paris. With its 360° view over Paris, the 2nd floor is the perfect floor to make a photographic study of the city. From this floor, you can reach the top of the Tower. Elevators take you up providing glimpses of the extraordinary bold architecture of the monument. The 18-meter climb ends with a breathtaking view of Paris. There are two levels (one outdoors and the other indoors) for you to explore and discover Paris by day or by night.

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Address: Trocadero
Directions: You can't miss it!!! Trocadero is the closest metro station.
Website: http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

Louvre Museum was established in 1793 by the French Republic and is therefore one of the first museums. The building which houses the museum is actually a medieval fortress, the palace of the kings of France.

The museum is divided into 7 departments. The Louvre collections incorporate works dating from the birth of the great antique civilisations all the way to the first half of the 19th century. There are several temporary collections of which you can find more information from the website. If you want to see the all, you'll have to spend a whole week in Louvre! Give it a day and what you see is just a little scratch on everything this museum has to offer. Two of the probably best known artwork in Louvre will be presented as their own tips because I think they deserve it...

There are several entrances, the main entrance being via the Pyramid, which you can see in the photo.

TIP #1: You can buy your ticket online and get in without queueing.
TIP #2: Admission is free without ticket for all visitors on the first Sunday of each month and on 14th July (Bastille Day), except for the exhibition at the hall Napoléon.

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Directions: Metro: Palais-Royal / Musée du Louvre.
Bus: 21, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95.
Website: http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm

She's the reason why so many of us queue to get in the Louvre Museum. The Mona Lisa (1479 - d. before 1550) also known as La Gioconda (Jaconda).

Mona Lisa is beyond doubt the best known painting in the world, today completely identified with the Louvre Museum and even with the general notion of art. The mystical smile which is a legend. And what's behind the success with its public: the marginal, whimsical and brilliant personality of its creator, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519); the perfection of his pictorial technique; the mysteries, which are moreover still unresolved, surrounding the identity of the model who posed for the work.

I had been told the painting's small in size. I hadn't realised though how small! It's only 0,77x0,53 meters! Because it's painted on a thin backing of poplar wood, which is now extremely fragile, thepainting is nowadays preserved behind a glass case.

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Address: Louvre Museum

Venus de Milo is another remarkable piece of art inside the Museum of Louvre. It's made of marble, at about 100 BC already.

We cannot be sure, but the size ( height 202 cm) and the attitude of this statue allow its' identification as a goddess: either Aphrodite who's often represented half nude, or Amphitrite who's the goddess of the sea, venerated on the island of Melos. The style is characteristic of the late Hellenistic period. The slipping drapery on the hips entails a closed stance and introduces an instancy to the figure. It actually hides the joint between the two blocks of marble (!!!) that were sculpted separately, as were the left arm and leg, according to an utterly new technique. Clever!

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Address: Louvre Museum

This Gothic Catholic chapel was built in 1246 during the Middle Ages by Saint Louis, the king of France.

It was designed as a shrine for Jesus Christ's thorn crown. The crown was bought from Constantinople (called Istanbul nowadays) at a time when many European nobles fought in the middle-east to get back Jerusalem from the Muslims.

The chapel itself is now surrounded by the Palais of Justice on the Ile de la Cité near Notre Dame. It has two "tiers", the first one at ground level being rather dark and close, the second one having 15 colorful stainglasses best seen from the inside (see photo) as well as a small balcony.

Saint Chapelle is so beautiful with all that light and color kaleidoscope and even though Notre Dame is so much better known, Sainte Chapelle made a greater impression on me.

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Phone: 01 53 73 78 50
Address: 4, boulevard du Palais
Directions: On the Ile de la Cité near Notre Dame, just about 5 minutes walk. If you're already going to Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle is just "behind the corner".
Metro station: Cité
or bus 38.
Website: http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Sainte.Chapelle/

The history of Pantheon begun In 508, when Clovis, king of the Merovingians, built an abbey as well as a church on St Genevieve's tomb. In 1757, Louis XV had a church erected for the glory of France, Monarchy and St Genevieve.

This church in neo-classical style was designed by Soufflot in 1767 and finished in 1790. It takes its' from a Greek cross which is crowned by a dome and adorned with a classical peristyle. In 1791, it was converted into a pantheon for the republican heroes. In 1885, this monument became a civil building. Some of the great figures of the French history were buried here: Voltaire, V.Hugo, J.Jrousseau, E.Zola, J.Moulin, R.Cassin, A.Malraux, J.Monnet… It also contains the Foucalt Pendulum which is interesting to watch.

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Phone: 33 1 43 54 34 51
Address: Place du Panthéon, Paris 5e
Directions: Metro station: Luxembourg

Part of the first palace of the kings of France (They later moved to the Louvre palace), the Conciergerie became the first Paris prison in 1391. Located on the Cité island nearby the Notre Dame cathedral and the Sainte Chapelle, it became famous during the 1789 French revolution: in 1793 and 1794, as much as 2780 men and women were sentenced to death and detained in the Conciergerie until they left for the Concorde square where they.. well, lost their heads. Marie-Antoinette, queen of France and sister of the king of Austria, was among them. Marie Antoinette's cell is now a chapel to her memory, and includes her crucifix, and two portraits of her.

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Address: 1, quai de l'Horloge
Directions: Metro: Cité
La Conciergerie is open from 10am to 5pm, or 6pm (from April to September). Its' visit can be combined with the visit of the Sainte Chapelle. Save time and money using the Museum and Monument pass.

In France, until 1670, there wasn't any institution dedicated to the care of the severely wounded and the lodging of impoverished old soldiers. Louis XIV who paid great attention to the fate of the soldiers that had served in his troops, desired “to
construct a royal building of sufficient size and space to receive and lodge all officers and men who are crippled or old and frail, and to guarantee sufficient funds for their subsistence and their upkeep”.

The architectural project consisted in a great building erected around a large royal courtyard with a church facing north and punctuated by smaller lateral courtyards. The foundation stone was laid on 30 November 1671. Louis XIV in person received the first pensioners who took up residence in October 1674. It took only three years to build the main building and the different courtyards.

This hotel, which at the end of the 17th century housed some 4000 invalids, truly looked like a small town. The invalids organised in companies lead by officers had to obey military orders and follow religious rules. They worked in manufacturing workshops making shoes, woven tapestries and even illuminations.

Today it serves as MUSEE DE L'ARMEE, Army Museum which has for example Napoleons Tomb and large collections of Arms and Armour, Artillery, reduce scale models, historic figurines etc.

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Address: 129, Rue de Grenelle
Website: http://www.invalides.org/invalidesgb/indexgb/pagesgb/sommairegb.html

During the 19th century, two buildings stood upon the site of the future Musee D'Orsay: the Cavalry barracks and the Palais d'Orsay, built between 1810 and 1838. During the violence of what is known as La Commune in 1871, the entire neighbourhood was burnt down. For thirty years the carbonized ruins of the Palais d'Orsay served as reminders of the horrors of civil war.

On the eve of the 1900 World Fair, the French government ceded the land to the Orleans railroad company who planned to build a more central terminus station and a hotel on the site of the ruined Palais d'Orsay. From 1900 to 1939, Orsay station was the head of the southwestern French railroad network. The hotel received numerous travellers in addition to welcoming associations and political parties for their banquets and meetings. However, after 1939, the station was to serve only the suburbs, as its platforms had become too short for the longer more modern trains.

The Orsay station then successively served different purposes : it was a mailing centre for sending packages to prisoners of war during the Second World War, then a welcome centre for those same prisoners after the Liberation. It was also used as a set for several films. The hotel closed its doors on January 1st, 1973, not without having played a historic role : the General de Gaulle held the press conference announcing his return to power in its ballroom (the Salle des Fêtes).

In 1975, the Direction des Musées de France already envisioned installing a new museum in the train station, in which all of the arts from the second half of the 19th century would be represented. The President of the Republic, François Mitterrand, inaugurated the new museum on December 1st, 1986, and it opened to the public on December 9th.

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Phone: +33 (0)1 40 49 48 14
Address: 62, rue de Lille
Directions: Buses: 24, 63, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, and 94
Métro: line 12, Solférino station
RER: line C, Musée d'Orsay station
Website: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/

The Seine is crossed by many old and beautiful bridges. The picture here is a detail of a bridge called Ponte Alexandre III. Many consider the Pont Alexandre III the most beautiful bridge in Paris with its' lampposts and sculptures of cherubs and nymphs.

Also many of the most famous Paris monuments are on the river banks.
For these reasons, a Seine river cruise on a bateaux-mouche, a typical Parisian riverboat, is a great way to get to know the city and its' attractions. A river cruise is also very relaxing after a few full days of visits and shopping in Paris ;) You can also choose a lunch or dinner cruise although some say the dinner cruises are very expensive compared to what you get... For example Paris by Night tours offers these 5-hour dinner cruises for the price of 129 euros. The Seine river banks are beautifully illuminated at night so a cruise after sun's gone down is a pleasure.

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Directions: Several companies on the riverbanks Seine, e.g. Pont Alma.