Picnic in the outskirts of Paris and other Paris, France Off The Beaten Path Tips

If you get tired of walking around in the center of the city and want some more peace and nature surroundings... Paris can fix that too! Jump on Metro Line 1, 9 or 10 in western direction and head for Bois de Boulogne in the outskirts of the city. Bring a picnic, your bike or a pair of rollerblades and go enjoy a couple of hours in this big forrest, where you'll find a huge Hippodrome (Horse race track) as well as a couple of nice lakes. A great place to exercise or relax!

If you go by metro line 1 (against La Défense), get of at Porte Maillot which is the northeastern corner of the forrest, and if you go by metro line 9 (against Pont de Sévres), get of at Porte de St-Cloud, which is the southeastern corner. Be prepaired to walk a few minutes from the Metro to reach the forrest. It'll be about a 20-30 minute metro-ride from the center city.

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Jardins des Plantes in the 5th arr. near the Seine is another great park/garden in Paris.
Maybe not as famous as Jardins du Luxembourg, but this park offers some other activities.
Take your time to wander around a enjoy the millions of beautiful flowers, or enter one of the 'greenhouses' - a mexican and a tropical.
The park also contains a small zoo and 'History of Nature Museum' - Museum national d'histoire Naturelle.

The park opens when the sun goes op, and closes at sunset.
You'll find the park at: Rue Cuvier, Rue Buffon / Place Valhubert

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Phone: 01 40 79 30 00

Everyone of Paris' twenty arrondissements has their own city hall, and though they may not beat the main-city hall in the center city (Hotel de Ville), they might be worth taking a look at.
If you go to see the Pantheon church at Place du Pantheon, you can't miss the city hall there, as it's buildings kind of 'surround' the front of the church - just across the street.

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Cimetiére du Pére Lachaise is an incredible cemetery that has lots and lots of gigantic tombstones which makes it look like a small town of it's own.

One of the most 'popular' and famous graves are the one of Jim Morrison (1943-1971).
More than 30 years since his dead, you'll still find fresh flowers and candles on his graves everyday as well as you might see fans of his music standing there crying even though they were might not even born when he took his own life.

In top of that you'll find small shops near the cemetery whee you can buy all kinds of Jim Morrison souveniers, candles pictures and so on.

I've heard that some crazy fans enter the cemetery at night to party at Morrison's grave, and that's why it's guarded by a heavy fence at the top of the walls surrounding it. As the photo proves some people still try to find a way in!

This cemetery is worth a visit, and so it's official website where you can take a virtual tour....

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Website: http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.htm

At the path-walk along the Seine (mostly on the left bank) you'll get the chance to do a little 'river shopping'.
There is lots and lots of these small street-shops selling old books, posters, postcards and stuff like that.

You'll find thngs at all price levels and it's very interesting to just look even though you don't wanna buy anything.

Almost 250 of these 'salesmen' get an 'official license' from the town every year.

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Well, this is not a true 'off the beaten path' tip, because the Stravinsky Fountain is found just beside one of the more famous sights in Paris...Centre Pompidou. But this fountain is worth a look and wirth a few photos! It's a nice place to sit down and relax after having walked around in the crowded streets, and a nice place to enjoy the view of the controverisal Pompidou-building.

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You might get tired of walking inside museums, especially if the weather is nice. On Sundays you'll have a chance to combine a good art-experience with the good weather (if it's good). At the street just 'behind' the Montparnasse tower you'll find the Design Market every Sunday where a lot of very good artists display their work and sell it. I really loved this...there were so many different styles and some really great work!

I would also recommend people who might study art to go there and get some inspiration...it's really good!

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Musée des Arts et Métiers is a historical museum loaded things and information that tells you the story of practically all technical innovation made by humans!

You'll go on a journey from back in the early days of innovation and learn about scientific instruments, materials, constriuction, communication, energy-sources, mechanics, transport and much more. All this is found in beautiful buildings where you not only can look at the things on display but also try some of the 'computer-lessons', watch movies and even try a few of the old things yourself.

I gotta say that much of this is really exciting stuff, but at the same time some of this is 'a bit heavy' too...i mean, kids might get tired of walking around there for a long time and if you want to get much into it...prepare to spend at least 4-5 hours if not more. But it's definitely worth a visit if you have interest for innovation!

This place even has it's own metro-station...probably the most beautiful in Paris, so it won't be hard to find!
Simply stop at the station named: Arts et Métiers on Réaumur-Sebastopol.

The exact adress is:

Musée des arts et métiers
Conservatoire national des arts et métiers
60 rue Réamur
75003 Paris

The price was 5,5 € for adults when I was three and 4,5 € for students!

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Phone: (33) I 53 01 82 00
Website: http://www.cnam.fr/museum