Paris Attractions

French words frequently used: rue (street) jardin (garden) palais (palace) musée (museum)

Musée du Louvre
9 Rue du Rivoli
Tel.: 01 40 20 51 51.
Direct access from Palais Royale metro station through the underground complex of shops and attractions
linking the Louvre to the Jardin des Tuileries.
9-6 Daily. (Closed Tuesday) Wednesday to 9:45pm.
Admission charged.
This enormous building was constructed around 1200 to serve as a fortress while the King was away on crusades in the holy land. It was rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal palace, and began its career as a public museum in 1793 during the French Revolution. As part of President François Mitterand's futuristic grands projets in the 1980s, the Louvre was revamped and enlarged with the addition also of a 67ft. glass pyramid entrance. The museum is divided into seven departments ranging from Egyptian, Greek and Roman and Oriental sections through collections of paintings and sculpture, prints and drawings. There is so much of immense value to see in the Louvre, that it is best to obtain a copy of the museum guide in advance and plan for several visits to specific areas over the course of one's time in Paris.

Centre National D'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou
Place Beaubourg
Tel.: 01 44 78 12 33
Wed.-Fri. and Mon. Noon-10pm. Sat., Sun. 10-10.
The Centre Georges Pompidou, displays and promotes modern and contemporary art. It is the most visited sight in Paris. Built between 1972 and 1977, the building features an ultra modern design in which the structural elements provide the building's outer face. The structure has recently begun to age, prompting face-lifts and closures of many parts of the center. Woven into this restoration are several galleries in which to shop for works of art. There is also a free, three-tiered library with over 2000 periodicals, including English-language newspapers and magazines from around the world. A square just to the west attracts street musicians and colorful characters.

Notre Dame Cathedral
6 Place du Paris de Notre Dame
tel: 01 42 34 56 10
Sun.-Fri. 8-7 Sat. 8-12:30 and 2-7
Towers daily 9:30-6:30 April-Sept. (9:30-5 rest of year)
RER St. Michel Metro St. Michel
Cathedral: No admission fee. Tower: Admission is charged.
The city's cathedral ranks as one of the greatest achievements of Gothic architecture. Notre Dame (the Cathedral of Our Lady) was begun in 1163 and completed around 1350. It stands on the Ile de la Cité, the oldest part of Paris. Notre Dame is the nucleus around which the capital city developed. The outside is as spectacular as the interior. The Cathedral is built to hold up to 9000 worshipers, but it is always packed with visitors during the times between church services. It is best to arrive early and allow enough time to walk around outside and inside in a leisurely way. The interior is dominated by enormous rose windows and a 7800-pipe organ that was recently restored. From the base of the north tower, physically fit visitors can climb to the top of the west façade and look above the cathedral's gargoyles, and out over the city of Paris. Under the square in front of the cathedral an archaeological crypt displays the remains of structures from the Gallo-Roman and later periods.

Sainte Chapelle
4 Boulevard du Palais
tel: 01 53 73 78 50
9:30-6 (winter until 5pm)
Admission is charged.
Access through the Palais de Justice
Metro: St. Michel
Lying inside the Palais de Justice (law courts), Sainte Chapelle was consecrated in 1248 and built to house what was reputedly Jesus' crown of thorns and other relics purchased by King Louis IX earlier in the 13th century. The vaulted roof was designed to be supported by thin pillars separated by long, narrow stained glass windows . A few buttresses reinforce the structure which appears to be all of stained glass with no walls. The expanse of 13th-century stained glass (the oldest in Paris), is best viewed from the law courts' main gilded 18th century gate. Over 1000 scenes from the Old and New Testaments are depicted on the windows and give the impression of reading the Bible in pictures as one walks around the chapel.

Palais de Justice
4 Boulevard du Palais
9:30-4:30 (6 pm in summer)
This part of the old royal palace contains the courts of law and is under tight security. Following screening, visitors are free to walk along the long hallways and stop in quietly to observe the proceedings of cases that are in session. The matters being heard will, of course, be conducted in French. Civil cases are heard in the morning, while criminal trials begin in the afternoon after lunch.

Musée d'Orsay
1 Rue de Bellechasse
tel: 01 40 49 48 14
Closed Mon. Open Tues-Sun. 10-6 (Thurs. 10-9:45)
Admission charged.
Metro: Solférino
Spectacularly housed in a former railway station built in 1900, the Musée d'Orsay was reopened in its present form in 1986. Inside is a wealth of artistic treasures produced between 1848 and 1914. Most of the paintings and sculptures of the era of the Impressionists and post impressionists are found on the ground floor and the skylight lit upper level. The middle level has some magnificent rooms showcasing the Art Nouveau movement. For up to date programs of events.

Musée Rodin
77 Rue de Varenne
tel.: 01 44 18 16 10
9:30-5daily. Closed Mondays.
Admission charged.
Metro: Varenne
This outstanding collection of bronze and marble sculptures by Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel, is displayed in the Hotel Biron where Rodin lived from 1907-1917. Some of the works in bronze and marble are in the house, others are distributed around the shady sculpture garden in the back. The lovely setting is perfect for a sunny afternoon stroll. On the first floor of the house are casts used for Rodin's most celebrated works - the statues of Balzac and Victor Hugo.

Eiffel Tower
Champ de Mars
Tel: 01 44 11 23 23
9:30am-11pm daily. (until midnight in summer)
Admission charged.
Métro: Trocadéro or Bir-Hakeim
RER: Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel
The tower was completed by 300 workers in just over two years from January 1887-March 1889. It contains over 12,000 metallic parts and two and a half million rivets! When it was completed, it was the tallest building in the world. The occasion of its creation was the centenary of the French Revolution. Named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, it stands 320m (1050ft) high.
Initially intended as a temporary structure to be displayed at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, it was slated for demolition in 1909. However, during the Exposition nearly 2 million visitors paid to see it, and by the end of the first year 3/4 of the building costs had been recovered. By 1909 it was playing a new role as a radio telephone tower.
Just southeast of the tower is a grassy expanse that was once the site of the world's first balloon flights and is now used by teens as a skateboarding arena.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées
A popular promenade for the well to do residents and visitors of a bygone era, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées has long symbolized the style and love of life of Paris. Even though it is now lined with fast food establishments, car showrooms, and cinemas, the magic remains. It provides a stirring sight by day or in its night time illumination, to look down its broad expanse to the stately Arc d'Triomphe. The one mile long, 235 foot wide street makes an ideal place for evening walks and some window shopping.

Cimetière du Père Lachaise
Main entrance at Boulevard de Ménilmontant
Metro: Pére Laachaise
This is Paris's largest and most visited cemetery. Within the manicured, evergreen enclosure are the tombs of over one million people including the composer Chopin; the writers Molière, Apollinaire, Oscar Wilde, Balzac, Marcel Proust and Gertrude Stein; the artists David, Delacroix, Pissarro, Seurat and Modigliani; the actors Sarah Bernhardt, Simone Signoret and Yves Montand; the singer Édith Piaf; and the dancer Isadora Duncan. The most visited tomb is that of The Doors lead singer, Jim Morrison, who died in Paris in 1971. A site plan is available at the main entrance to help locate the graves.
The cemetery was once the site of a fierce battle between Communard insurgents and government troops. The rebels were eventually rounded up against a wall and shot, and were buried where they fell, in a mass grave.