Paris Attractions

This early 18th C. Château of Champs to the east of Paris, sumptuously decorated by Madame de Pompadour, was acquired by the State in 1935. The most notable feature of the interior is the Salon Chinois. The beautiful park was laid out by Claude Desgots, a nephew of Le Nôtre, and lovingly restored at the beginning of the 20th C.

Marked by lime alleys and very fine statues, this restored garden is a good addition to the château.

Along rue la Fontaine just down the street from the modern ORTF (National Radio and Television) building is a street with a high concentration of distinctive Art Nouveau buildings.

This boat tour of Paris departs every 30minutes from 10am to 11pm daily. Departures at 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 5.30- 8pm and 10-11pm may be cancelled.

There is lunch daily at 1pm, afternoon coffee (with music) at 3.45pm and dinner at 8.30pm.

In the late 70s, under the large-scale program for the rehabilitation of eastern Paris, work started on the redevelopment of the area between the Gare de Lyon and the Porte de Bercy; and now the Bercy quarter, like La Défense at the other end of Paris, has become another business district, and the old dock installations in this area, formerly highly industrialized, have given place to numerous futuristic office blocks.

The word boulevard, which is cognate with the English "bulwark", is applied to a street or avenue laid out on the line of old fortifications which have been demolished. It can be seen from a plan of the city how Paris has grown outwards from its original nucleus on the Ile de la Cité in a series of ever wider rings.

The first ring, on the line of the 14th century town walls, is formed by the Boulevards Beaumarchais and du Temple, the "Grand Boulevards" Saint- Martin, Saint-Denis, Bonne-Nouvelle, Poissonnière, Montmartre, des Italiens. des Capucines, de la Madeleine and - linked by Rue Royale, Place de la Concorde and the Pont de la Concorde - the Boulevard Saint- Germain on the left bank of the Seine.

The principal streets in the second ring are the Boulevards Rochechouart and de Clichy to the north, de Courcelles to the west, de Grenelle and du Montparnasse to the south and Picpus and de Charonne to the east.

The third ring is the Boulevard Périphérique Intérieur, all the streets in which are named after generals and marshals, and the fourth is the Boulevard Périphérique Extérieur, the ring motorway which marks the present boundary of the city.

The town planning program carried through by Baron Haussmann between 1853 and 1870 completely transformed the city, with the construction of the boulevards, railroad stations, the first market halls and department stores, five new bridges and extensive new parks. Haussmann's plan, which involved the demolition of almost 30,000 houses and the rehousing of 300,000 people, had several objects in view. In addition to the embellishment of the city by the construction of imposing new buildings he had in mind mainly economic necessities. The new traffic arteries made possible the rapid transport and faster circulation of goods and people between different parts of the city, and between railroad stations, market halls and department stores in particular. And finally the broad boulevards had advantages from the point of view of military strategy, making for faster movement and better control if it became necessary to deploy troops.

The Opéra Comique is known for it's presentation of foreign operas, particularly light Italian opera. Known as 'The Italians' in it's early years the boulevard the opera resides on took it's name from the opera company.

E. Dehillerin began in 1820 and continues as a family business. The shop specializes in kitchen utensils, cookware, and pastry tools. Dehillerin caters to professionals and hobby chefs with copper cooking pots, french tableware, and copper lined cooking tools.

From the beginning the Grands Boulevards of Paris became popular places of promenade, where people went to see and be seen, to visit a restaurant or go to the theater. The terms boulevard theater and boulevard paper came to reflect the things that attracted people on the boulevards - noise, sensation, spectacle. In our own day these attractions are provided by cinemas and discotheques.

The western end of the Grands Boulevards, round the Opéra-Garnier, is a fashionable area, with expensive boutiques and restaurants. In and around the Faubourgs Montmartre, Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin in the eastern part of the city visitors will get a better impression of ordinary everyday life in a big city.

Le Village Suisse features 100 shops with high price levels.

The Parisian home of the author of the Human Comedy. He lived here from 1840 to 1847. There are documents, manuscripts, portraits and letters from the writer.

There are more than 84 markets in Paris, with at least one in every quarter of the city. There are fruit and vegetable markets and markets for flowers, clothing, birds, stamps and books, as well as flea markets selling anything and everything.

Open-air markets are usually from 7 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. on different days of the week, covered markets usually Tue.-Sat. 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 4-7.30 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m. - 1pm.

Street markets (Rues commerçantes) in Paris include: Rue Montorgueil (first arr.), Rue Mouffetard (fifth arr.), Rue de Buci (sixth arr.), Rue Cler (seventh arr.), Rue du Poteau (13th arr.), Rue Legendre (17th arr.), Rue Lepic (18th arr.) and Boulevard de Belleville (20th arr.)

Covered markets in Paris include: (Marché couverts) Marché d'Aligre, Place d'Aligre (12th arr.); Marché Daumesnil, Boulevard de Reuilly (12th arr.); Marché Batignolles, 96 rue Lemercier (17th arr.); Marché Château d'Eau, Rue Château-d'Eau (10th arr.); Marché Enfants Rouges, 39 rue de Bretagne (third arr.); Marché Saint-Quentin and Boulevard de Magenta (10th arr.)

Flea markets (Marchés aux puces) in Paris include: Porte de Clignancourt, Marché aux Puces, Porte de Montreuil (20th arr.), open Sat., Sun. and Mon. 7 a.m. - 7.30 p.m. and Porte de Vanves (14th arr.), open Sat. and Sun. 7 a.m. - 7.30 p.m.

Flowers markets in Paris include: (Marchés aux fleurs), Place Louis-Lépine (fourth arr.), open daily except Sun. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., Place de la Madeleine (eighth arr.), open daily except Mon. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Place des Ternes (17th arr.) open daily except Mon. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Avenue Gabriel and Avenue Marigny (eighth arr.), is a stamp market and it is open Thu., Sun. and pub. hols. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Carreau du Temple, 1 rue Dupetit-Thouars (third arr.), is a clothing market and it is open Tue.-Sun. 9am-noon, Mon. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Birds markets (Marchés aux oiseaux) include

Place Louis-Lépine (fourth arr.), open Sun. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Quai de la Mégisserie (first arr.), open daily except Sun. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

There are also many shops selling birds and animals on the banks of the Seine in this area.

Marché Saint-Pierre, Place Saint-Pierre (18th arr.), is a Material market, and it is open daily except Sun. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Rungis is a new wholesale market on the outskirts of Paris and can be visited Mon.-Fri. noon - 3 p.m. Information: tel. 46 87 35 35

Buses: 185, 285 (Porte d'Italie). Rail: from Gare d'Austerlitz

The Museum of Fashion in Paris contains clothing and professional uniforms from 1735 to the present day.

The fashion exhibits are displayed in rotation and usually in two major exhibitions each year. These shows can highlight a particular couturier's career or explore a single theme.

This is a museum of photographic history in Paris.

This museum in Paris contains photographs, letters and other mementos of Edith Piaf.

This Paris museum contains information on the history and news of radio and television of the studios of Radio-France.

Musée de l'Argenterie contains an original collection of life and refinement. Items on display include tableware, and fashion. Visitors can view a workshop where french plate pieces are made.

Paris has one of the largest public transportation systems in the world. It has more than 15 subway lines, 300 Métro stops, 58 bus lines and five modern RER (regional express subway lines).

The Paris Métro was opened in 1900 and is made up of 15 lines on 201.4km of track. Four of the lines are operated with rubber tired trains. There are 370 stations. The system has a flat fare structure with automatic machines that have change giving facilities. There are roving inspectors.

The system has more than one billion passenger journeys yearly with a rolling stock of 3,439 cars. Trains run every 1 min 35 sec to 3 min 50 sec.

One of the RER lines runs near Charles de Gaulle Airport with a convenient shuttle bus to the air terminal.

This park - Parc des Buttes Chaumont - on one of the highest points in Paris, was laid out by Adolphe Alphand for Napoleon III in 1866-67 on what was then a bare (chauve, "bald") hill. It was designed on the English model as a terraced natural park. There is a small lake with an island 50m/165ft high crowned by a temple in the style of the little temple of Tivoli. There is a restaurant on the shores of the lake, on which rowing boats can be hired.

The cemetery of Passy in Paris contains the graves of prominent people who have died since 1870, including Edouard Manet, Jean Giraudoux, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Tristan Bernard and Fernand.

The original statue of Louis XIV was displayed in 1686 and was torn down in 1792. A replacement (the current statue) was made in 1822.

Porte St Denis was constructed in 1672. The arch celebrates Louis XIV's victory on the Rhine. Figures atop the arch represent Holland (left) and the Rhine (right).

Near Porte St Denis lies Brocante Market and Porte St Martin.

Rue Reaumer is nestled between Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle and Place de Victoires. On this road there are interesting Art Nouveai houses as well as a court, church, and a synagogue.

Viaduc des Arts is a place of artistic craftsmanship and contemporary design. Parisians and tourists enjoy the "Promenade plantée", a 1 kilometer green walk as well as 51 craftspeople.