Category — Paris

Paris is an extraordinary city, full of hidden surprises. As you wander through it’s streets you are likely to find something fascinating around every corner. There is so much to see and do in Paris, that some of the city’s treasures are often overlooked. But once you have visited the Paris’ iconic gems; the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Musee du Louvre and strolled the Champs-Elysees there is so much more to discover.

Here are a few of the treasures abound in the City of Lights

Jardin des Plantes, which dates back to 1626, is France’s most popular botanical garden. It was originally a medicinal herb garden, designed by King Louie XIII’s physician. Today the site features a collection of spectacular themed gardens, the Museum of Natural History, a small zoo that originally housed the royal menagerie and a labyrinth that has been delighting visitors since the mid 1700’s.

If you love Monet, you don’t want to miss the Musée Marmottan Monet which boasts the world’s largest collection of Monet’s work, donated by his son. Housed in what was once the hunting lodge for the Duke of Valmy, on the edge of the forested parklands of Bois de Boulogne, the museum’s collection also includes works by Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Manet and other notable artists.

For more than two centuries, the flower market located on the Ile de la Cité, behind Notre Dame, has been supplying the city with beautiful blooms and plants, but on Sundays it is transformed into a bird market. Enthusiastic pet lovers can find all types of exotic birds, along with fish, ferrets and even pot bellied pigs.

Beneath the City of Lights lies the Parisian Catacombs, a maze of eerie tunnels and crypts containing the bones of six million Parisian residents. When the Parisian cemeteries became overcrowded in the late 1700’s, the remains were moved to underground crypts in an ancient stone quarry which lies beneath the streets of Paris. Over the years, the walls of bones where carefully arranged in somewhat macabre, but artistic patterns. Two kilometers of these ancient passageways are open to the public.

Located at UNESCO’s world headquarters in Paris, is the beautiful Japanese Garden of Peace, home to the “Nagasaki Angel”. The stone angel once adorned a church in Nagasaki, Japan. After the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki during the Second World War, the angel was miraculously spared and when it was found among the bombed ruins of the city became a symbol of hope. Thirty years later, it was presented to UNESCO to grace the Garden of Peace.

The Parc de la Villette is the site of Europe’s largest science museum, the Cité des Sciences et de L’Industrie which features a planetarium, a submarine, interactive exhibits and much more. Outside the main building sits a huge mirrored silver ball which houses an IMAX theatre. The futuristic Park also has concert halls and ten themed gardens.

Paris has so many more hidden treasures from small eclectic museums and art galleries to wonderful cafes and patisseries, fantastic boutiques and architectural masterpieces. It is a city you’ll want to return to again and again as each time you visit, you’ll discover more gems.

About The Author

This article was written by Alex from www.bestholidayparks.co.uk – your all in one guide to the best holiday parks and spots in the UK.

We finish our quick tour of Paris with a visit to the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth districts in the northern and northeastern part of the city. The 18th arrondissement of northern Paris is located on the Right Bank of the Seine River. The distinctive Moulin Rouge (Red Mill or windmill) is among the world’s best-known nightclubs or to use the French term, cabaret. Josephine Baker, Frank Sinatra, Mistinguett, and Edith Piaf and many other famous entertainers regularly played the Moulin Rouge. This historic cabaret, arguably the site where striptease was born, has been immortalized in paintings by Toulouse Lautrec and to a lesser extent by two films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.

Butte Montmartre is a hill not far from the Moulin Rouge. Its height and natural beauty have attracted religious ceremonies since time immemorial. The area itself was the site of the first Paris Commune insurrection in 1870-1871.

In 1873 Paris city council expropriated land at the summit of Montmartre for the construction of the Basilica. While the foundation stone was laid in 1875 the church finally opened for services in 1891. Go to the top of the dome for a spectacular panoramic view of Paris, which lies mostly to the south. The church and its surroundings have often starred in films, most recently the 2001 movie Amelie. You may want to take the funicular (cable-car) to get to the top of the hill. From the late Nineteenth Century until the end of World War One Montmartre was home to the artists and their milieu. Among those who hung their hats there were Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. You won’t have trouble finding many museums including the Musee de l’erotisme in nearby Pigalle. Montmartre also boasts a functioning vineyard.

The 19th arrondissement of northeastern Paris is home to the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l’Ourcq. This district is fairly residential and is not visited by loads of tourists. In other words, by spending some time there you may get an idea of the real Paris, one less expensive than the touristy arrondissements. The Parc des Buttes Chaumont contains many lovely features including English and Chinese gardens, a waterfall, and several cliffs and bridges. It has been called the most romantic park in Paris.

What can be less romantic than a slaughterhouse?
Designating Villette as a slaughterhouse is like saying the Empire State Building is a skyscraper. It once employed over three thousand people but has now been transformed into Paris’s largest park with attractions for people of all ages including the biggest science museum in Europe.

The major attraction of the 20th arrondissement is the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, named for the confessor to Louis XIV. It is the largest cemetery is Paris and frankly one of the best-known cemeteries in the world. The Mur des Federes (Communards’ Wall) is also located in the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. This marks the spot where 147 Communards were shot in May 1871 effectively ending the Paris Commune.

Belleville which means beautiful town is a Parisian working-class neighborhood situated mostly in the 20th and 19th arrondissements with a bit of overflow into the 10th and 11th. It’s a colorful area and home to a large Chinese community. Tuesdays and Fridays you’ll find farmers from the region selling their wares in an outdoor market on Belleville Boulevard. Many artists now live and work in this district. Legend has it that the incomparable singer Edith Piaf was born under a lamppost on the Rue de Belleville.

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Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet but he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods.
He teaches various computer classes in an Ontario French-language community college. Check out his wine website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about
(theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.