Paris

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Attractions organized by area:
  • ILE DE LA CITE`
    +Conciergerie
    +++Notre Dame
    Pont Neuf
    +++Saint Chapelle
  • MARAIS
    Musee` Picasso
    ++Place Des Vosges
    Hotel de Sully (62 rue Saint-Antoina)
    ++Hotel de Ville
  • BEAUBOURG
    Centre Pompidou
    Cesar Baldaccini's "Le Pouce" (giant bronze thumb) outside the Pompidou
    Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (eg automata)
    +St Eustache
    Les Halles: Henri Miller's sculpture "Ecoute/ Sleepy Head"
    +Tour St Jacques
    Tuileries with Louise Bourgeois' "Maman" (1999)
    +++Louvre
    ++Orangerie
    Place de la Concorde
    Place Vendome
  • ST-GERMAIN-DES-PRES
    st Germain Des Pres
    Odeon
    +++Musee` d'Orsay
  • QUARTIER LATIN
    Cluny (museum)
    Pantheon
    Jean Nouvel's L'Institut du Monde Arabe (1987)
    Biblioteque St Genevieve near Pantheon (interior)
  • EAST
    Digital art center Atelier Lumieres (11th arrondissment, 38 rue Saint Maur, metro stations Voltaire, Saint-Ambroise, Rue Saint-Maur, Pere Lachaise)
    Perrault's +Biblioteque Nationale (south of Gare de Lyon, near Pont de Bercy)
    Jakob + MacFarlane's Cite de la Mode (2008, near Pont de Bercy, rive gauche, the other side of the Seine from Quai de la Rapee and Gare de Lyon)
  • LUXEMBOURG
    Luxembourg
    +Invalides (1691)
    +Tour Eiffel
    +Musee` Rodin
    Dani Karavan's Square of Tolerance (1993) in the Sculpture Garden, UNESCO headquarters
  • CHAILLOT
    Palais de Chaillot (with the museum City of Architecture)
    Arc de Triomphe
    Champs Elysees
    Opera (1862)
    Madeleine
    Biblioteque Nationale, Salle Ovale (Rue Vivienne 5bis)
  • MONTMARTRE
    +Place du Tertre
    ++Sacre Coeur
  • MONTPARNASSE
    Montparnasse Cemetery (Brancusi's "Kiss")
    Tour Montparnasse, Paris' first skyscraper (1973)
  • SOUTH
    LeCorbusier's Pavillon Suisse, Cite Universitaire (near Porte d'Orleans, 200 meters to the left from the main gate of the campus)
  • VILLETTE
    CIte` des Sciences
  • VERSAILLES
    ++Palais
  • DEFENSE
    ++Grande Arche
  • MARNE-lA-VALLEE (eastern suburbs of Paris)
    +Bofill's "Spaces of Abraxas" (1982) (RER A station Noisy Le Grand, then walk 500 meters)
    +Bofill's Taller de Arquitectura, St-Quentin-en-Yvelines (train from Gare Montparnasse operated by Transilien)
  • OTHERS
    +Versailles
    ++St Denis (+Suger's choir)
    Jouy-en-Josas (south-western suburbs of Paris): Arman's "Long Term Parking" (in the Chateau de Montcel)
    Le Chateau du Montcel (southwest of Paris - 54 Rue Charles de Gaulle, Jouy-en-Josas)

    • Map of Paris districts
    My pictures of Paris
    Notes (2008)
  • See also the page on France
  • Recommended churches: Saint Chapelle, Notre Dame, St Eustache, Souflot's St Genevieve (1757)
  • Recommended restaurants: Anika (Rue Dancourt 10, near Montmartre, Metro Anvers), all the Indian restaurants in Passage Brady (metro Chateau d'eau ou Strasbourg St Denis)
  • Modern architecture: Grand Arc (Defense), Cite des Sciences
  • Recommended museums: Orsay (impressionists), Louvre (painting, antiquity), Orangerie (Monet), Cluny (medieval), Pompidou (modern art), Rodin, Picasso.
  • Museums in Paris. If you don't know much about art, Paris is the place to go: the museums have all the big names. If you know about art, you may be disappointed: they mostly have minor works by great masters. All the great impressionist paintings are abroad. The Orsay is a good example of a large museum (and a beautiful one) that contains mainly minor works by famous artists. The Louvre has mainly second-rate French paintings, with a few Italian stars. The exceptions are notable, though: L'Orangerie contains the huge Monet frescoes, and the Rodin has several masterpieces of modern sculpture. Remember that museums in Paris are closed on tuesdays.
  • Versailles (2021): take the train to Chateau Rive Gauche (shorter distance to the palace than Rive Droit) and walk about 20 minutes. The most popular train from downtown is Rer C (eg from St Michel). Tickets must be booked ahead and don't forget the 20-minute walk when you calculate the time to get there.