Paris
Paris, France's capital, is a major European city and a global center for art,
fashion, gastronomy and culture. Its picturesque 19th-century cityscape is
crisscrossed by wide boulevards and the River Seine. Beyond such landmarks as
the Eiffel Tower and the 12th-century, Gothic Notre-Dame cathedral,
the city is known for its cafe culture, and designer boutiques along the Rue du
Faubourg Saint-Honore.
History
Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by a Celtic people
called the Parisii, who gave the city its name. By the 12th century, Paris was the largest city in the western world, a
prosperous trading centre, and the home of the University of Paris,
one of the first in Europe. In the 18th century, it was the centre stage for the
French Revolution, and became an important centre of finance, commerce,
fashion, science, and the arts, a position it still retains today. Since the
19th century, the built-up area of Paris has grown far beyond its administrative borders.
Paris is the home of the most visited art museum in the
world, the Louvre, as well as the Musee d’Orsay, noted for its collection of
French Impressionist art, and the Musee National d’Art Moderne, a museum of
modern and contemporary art. The notable architectural landmarks of Paris include Notre Dame Cathedral (12th century); the
Sainte-Chapelle (13th century); the Eiffel Tower (1889); and the Basilica of Sacre-Cœur on Montmartre (1914). In 2014 Paris
received 22.4 million visitors, making it one of the world’s top tourist
destinations. Paris is also known for its fashion, particularly the
twice-yearly Paris Fashion Week, and for its haute cuisine, and three-star
restaurants. Most of France’s major universities and grandes ecoles are located
in Paris, as are France’s major newspapers, including Le Monde, Le Figaro,
and Liberation.
The association football club
Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Francais are based in Paris. The 80,000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998
FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Paris
hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of
Roland Garros. Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics, the 1938
and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Every July, the Tour de
France of cycling finishes in the city.
The city is also a major
rail, highway, and air-transport hub, served by the two international airports
Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the city's subway
system, the Paris Metro, serves 4.5 million passengers daily. Paris is the hub of the national road network, and is
surrounded by three orbital roads: the Peripherique, the A86 motorway, and the
Francilienne motorway in the outer suburbs.
Climate
Being located in Western Europe, Paris
has a maritime climate with cool winters and warm summers. The moderating
effect of the Atlantic Ocean helps to temper temperature extremes in much of Western Europe, including France. Even in January, the coldest month, temperatures
nearly always exceed the freezing point with an average high of 6°C (43°F).
Snow is not common in Paris, although it will fall a few times a year. Most of Paris precipitation comes in the form of light rain year-round.
Summers in Paris are warm and pleasant, with an average high of 25°C
(77°F) during the mid-summer months. Spring and fall are normally cool and wet.
With the
weather being so pleasant in the summer, it's a great time to visit.
Climate
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Daily highs (°C)
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7
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8
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12
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16
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20
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23
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25
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25
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21
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16
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11
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8
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Nightly lows (°C)
|
3
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3
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5
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7
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11
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14
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16
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16
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13
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10
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6
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3
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Precipitation (mm)
|
54
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44
|
49
|
53
|
65
|
55
|
63
|
43
|
55
|
60
|
52
|
59
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People who like to travel; Paris is a suitable place for them. Here are a lot of places to visit. Here are brief descriptions of few places to travel among them...
Museums
The Louvre was the world's
most visited art museum in 2015, with 8.42 million visitors. Its treasures
include the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and the Venus de Milo statue. With 3.44
million visitors, the Musee d’Orsay, in the former Orsay railway station, was
the second-most visited museum in the city in 2015; it displays French art of
the 19th century, including major collections of the Impressionists and
Post-Impressionists. The original building – a railway station – was
constructed for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Starkly apparent with its
service-pipe exterior, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the third-most visited art
museum in Paris, attracted 3.060 million visitors in 2015. Also known
as Beaubourg, it houses the Musee National d’Art Moderne. The Musee national du
Moyen Age, or Cluny Museum, presents medieval art, including the famous tapestry
cycle of The Lady and the Unicorn. The Guimet Museum, or Musee national des arts asiatiques, has one of
the largest collections of Asian art in Europe.
There are also notable museums devoted to individual artists, including the Picasso Museum the Rodin Museum, and the Musee national Eugene Delacroix.
Paris hosts one of the largest science museums in Europe,
the Cite des Sciences et de l’Industrie at La Villette,attracted 2 million
visitors in 2015, making it the fourth most popular national museum in the
city. The National Museum of Natural History, on the Left Bank, attracted 1.88 million visitors in 2015, making it the fifth most
popular Parisian national museum. It is famous for its dinosaur artefacts,
mineral collections, and it’s Gallery of Evolution. The military history of France, from the middle Ages to World War II, is vividly
presented by displays at the Musee de l’Armee at Les Invalides, near the tomb
of Napoleon. In addition to the national museums, run by the French Ministry of
Culture, the City of Paris operates 14 museums, including the Carnavalet Museum
on the history of Paris; Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Palais de
Tokyo; the House of Victor Hugo and House of Balzac, and the Catacombs of
Paris. There are also notable private museums; The Contemporary Art museum of
the Louis Vuitton Foundation, designed by architect Frank Gehry, opened in
October 2014 in the Bois de
Boulogne.
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe is one of
the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de
Gaulle (originally named Place de l’Etoile), at the western end of the
Champs-Elysees. It should not be confused with a smaller arch, the Arc de
Triomphe du Carrousel, which stands west of the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe
honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars,
with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and
outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from
World War I.
The Arc de Triomphe is the
linchpin of the Axe
historique (historic axis) –
a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which runs from the
courtyard of the Louvre to the Grande Arche de la
Defence. The monument was
designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 and its iconographic program pits heroically
nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the
tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages.
The monument stands 50 metres
(164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m
(72 ft) deep. The large vault is 29.19 m (95.8 ft) high and
14.62 m (48.0 ft) wide. The small vault is 18.68 m
(61.3 ft) high and 8.44 m (27.7 ft) wide. Its design was
inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus. The Arc de Triomphe is built on such a
large scale that, three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919 (marking the end of
hostilities in World War I), Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane through
it, with the event captured on newsreel.
It was the tallest triumphal
arch in existence until the completion of the Monumento a la Revolution in Mexico City in 1938, which is 67 metres (220 ft) high. The
Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is modeled on the Arc de Triomphe
and is slightly taller at 60 m (197 ft).
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars
in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed
and built the tower. Constructed in 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair,
it was initially criticized by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design,
but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the
world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world;
6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
The tower is 324 metres
(1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the
tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres
(410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the
world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. Due to the addition of
broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters,
the Eiffel Tower is the second-tallest structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels
for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level’s
upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground – the highest
observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be
purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second
levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is
the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to
the top level, it is usually only accessible by lift.
Disneyland Paris
The Disneyland Paris,
originally Euro Disney Resort, is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Valle, a
new town located 32 km (20 mi) east of the centre of Paris, and is the most visited theme park in all of France and Europe. It is owned and operated by Euro Disney S.C.A., a
publicly traded company in which The Walt Disney Company owns a majority stake.
The resort covers 4,800 acres (19 km2) and encompasses two theme parks,
several resort hotels, a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex, and a golf
course, in addition to several additional recreational and entertainment
venues. Disneyland Park is the original theme park of the complex, opening
with the resort on 12 April 1992. A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened in 2002. The resort is the second Disney Park to open outside the United States, following the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort in
1983.
Basilica of St Denis
The Basilica of Saint Denis
(French: known as Basilique royale de Saint-Denis or simply Basilique
Saint-Denis) is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically
and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is considered to be the
first Gothic church.
The site originated as a
Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie
beneath the cathedral; the people buried there seem to have had a faith that
was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs and practices. Around 475 St.
Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on
the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, were reinterred in the basilica. The relics of
St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795,
were brought back again to the abbey in 1819.
The basilica became a place
of pilgrimage and the burial place of the French kings with nearly every king
from the 10th to the 18th centuries being buried there, as well as many from
previous centuries. (It was not used for the coronations of kings, which
function being reserved for the Cathedral of Reims; however, queens were
commonly crowned there.) “Saint-Denis”
soon became the abbey church of a growing monastic complex.
In the 12th century the Abbot
Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural and
decorative features. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly
Gothic building. The basilica’s 13th-century nave is also the prototype for the
Rayonnant Gothic style, and provided an architectural model for cathedrals and
abbeys of northern France, England and other countries.
The abbey church became a
cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel
Ghislain Delannoy. Although it is universally known as the “Basilica of St
Denis”, actually the cathedral does not have officially the title of Minor
Basilica granted by the Vatican.
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the
national stadium of France, just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 81,338 makes it the
sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national football team and French rugby union team
for international competition. Originally built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup,
the stadium’s name was recommended by Michel Platini, head of the organising
committee. On 12 July 1998, France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final contested at the
stadium.
Stade de France listed as a Category
4 stadium by UEFA, hosted matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA
Champions League finals in 2000 and 2006, and the 1999 and 2007 Rugby World
Cup, making it the only stadium in the world to have hosted both a Football
World Cup final and a Rugby World Cup final. The facility also hosted the Race
of Champions auto race in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The stadium hosted the 2003
World Championships in Athletics and since 1999 it has hosted the annual
Meeting Areva athletics meet. It also hosted some matches at UEFA Euro 2016,
including the final, where France lost to Portugal by 1-0 after extra-time.
Domestically, the Stade de
France serves as a secondary home facility of Parisian rugby clubs Stade
Francais and Racing Metro 92, hosting a few of their regular-season fixtures.
The stadium also hosts the main French domestic cup finals, which include the
Coupe de France (both football and rugby), Coupe de la Ligue, Challenge de
France, and the Coupe Gambardella, as well as the Top 14 rugby union championship
matches.
The stadium is also used for
music concerts with Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, U2, Celine
Dion, Muse, AC/DC, Beyonce, Jay Z, Rihanna, Coldplay, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Paul
McCartney, Madonna, The Police and Mylene Farmer having performed here. The
facility is owned and operated by the Consortium Stade de France.
Tuileries Garden
The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st
arrondissement of Paris. Created by Catherine de Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was eventually opened to the public in
1667, and became a public park after the French Revolution. In the 19th and
20th century, it was the place where Parisians celebrated, met, promenaded, and
relaxed.
Painting and sculpture
For centuries, Paris has attracted artists from around the world, who
arrive in the city to educate themselves and to seek inspiration from its vast
pool of artistic resources and galleries. As a result, Paris has acquired a reputation as the “City of Art”. Italian artists were a profound influence on the
development of art in Paris in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in
sculpture and relief. Painting and sculpture became the pride of the French
monarchy and the French royals commissioned many Parisian artists to adorn
their palaces during the French Baroque and Classicism era. Sculptors such as
Girardon, Coysevox and Coustou acquired reputations as the finest artists in
the royal court in 17th-century France. Pierre Mignard became the first painter to King
Louis XIV during this period. In 1648, the Academie royale de peinture et de
sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture) was established to
accommodate for the dramatic interest in art in the capital. This served as France’s top art school until 1793.
Paris was in its artistic prime in the 19th century and
early 20th century, when it had a colony of artists established in the city and
in art schools associated with some of the finest painters of the times: Manet,
Monet, Berthe Morisot, Gauguin, Renoir and others. The French Revolution and
political and social change in France had a profound influence on art in the capital. Paris was central to the development of Romanticism in art,
with painters such as Gericault. Impressionism, Art Nouveau, Symbolism, Fauvism
Cubism and Art Deco movements all evolved in Paris. In the late 19th century, many artists in the French
provinces and worldwide flocked to Paris to exhibit their works in the numerous salons and
expositions and make a name for themselves. Artists such as Pablo Picasso,
Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes,
Henri Rousseau, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani and many others became
associated with Paris. Picasso, living in Montmartre, painted his famous La Famille de Saltimbanques and Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon between 1905 and 1907. Montmartre and Montparnasse became centres for artistic production.
The most prestigious names of
French and foreign sculptors, who made their reputation in Paris in the modern
era, are Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty), Auguste Rodin, Camille
Claudel, Antoine Bourdelle, Paul Landowski (statue of Christ the Redeemer in
Rio de Janeiro) and Aristide Maillol. The Golden Age of the School of Paris ended between the two world wars.
Hotels
As of 2013 the City of Paris had 1,570 hotels with 70,034 rooms, of which 55 were
rated five-star, mostly belonging to international chains and mostly located
close to the centre and the Champs-Elysees. Paris has long been famous for its grand hotels. The Hotel
Meurice, opened for British travellers in 1817, was one of the first luxury
hotels in Paris. The arrival of the railways and the Paris Exposition
of 1855 brought the first flood of tourists and the first modern grand hotels;
the Hotel du Louvre (now an antiques marketplace) in 1855; the Grand Hotel (now
the Intercontinental LeGrand) in 1862; and the Hotel Continental in 1878. The
Hotel Ritz on Place Vendome opened in 1898, followed by the Hotel Crillon in an
18th-century building on the Place de la Concorde in 1909; the Hotel Bristol on
rue de Fabourg Saint-Honore in 1925; and the Hotel George V in 1928.
“The beauty of Paris can not be expressed in words. It can be said with certainty that Paris is one of the perfect and wonderful place for Travel and Vacation.”
