Ooh, La La!
Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Call us tourists |
Posted by Sierra
Paris is a dream city. Everyone says so. Everyone dreams of going there someday. But few people who dream of heading to Paris actually head there. If you, the reader, are one of these people, here’s a little overview so you can get an idea of what’s there. I’ll start with orientation.
Paris (pronounced Paree by the sophisticated locals and visitors) is divided into two banks—a Left Bank and a Right Bank. The Left is south of the Seine River, the Right is north. There are also two islands: Ile de la Cité and Ile de la St. Louis. Paris is also divided into 20 arrondissments (districts). These curl around like an escargot (snail).
And now for the monuments, museums, and other Paree attractions:
LEFT BANK
Tour Eiffel: 7th arrondissment. Better known as the Eiffel Tower, the Tour Eiffel is THE Paris attraction. I’ve never seen a Paris T-shirt without it. We took the elevator up to the top at night, when the Tour was a blueish-purple that looked like ultraviolet light on white. Part of the top shows you where the different attractions are (such as Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre), as well as how far away different cities are. The rest of the top is out in the open, where you can admire how beautiful Paris is.
Les Egouts de Paris: 7th. The sewers of Paris are famous, especially from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. There is a sewer museum with different machinery and some sewer history. When we were there I remember thinking, “I hope this smell doesn’t stay on our clothes!”
Musée D’Orsay: 7th. The Orsay, located in an old train station, houses lots of 19th and early 20th century art. Its collection includes Olympia (Manet), Self-Portrait at Saint Remy (Van Gogh), and The Gates of Hell (Rodin). I liked the art, especially The Gates of Hell, because it shows lots of mini-sculptures that Rodin later created in full size, such as The Thinker.
RIGHT BANK
Montmartre: 18th. This neighborhood is THE Parisian neighborhood, meaning if you go to one neighborhood, go to this one. Hilly, but serving very good crepes (thin pancakes), Montmartre has the Basilique Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart Basilica). It is picturesque and provides an excellent view of the right bank. Like I said, Montmartre has good crepes.
A GOOD WALK TO THE LOUVRE
Start at the Arc de Triomphe (Triumphant Arch). You can walk or take the Metro there. It’s in the 8th. Built by Napoleon to commemorate his many victories, the Arc has four arches on it. We didn’t go up, but there’s supposed to be a great view from up there. In my opinion, the Arc looks best at night, when it seems to glow all by itself in the center of its 12-rue (street) etoile (star) AKA scary roundabout.
Walk down Avenue Champs-Elysée (Pronounced Shonze Elly say). This shop-adorned avenue is quite wide and popular. It was used for parades and used to be lined with gardens instead of stores.
At the end of the avenue is the Place de la Concorde. It first had a statue of Louis XV. During the French Revolution it had a guillotine. It now has an obelisk from the pasha of Egypt.
The Place de la Concorde connects with the Louvre, the largest museum in the Western world, the largest palace in Europe, and the largest building in Paris. It has three wings—Denon, Sully, and Richelieu. All the wings have their entrances under the large glass pyramid by I. M. Pei. Some famous artworks in the Louvre are:
*La Jocunde (The Mona Lisa)
*Venus de Milo
*The Raft of the Medusa
*The Marriage at Cana
My favorite part was a section called “History of the Louvre,” which had models of the Louvre in the past, and a section called “The Medieval Moats,” which showed you the medieval moats. The two combined gave me a good idea of the Louvre in the past.
OTHER THINGS
Notre Dame: Ile de la Cité. This cathedral was made famous by another Victor Hugo book- The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (You may have seen the Disney movie.) The gargoyles are funny, the rose windows are luminous, and the flying buttresses have a funny name. The view from the top is tres bien. Mom and I climbed the winding staircases, and I counted the following:
* 74 steps get you to the gift shop
* 229 steps get you to the big view
* 354 steps get you to the big tower
Those 354 steps (plus we had to come down) gave Mom and me our daily step exercise.
Metropolitain: The Metro runs all over Paris and proves helpful to the tired walker. Of the 141 originals, only 17 of the original Metropolitain signs remain. New York’s MOMA had one, as does the Orsay. They are quite Art Nouveau-y with curved iron and unusually shaped lights. I myself only know one word to describe these signs: Awesome.
So there’s my attraction-by-attraction Paris overview. Doesn’t it make you want to visit Paris? It sure makes me want to go back there!
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That’s sooo kool! Hi Sierra! haha. So that’s what you look like…
There I left a comment, happy? haha jk