paris city of light. le métro the subway system in paris no point in paris is more than 400 meters...
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Paris
City of Light
Le métro
Le métro
• The subway system in Paris
• No point in Paris is more than 400 meters from a metro stop.
• 301 stations, 384 stops
• Carries 4.5 millions passengers a day
• Paris is the second busiest metro station in Europe, after Moscow.
La Seine
La Seine
• The River that runs through Paris
• Bateaux Mouches are tour boats on the Seine that allow visitors to see view of Paris from the river.
• In July and August, the banks of the Seine are turned into “beaches” with sand and palm trees brought in. This is called “Paris Plages.”
Bateaux Mouches
Paris Plages
La Tour Eiffel
La Tour Eiffel
• Designed by Gustave Eiffel
• Built for the 1889 World Exhibition – Was meant to be torn down afterwards, but is
now used for radio transmission
• 320 meters tall (1050 ft)– The tallest structure in the world when it was
built
*Le Jules Verne is a very chic but pricey restaurant on the second floor of the tower.
Le Champs Elysée
•
Le Champs Elysée
• Main Street in Paris
• Many restaurants, cafés, and stores like the Virgin Megastore, the Disney store, and Louis Vuitton. Fouquet’s is a very well-known restaurant, and Ladurée is a very well-known bakery.
• Goes from Arc de Triomphe (Place Charles de Gaulle) to the Obelisk (Place de la Concorde)
Champs Elysées, cont’d
• In English, “Champs Elysées” means “Elysian Fields,” which was the resting place of the blessed dead in Greek mythology.
La défense
La Défense
• Business District
• Notre Dame would fit inside the arch
• There are offices inside the arch.
• It was completed in 1989 as a 20th century Arc de Triomphe, but to celebrate humanity and humanitarian ideals instead of military victories.
L’arc de Triomphe
L’Arc de Triomphe
• Napoleon had it built
• Was going to be a giant elephant (mentioned in “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo).
• There is a tunnel under the road because the street is so busy
• 4 main sculptures on it show military victories
Place Charles de Gaulle
L’Obélisque
L’obélisque
• In the center of Place de la Concorde, site of the guillotine during the French Revolution
• Given to France by Egypt • 75 ft. tall• The original cap of the pyramid top was
believed to be stolen, so the French government added the new gold-leaf cap in 1998
Les Tuileries
Les Tuileries
• Garden in Front of the Louvre
• Was originally a clay quarry to make tiles
• L’Orangerie, the museum that houses the magnificent “Waterlilies” paintings (murals) by Claude Monet, is inside the garden.
Le Louvre
Le Louvre
• The Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo are found here
• Over 35,000 pieces of art / artifacts on display and more than 380,000 objects
• Glass pyramid was added in 1989.– Serves as main entrance of museum– Designed by American architect I.M. Pei– Meant to show the contrast and unity of the
ancient and modern worlds
Louvre, cont’d
• Was originally the Palace of French kings, built with a huge, long wall to protect the court
• Now welcomes about 15,000 visitors per day, making it the world’s most visited museum
• Only about 1/3 of the collection is on display. The rest is underneath the museum in archive or out on loan to other museums.
• It would take you 2 weeks (24-hr days) to see the entire collection on display!
Notre Dame
Notre Dame• The cradle of Paris (point zero)
• Gothic Style Architecture– Flying Buttresses– Large, Stained-Glass Windows– The ROSE window
• The story of the Hunchback takes place here.
• Has 5 bells, the largest of which is called “Emmanuel,” weighing just over 13 tons!
Le Musée D’Orsay
Le Musée D’Orsay
• Museum for Impressionism– Monet, Manet, Renoir, Dégas, Van Gogh,
Seurat…
• Used to be a train station (la Gare d’Orsay)
Sacre Coeur
Sacré Coeur
• At the top of Montmartre
• Highest point in Paris
• Basilica is always prestine white because of the material it’s made from, “travertine stone,” which constantly exudes calcite. It is not affected by weather or pollution.
L’Opéra Garnier
L’Opéra Garnier
• The Paris Opera house – now houses mostly ballet
• Famous domed ceiling was painted by surrealist painter Marc Chagall, depicting scenes from famous operas by 14 composers
• Where the store “The Phantom of the Opera” takes place– Is built on a small, underground lake
Palais Garnier, continued
• There are several replicas around the world, including the famous Grand Casino de Monte Carlo in Monaco, and the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in the US.
Les Invalides
Les Invalides
• Built for injured / old veterans
• Also houses the tomb of Napoleon– His coffin is made of 6 coffins, each inside the
other
Le Musée Rodin
• Contains statues in the garden and inside.
• Contains work by Camille Claudel (Rodin’s muse and lover)
• Houses “The Thinker”
Le Jardin de Luxembourg
Le jardin de Luxembourg
• Beautiful park with playgrounds, ponds, pony rides, and tennis courts.
• Houses the French Senate
Centre Georges Pompidou
Le Centre Georges Pompidou
• Art and culture center
• Modern art museum, library, internet café
• Infrastructure is color-coded and on the outside of building.
• Outside the museum is the famous “Stravinsky Fountain” with whimsical sculptures by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle in hommage of the composer Igor Stravinsky
Stravinsky Fountain