Paris Full Tourist Guide 🇫🇷 France

The capital of the arts, the city of light, universally recognized as one of the world's most beautiful cities, Paris possesses an enormous cultural richness, which it owes not only to its history, but also to its formidable heritage. With its monuments and museums, its great buildings and libraries, and its famous characters, Paris never ceases to transport us through time and Paris is a river town. Ever since the first human settlements from prehistoric days, and the village of the Paracel tribes, the river Seine has played both a defensive and economic role. The city's many bridges over the river Seine may be elegant, romantic or monumental in style, but many also have a long and interesting history. If the bridges on either side of the are counted, there are 37 bridges within the city limits of Paris. One of the most relaxing and convenient ways to view the historical sites of the city, in all their grandeur, has long been from the glass-covered decks of the bateau Mouche, those unique long boats which leisurely ply the Seine. The Pont Notre Dame is located at one of the oldest historical crossing points on the Seine. In ancient times, a structure called Grand Pont occupied the site of the present bridge, on the large branch of the Seine, in the axis of the present-day Rue Saint-Martin. To improve the flow of the river and satisfy river users, the three middle arches were replaced by a single metal arch. The new bridge, Pont-aux-Changes, which we see today, was projected in the mid-19th century because of the pressures of Haussmann's urban development program. The ensemble must be regarded as a geographic and historic entity. Today, it constitutes a remarkable example of urban riverside architecture, where the strata of history are harmoniously superimposed. The islands have coherent architectural ensembles, with highly significant examples of Parisian construction of the 17th and the 18th centuries. Paris began as a Roman city called Lutetia. It was established on what is now known as the Île de la Cité and eventually expanded to the Rive Gauche or left bank of the Seine river. It was the largest city in Europe, but when the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century AD, so did Lutetia. During the medieval period, Paris became cluttered, disorganized and claustrophobic. This chaos was the result of organic growth. There was no layout plan for the city and people simply erected buildings where they wished. Paris was maze-like, with narrow curving unplanned streets. During the architectural period of the medieval city, the two types of buildings emerged, the gabled house and the hotel. In the early 1600s, Paris still hadn't developed its own style of architecture. Constructed on a site of the Île de la Cité, which has been considered sacred since the Roman era, Notre-Dame Cathedral, with its amazing display of intricate details, is considered a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture. Built between 1163 and 1330, it was restored during the 19th century by Villers-le-Duc, who performed similar work on many of France's finest historic buildings. The facade of the cathedral is an imposing, simple and harmonious mass, whose strength and sober grandeur is based on the interplay between vertical and horizontal lines. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, giving them a more secular look that was lacking from earlier Romanesque designs. Its dimensions are impressive, 41 metres wide, 43 metres high up to the base of the towers, 63 metres up to the top of the towers. On the lower level, under the Gallery of Kings, there are three large portals, which are not completely identical. The central one depicted the Last Judgement, the right portal is called the Portal of Saint Anne, and the left portal is the Portal of the Virgin, the finest of the three. These portals are decorated with a multitude of characters, and surrounded by the Jambes, featuring large statues which were restored in the 19th century by Villers-le-Duc. The portal of the Last Judgement is the west facade's central portal. It represents the Last Judgement, as described in the Gospel of On the tympanum, Christ is seated, majestically on his throne of glory, reminding us that he came to earth to save humankind through his sacrifice on the cross. On the lower lintel, the dead are being resuscitated from their tombs, and on the upper lintel, the Archangel Michael is weighing their souls according to the lives they led on earth, and the love they showed to God and to men. The chosen people are led to the left, towards heaven, to Christ's right, and the condemned are led to the right, to hell by a devil. The buttresses feature niches that house four statues restored by Villers-le-Duc's workshop. The timeless simplicity and harmony of the facade have continued to fascinate art historians and architects throughout the centuries. Both sides of Paris's Notre-Dame display the richness of high Gothic form. On the south transept is the south rose window. It has 84 panes divided into four circles. This window features the symbolic number 4, along with its multiples 12 and 24. There are acute angled pediments over the doorways. The portail de Saint-Étienne in the south transept, reaching almost up to the rose windows, the dissolution of the transept walls into a profusion of stained glass, and the bold thrust of the flying buttresses, give the side walls of Notre-Dame the typical aspect and the charismatic power of the high Gothic cathedral. Notre-Dame is the most popular monument in Paris, and indeed in all of France, with 13 million visitors each year, beating even the Eiffel Tower. But the famous cathedral is also an active Catholic church, a place of pilgrimage, the focal point for French Catholicism, and the site of the country's most important religious events. To appreciate the features of Notre-Dame Cathedral, approach it from the park behind the cathedral for an impressive view of the structure and a look at the magnificent flying buttresses that make the immense roof possible. French history is littered with stories of women who led, inspired and influenced their Gallic fellows, with the same gusto and courage as any male heroes of the day. In homage to Genevieve's role as protector against Germanic invaders, Attila among others, this graceful Genevieve faces east, ever on the lookout for her beloved city. To stroll along the left bank close to Notre-Dame Cathedral is also to promenade through one of the most beautiful of all cityscapes and the biggest open-air bookshop in the world. They salvaged books from raids on aristocrats' libraries during the French Revolution and hid resistance material during the Nazi occupation. Paris' bouquinistes, the hundreds of booksellers whose open-air stalls along the River Seine carry UNESCO World Heritage status, have survived four centuries of censorship, floods and political upheaval. After hundreds of years of controversy, the bouquinistes finally became a permanent fixture as we know them today in 1891 on the Quai Voltaire and have grown to nearly 250 on both the right bank and left bank. In the centre of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, the Hotel de Ville or City Hall is close to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. The history of Paris' City Hall can be traced back to the time of the water merchants who transported their goods by river and used this building as the home of their trade guild. Paris has long been known for the splendour and magnificence of its architecture. As France's capital city, it's a land of man-made architectural marvels, with its modern buildings representing an evolution from the historical ones. Paris' architecture and design represents various periods of construction and a range of corresponding styles. In 1246, the first municipality was created when the Parisian trade guilds elected aldermen as representatives towards the king. In 1553, King Francis I decided to build a dedicated City Hall. That first Hotel de Ville, designed in the Renaissance style, was only fully completed in 1628. A revolting commune, which had occupied the Hotel de Ville for months, set the building on fire in May 1871, destroying the building as well as the valuable city archives. The architects Théodore Ballou and Édouard Depart won the rebuilding contract with their proposition to reconstruct the Hotel de Ville in its original style. The building is decorated with 108 statues representing famous Parisians. 30 other statues represent French cities. Walking along the banks of the Seine is also the best way to see Paris, with its elegant boulevards, colourful neighbourhoods and majestic buildings. The city's leading historians link the beauty of Paris to its harmonious architecture, the product of a powerful tradition of classical design stretching from the Renaissance to the 20th century. The banks of the Seine offer some of the greatest urban scenery in the world. The city's panoramas can be discovered through a walk on the pedestrian quays lining the left bank or on a river cruise. On Sunday, the streets along the Seine, normally clogged with cars, are reserved for pedestrians. Sitting on the Île de la Cité, the centre of old Paris, the Palais de Justice has its roots in the Roman period, when the governor's palace was there on the island. The Palais de Justice and the magnificent medieval church of Saint-Chapelle stand on one of Paris' two natural islands, the Île de la Cité. The Tour de l'Horloge, or Clock Tower, dates from 1334, with reliefs from the late 16th century. The Conciergerie is an important vestige of the Palace of the Capitaine and a remarkable example of 14th century civil architecture. The Conciergerie already had an unpleasant reputation before it became internationally famous as the antechamber to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror, the bloodiest phase of the French Revolution. In the centre of the Palace's facade, a high wrought iron gate from the late 18th century leads into the May Courtyard, the work of architects Antoine and de Maison. The construction of this triangular piazza on the Île de la Cité was part of Henry IV's urban development efforts, which began in 1607. The square, Place Dauphine, was named in honour of Henry IV's son, Le Dauphin, the future king, Louis XIII. From this park, it's possible to see the back of the Justice Palace. Ironically, the oldest of the new bridges is the Pont Neuf, whose first stone was laid in 1578 by Henry III in the presence of the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici. Pont Neuf or New Bridge is in many respects the first of the modern bridges in Paris and the most famous. Its design marks the end of the Middle Ages. Located on the border of Paris's first and fourth arrondissements, the Place de Châtelet sits on the right bank of the River Seine. It provides both a compass point and a convenient entry point into the city. Rising above the treetops of a little park alongside the Rue de Rivoli is the beautiful Gothic tower of Saint-Jacques, with its two slender gargoyles at each of its four corners. Seemingly so fragile, one wonders how they could support their weight. This tower is all that is left of the church of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie, so called because its patrons were the wholesale butchers of the nearby Les Halles market. For centuries, Paris has been known as a gathering point for pilgrims on the way of Saint James, the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. The Saint-Jacques tower, which contains a relic of the saint, welcomed pilgrims setting out on the pilgrimage to Spain. UNESCO's decision to protect the zone between Pont de Sully and Pont d'Ena is based on the age-old distinction between Paris upstream and Paris downstream. Upstream Paris is the port and river transport town. Downstream is the royal and subsequently aristocratic Paris, which had only limited commercial activity. At the turn of the 19th century, two large railway stations were built in Paris, the Gare de Lyon and the Gare d'Orsay. The Gare d'Orsay had the most prominent site, rising on the banks of the Seine opposite the Louvre. Since 1986, the railway station, housed in the superb Beaux-Arts Edifice, is now home to the Musée d'Orsay, with its collection of French art from between 1848 and 1915. The building itself is the museum's first work of art, and its renovation provides a splendid venue for a collection that includes magnificent works of art by artists including Monet, Degas, Renoir and Van Gogh. In the direction of the Tour Eiffel is Paris' most sumptuous bridge, the Pont Alexandre III, opened just in time for the Universal Exposition of 1900. Aligned with the Esplanade des Invalides, the Pont Alexandre III connects the Grand and Petit Palais on the right bank, with the Hotel des Invalides on the left bank. The bridge is lavishly decorated with lampposts and sculptures of cherubs and nymphs. On each end of the Pont Alexandre III stand large gilded statues on granite pillars, 17 metres high. Each of the ornaments on the bridge was created by a different artist. The bridge is made of steel and stone in the Art Nouveau style. It was opened by the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, who also laid the foundation stone in 1900 to celebrate the Franco-Russian alliance. It was named in memory of the Tsar's father. Critics of the time explained the heterogeneous character of the exhibition bridge by the fact that there were as many artists as there were ornaments. Amongst the decoration are four 17 metre high corner pillars bearing the four gilded bronze equestrian groups which represent Pegasus held by fame. The Alexandre III bridge is Paris' most elegant bridge, ornamented with fine sculpture work, adding its own charm to an already beautiful site. It also owes its fame to the technical prowess which went into its construction. Slightly askew, it has a 107 metre long metal arch with three joints, four girders in cast steel and two masonry viaducts on the banks. Very large abutment foundations were needed because the arches had to be very low. They were built using compressed air caissons. Another boat present on the Seine is the Batobus. Batobuses are stubby, glass-enclosed trimarans that operate a riverboat shuttle service on a circular route along the Seine, stopping at eight points along the way, five on the left bank and three on the right. One of the city's best-known sites is the Louvre Museum. The Louvre, in its successive architectural metamorphoses, has dominated central Paris since the late 12th century. When it was built, it stood on the city's western edge, though the original structure was gradually engulfed as the city grew. With its marked humpback, the Royal Bridge remains with the New Bridge, one of the three oldest bridges in Paris and is situated near the Louvre. Made of cut stone, the Louvre is a masterpiece of the French Renaissance. In the 16th century, architect Pierre Lescaut was one of the first to apply pure classical ideas in France and his design for a new wing at the Louvre defined its future development. Originally a royal palace, the Louvre became a public museum at the end of the 18th century. The austerity of the east façade, with its central pediment and end pavilions, is often associated with Perrault's architectural ideas. In the 17th century, architect Claude Perrault collaborated in the final design of the colonnade, a massive row of paired columns that rise above the unadorned first storey and dominates the majestic east façade of the Louvre. The simple character of the ground floor basement sets off the paired Corinthian columns, modelled strictly according to Vitruvius, against a shadowed void with pavilions at both ends. The façade, divided into five parts, is a solution which is typical of French classicism. Home to one of the most famous collections of fine art in the world, including the priceless Greek statue known as the Venus de Milo and the portrait of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the Louvre Museum is the most important of France's national museums and art galleries. The Louvre's collection covers western art from the medieval period to 1848, formative works from the civilisations of the ancient world, as well as works of Islamic art. The collection is grouped into eight departments, each shaped and defined by the activities of its curators, collectors and donors. Visitors to the Louvre now number nine million every year, making it the most popular art museum in the world. The Louvre takes up the south side of the Rue de Rivoli and on the other side runs an arcade more than 1.6 kilometres long. The Rue de Rivoli marked a transitional compromise between an urbanism composed of prestigious monuments and aristocratic squares and the forms of a modern town. The Passage Richelieu links the court Napoleon with the Rue de Rivoli. The street is a mix of traditionalism with its monuments and squares and modernism with its buildings of contemporary design. The houses lining the street all have identical facades, leaving the impression of an endless row of houses. Quai Voltaire's extraordinary location in the heart of historic Paris is a link between the left and right banks. Concord Square is the most beautiful piazza in Paris, with a surface of 84,000 square metres. Several decades after its construction, this square was to serve as a focal point for the bloodiest political upheaval in the history of France, the French Revolution. Twin buildings with fine colonnades were built on the side of the square. The Hotel of the Navy, seat of the State Major of the French Navy, and the Hotel of Crion, one of the most luxurious and sought-after hotels. A bronze fountain called La Fontaine de Mer was added to the square designed by Etoffe. In the centre of the square stands the Obelisk of Luxor, a pink granite monolith that was given to the French by the Viceroy of Egypt, Mehmet Ali, in 1829. The Grand Palais is one of Paris' most recognisable landmarks, thanks to its magnificent glass-domed roof. The Grand Palais is a large glass exhibition hall that was built for the Paris Exposition of 1900. The exterior of this massive palace combines an imposing classical façade with a riot of Art Nouveau ironwork. This palace, with the Belle Époque-style pinnacle, boasts 9,400 tonnes of steel framework, 15,000 square metres of glass, and about 5,000 square metres of galvanised iron-zinc roofing. With the Petit Palais and the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais served as one of the main focuses of the International Exposition of 1900, and helped solidify the position of France as world leader in the arts. For more than 100 years, the Grand Palais has served as a public exhibition hall and host to a variety of grand events. Directly across the street from the Grand Palais stands a smaller version of the same building, the Petit Palais. Originally meant to be just a temporary structure to host a large exposition of French art, this magnificent Beaux-Arts-style building, designed by Charles Giraud, became a favourite with Paris residents, who refused to tear it down, and it still stands today. Ionic columns line the front of the rather classical façade of Petit Palais. Like many Beaux-Arts buildings, it combines Greek and Roman forms, but also includes plenty of ornamentation, making it rather eclectic in style. An essential feature of Giraud's decor, the sumptuous ironwork is dazzling. One need only admire the golden entrance gates, a masterpiece of ornamental ironwork, and the banisters of the magnificent interior staircases in the two rotundas. The Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the world's largest triumphal arch, forms the backdrop for an impressive urban ensemble in Paris. The monument surmounts the hill of Chaillot at the centre of a star-shaped configuration of twelve radiating avenues. In 1806, Napoleon I conceived a triumphal arch, patterned after those of ancient Rome, and dedicated to the glory of his imperial armies. At the bases of the pillars are four huge relief sculptures commemorating the triumph by Coteau, resistance and peace by Athe, and the departure of the volunteers, more commonly known as La Marseillaise by Roudet. Engraved around the top of the arch are the names of major victories won during the and Napoleonic periods. Since 1920, the tomb of France's unknown soldier has been sheltered underneath the arch. Its eternal flame commemorates the dead of the two world wars, and is rekindled every evening at 6.30. The Iéna Bridge links the Eiffel Tower on the left bank to the Trocadéro district on the right bank. The Eiffel Tower, the iconic symbol of the city of Paris, is a marvel of design and structure, and an impressive sight worth getting to know up close. The world-famous Paris Tower is a mass of iron designed by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exposition in 1889, and was the tallest structure in the world until 1930, when it was surpassed by New York's Chrysler Building. The Eiffel Tower is a monument composed of extraordinary records. Its deepest foundations lie 15 meters underground. Its total weight is over 10,000 tons. It's illuminated by 336,000 projector lamps. Two and a half million rivets hold it together, and since it was opened in 1889 until 2009, more than 240 million persons have come to Paris to visit the Iron Lady. The Eiffel Tower is covered in paint in order to protect its iron frame. This stylish lady's attentiveness to color coordination has resulted in the need for three different shades of paint to go with the hues of the Parisian sky, with the darkest at the bottom and the lightest at the top. 50 tons of paint are used every five years to repaint the For the Universal Exhibition of 1889, a date that marked the centenary of the French Revolution, the Journal Officiel launched a major competition to study the possibility of erecting an iron tower on the Champ de Mars. The project, proposed by Eiffel, engineers Cochelain and Nouguier, and architect Sauvestre, was chosen out of a total of 107. Born in 1832 in Dijon, Gustave Eiffel was an exceptionally gifted engineer and builder who graduated from the prestigious Ecole Centrale de Paris. His extraordinary career was marked by the construction of the Maria Pierre Bridge in Portugal, then by the Garibet Viaduct in France and Budapest Station in Hungary. The construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889 was his crowning achievement. His career as an entrepreneur would come to an end with the failure of the Panama Canal project. As is the case with many major architectural projects, the tower has suffered the slings and arrows of detractors. During construction, several personalities protested violently. In 1887, the journal Les Temps published a manifesto signed by personalities from the world of arts and letters, railing against the construction of a 300-meter tower on the Esplanade. A number of people did later change their point of view and make amends. Since the opening of the Eiffel Tower, visitors have been able to visit the different floors of the monument via elevators. A formidable technical feat for the period, as never before had engineers tackled such constraints of height and elevator loads. The third level, at 276.13 meters, offers exceptional panoramic views of Paris and its surroundings day or night. From the Eiffel Tower, there's an incredible view of the Trocadéro area. The Palais de Chaillot currently houses two museums, an anthropology and prehistory museum dedicated to the life and history of human civilization in France, and a museum displaying a collection of 17th-century naval objects. The style of the Palais de Chaillot was typical of the time when it was built in 1937. Known as the Palais du Trocadéro, it was a large concert hall with two wings and two towers. At the foot of the terrace of the Palais de Chaillot lie the Trocadéro Gardens. The 10-hectare-wide gardens are laid out around a large rectangular pond. Visiting Paris means taking a plunge into history. Vestiges of the ancient Roman city of Lutetia, great medieval abbeys, gothic splendor, classic architecture, Napoleonic collections, Haussmannian views, an exceptional concentration of artistic and cultural wealth.