Of course if you get tired there is always the Metro...
but of course I didn't want to miss anything 'cept the Metro...
Of course the first thing most people want to see is . . .the Eiffel Tower. Beautiful isn't it? Just think the tower almost never came to be, because it was competing with the new rage of electric lighting, but worried that the proposed Sun Tower might be blinding, Eiffel won out the 1889 Universal Exhibition competition, and the tower was built. This was to the dismay and disgust of many a Parisian. The Debate of what to do with the tower raged on for many years after the Exhibition...in the end, what saved the tower was science and the new fangled radio, as it was used to collect weather data and relay radio transmissions. We have Heinrich Hertz, and Guglielmo Marconi to thank for that...
Like I said, Paris is the place to walk and indulge in the sights, and if you get a little fatigued, just find a shady place to rest a bit....and what better place then in the shadows of the Arc de Triomphe? Commissioned by Napoléon in 1806 to honor his troops. It has served as a symbol of national pride for the French and a place to honor the veterans of War and defenders of French sovereignty . . . Napoléon, Victor Hugo, and the unknown solder have all been paid homage to here. This is a nice place to reflect, view the scenery of the City up top, or just ponder the roundabout... New meaning is often given to the term Traffic Jam.
I spent a lot of my time resting across from the Cathedral...just contemplating. I found Notre Dame de Paris fasinating (remember this is not the only Notre Dame Cathedral in France). So much so, that I made it a point to stop by there everyday and ponder its majesty and history. A true gothic treasure...Notre Dame de Paris replaced earlier structues, one of them being a Roman temple to Jupiter. The current Cathedral began construction in 1163 AD and took approximately 200 years to complete. Believe it or not, at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, the Cathedral fell into serious disrepair, and was plundered during the Revolution. More a warehouse, storing food and animals, then a church, it was Victor Hugo, inspired so much by the Cathedral to write his famous novel, who can be credited for raising enough interest in the building to lead to its restoration.
Remember Paris is known for its art . . . So, take in the museums, I did, almost on a daily basis. Of course my favorite was the Musée d'Orsay. This museum is housed in a former railway station, which in and of itself is worth seeing. It houses one of the most significant collections of Impressionist paintings in the world. If this period of art is your thing, this is the place to go....I would also recommend seeing the Musée national Picasso, more then cubism, a glimpse into an artist's troubled world. The range and span of Picasso's work is stunning.
To round off your art tour you must see the Salvador Dali Museum, for a glimpse of the exoctic.
I finished up my art tour with Le Louvre....expecting an overrated, Disney® type Museum, I was happy to be disappointed. It was well worth seeing. The site where the Louvre is constructed has more than a thousand years of French history behind it, and the Museum itself houses a huge collection of art ranging from about the 7th century BC to the middle of the 19th century AD. Plan on breaking up a tour of Le Louvre if you can, to best enjoy what it has to offer.
All I can say is that if you like art, Paris is the place...
I could fill this page with more pictures just of France...but, then you would be waiting for days as the images loaded, so I'm going to keep this page short and simple, just a glimpse of France. Other Places like Italy, Germany, or England will be elsewhere...
Thanks for visiting...
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Last worked on: December 6, 1999
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