Paris
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50 things to do in Paris
Billiards and brasseries, catacombs and cocktails, 50 ways to enjoy the perfect Paris trip
11. Pay your respects to Sartre et amis
As
with much of the Left Bank, the Cimetière du Montparnasse scores highly
for literary credibility (it doesn’t contain any dead members of The
Doors). Wandering beneath the trees among the headstones makes for one
of Paris’s most atmospheric strolls. Beckett, Baudelaire, Maupassant,
and Sartre and de Beauvoir side by side, are among the dead poets
buried here, while the entombed artists include Brancusi, Frédéric
Bartholdi (who sculpted the Statue of Liberty) and Man Ray. Latterday
arrivals include André Citroën (of automobile fame) and Serge
Gainsbourg, on whose tomb it’s considered good form to leave a packet
of fags.
Cimetière du Montparnasse, 3 boulevard Edgar-Quinet,
14th (00 33 1 44 10 86 50) Métro Edgar-Quinet. Open Mar 16- Nov 5
Mon-Fri 8am-5.45pm, Sat 8.30am-5.15pm, Sun 9am-5.45pm. Adm free.
12. Dig some bones
‘Stop!
This is the empire of Death!’ Not the door policy at Paris’s premier
heavy metal club, but the inscription above the entrance to Les
Catacombes. Seventeenth-century Parisians responded to an accommodation
crisis in the city’s cemeteries by going down into miles of otherwise
unused subterranean passages that had existed since Roman times.
Although they are great fun, the Catacombes can be a truly disturbing
experience, especially if you’ve got AC/DC on your iPod and have, ah,
lunched well.
Les Catacombes, 1 pl Denfert Rochereau, 14th (00 33
1 43 22 47 63) Métro Denfert-Rochereau. Open Tue-Sun 10am-6pm. Adm €5,
over-60s €3.30, students, 14-26s €2.50, under-14s free.
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| Notre-Dame |
13. Eat ice cream at Notre-Dame
Yes,
these are Paris’s very own twin towers, but the gothic masterpiece also
boasts a magnificent rose window and sensational views over the city:
all in all, Cathédrale Notre-Dame does indeed live up to the hype.
Commissioned in 1160 by Bishop Maurice de Sully to rival the smart new
abbey that had just gone up in St-Denis, it was constructed between
1163 and 1334. Much like London’s new Wembley Stadium, it was a long
time going up, but in this case that reflected the city’s growing
prestige rather than the failings of Australian contractors. The
building is astounding inside and out with its apocalyptic gargoyles
leering from the high balustrades a particular highlight. Once done,
cross the road to Berthillon for the most celebrated ice cream in town.
Its reputation has been growing since 1954 thanks to artifice-free
ingredients, lashings of cream and a host of flavours, including at
least five different chocolates.
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris,
place du Parvais-Notre-Dame, 4th (00 33 1 42 34 56 10) Métro Cité or
RER St-Michel. Open daily 7.45am-6.45pm. Towers Apr-Sept 9am-6.45pm.
Adm free, towers €7.10.Berthillon, 29-31 rue Saint Louis en l’Ile, 4th
(00 33 1 43 54 31 61) Métro Cité or RER St-Michel. Open Wed-Sun
10am-8pm.
14. Stock up at Le Bon Marché
Open
since 1848, this is Paris’s oldest and most elegant department store.
Now owned by the immensely powerful conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët
Hennessy (LVMH), the store has been revamped and includes seven luxury
fashion boutiques, on the ground floor, occupied by Dior and Chanel,
among others. Escalators designed by Andrée Putman lead up to the
fashion floor, which includes the store’s well-cut, own-label cotton
shirts and French labels Azzedine Alaia, Chloé, Jean Paul Gaultier,
Lanvin and Leonard. The super-smart Balthazar men’s section provides a
good line-up of labels, including Lacoste, Ermenegildo Zegna and Kenzo.
If it’s a bit of R&R you require, head to the store’s pamper zone,
the Theatre of Beauty and excellent beauty department. La Grande
Epicerie food hall (00 33 1 44 39 81 00, www.lagrandeepicerie.fr,
Mon-Sat 8.30am-9pm) is next door, with an antiques gallery, bar and
restaurant.
Le Bon Marché, 24 rue de Sèvres, 7th (00 33 1 44 39
80 00/www.bonmarche.fr) Métro Sèvres-Babylone. Open Mon-Wed, Fri
9.30am-7pm, Thur 10am-9pm, Sat 9.30am-8pm.
15. Revisit old masters at the Musée d’Orsay
‘By
Jove, we were inseparable!’ wrote Camille Pissarro of Paul Cézanne
towards the end of his life. Over the 20 years these two painters were
close friends, they often worked on the same themes, treading similar
paths around Pontoise and Auvers-sur-Oise. Each influenced the other,
while retaining his own identity (Pissarro found the time to pop over
here and immortalise Sydenham). Until May 28, the Musée d’Orsay is
displaying still-lifes and landscapes by both artists together to
demonstrate the similarity of their vision. Aside from this major
exhibition, you’re spoilt for choice for artworks to see here. So much
so that the huge collection housed in a former train station can be
somewhat unwieldy. Unmissable rooms include the Impressionists upstairs
and the fantastic display of Art Nouveau furniture and objects. Book
online to beat the hideous queues and arrive early to miss the masses.
Musée
d’Orsay, 1 rue de la Légion-d’Honneur, 7th (00 33 1 40 49 48
14/www.musee-orsay.fr) Métro Solférino or RER Musée d’Orsay. Open
Oct-May Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat 10am-6pm, Thur 10am-9.30pm, Sun 9am-6pm;
Jun-Sept Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat 9am-6pm, Thur 9am-9.30pm, Sun 9am-6pm.
16. Reach fever pitch
Watch
a football match at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes,
one-time home to the legendary Racing Club de France (which runs both
football and Rugby Union teams). In its heyday, Colombes was the venue
for the 1938 World Cup final between Italy and Hungary and had a
capacity of 60,000; though health and safety regulations relating to
its age have meant that’s been scaled back to 7,000 since then.
Vestiges of the glory days remain, however, and watching a match here
is still an emotive experience. Head to the bar afterwards for a beer
and a mean jambon baguette, plus fantastic panoramic photographs of
yesteryear.
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, rue François Faber, Colombes (00 33 1 56 83 76 80) Colombes or Le Stade rail.
17. Inspect old sex customs
Trust
Pigalle to have the world’s best erotic museum. This 5,000-piece
collection of private parts-related paraphernalia covers all the bases
from phallic Malagasy tomb statues to early twentieth-century and very
Parisian pornography. Opened in 1998, the museum offers seven floors of
serious sexual anthropology alongside the instruction to ‘start down
below then go straight to the top and work your way back to the
bottom’. But then, the French do it differently to us. If your tastes
are a tad more moderne, pop next door to Rebecca Ril’s sexy supermarket
to start your own collection.
Erotic Museum, 72 bd de Clichy,
18th (00 33 1 42 58 28 73/www.eroticmuseum. com) Métro Blanche. Open
daily 10am-2am. Adm €7, €5 students.
18. Admire sculpture
Time
to get intimately acquainted with Antoine Bourdelle – the French
sculptor who studied under Rodin. The Musée Bourdelle is set around his
private apartments, which have remained in their original state since
his death in 1929. Works housed at the museum span from his early
equestrian monument to General Alvear in Buenos Aires to his most
potent piece ‘Hercules the Archer’ and his stunning 21 studies of
Beethoven. The idyllic garden is the pièce de résistance, packed with
sculptures in the inner courtyard.
Musée Bourdelle,16-18 rue
Antoine-Bourdelle, 15th (00 33 1 49 54 73 73/ www.bourdelle.paris.fr)
Métro Montparnasse Bienvenüe or Falguière. Open Sept-July Mon-Fri
2-6pm. Adm €4, under-tens free.
19. Revel in Rousseau
Statuesque
and stagey, the Grand Palais was built 1897-1900 for the Universal
Exhibition in Paris, to be ‘a monument raised by the Republic to the
glory of French art’, as the inscription on the front of the building
has it. If you make it to Paris before June 17, try to catch the
Rousseau Exhibition. Rousseau drew inspiration from the exotic scenes
the capital had to offer in the late nineteenth century; his famous
jungles were all composed in Paris. The exhibition juxtaposes a series
of 12 jungles scenes with other works: portraits, cityscapes and
allegories that give context to his creative process.
Galeries
Nationales du Grand Palais, 3 avenue du Général-Eisenhower, 8th (00 33
1 44 13 17 17/www.rmn.fr/galeries nationalesdugrandpalais) Métro
Champs- Elysées Clemenceau. Open Mon, Thur-Sun 10am-8pm, Wed 10am-10pm.
Adm €10. Pre-booking compulsory before 1pm.
20. Luxe out at Louis Vuitton
Okay,
so you may not be able to afford to fill your (designer) boots, but a
trip to the new Louis Vuitton store is as much about its celebrated
spiral interior as the wares. Glass walls composed of tiny Vuitton
logos divide up the space, while scarlet briefcases are displayed in
rigid vertical formations like a Donald Judd installation. Elsewhere in
store, there’s a bookshop with the expected but fun-to-touch design
titles and luxe travel guides. Designed by Eric Carlson and Peter
Marino, it’s brought more than a touch of glitz to the Champs-Elysées.
Louis Vuitton, 101 avenue des Champs-Elysées, 8th (00 33 8 10 81 00 10/ www.vuitton.com) Métro George V. Open Mon-Sat 10am-8pm.
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