Paris monuments

Discover monuments that make paris fame. these typicals places and main monuments will give you excellent memories of your trip in paris.

Versailles palace  Versailles Palace - The "Sun-King" Palace is one of the most visited monuments in France. After the visit of the royal appartments a stroll in the Jardins à la Française of the terrace is a must.

Eiffel tower, les invalides, musée d'orsay  Eiffel Tower - In 1889, when the Tour Eiffel was completed, it was the tallest building in the world at 300m. The Tour Eiffel was originally built as a tempory structure to commemorate the centenary of the Revolution. And since, the Eiffel Tower has become an enduring symbol of the city of Paris.  Les Invalides - In 1670, founded a hospital for his invalid soldiers, the King Louis XIV adopted plans by Liberal Bruant and the work started in 1671 and was finished in 1676. This hospital could house up to 4000 patients.  Musée d'Orsay -This former railway-station is now dedicated to the late XIX th and early XX th century art. This very prolific period is illustrated through the exhibition of painting, sculpture, graphic and decorative arts as well as architecture, urbanization and the birth of movie-film.

Notre-dame, musée du moyen-age, notre-dame, sainte ch  Middle-Age Museum Hotel de Cluny - Built on the ruins of a roman public bath, this XVI th century mansion is housing the famous XV th century tapestry "Lady with unicorn".  Notre-Dame - Located on the Ile de la Cité, Paris Cathedral stands both as the center of Paris throughout centuries and the geographical center of France from which every distance is calculated.  Sainte Chapelle - Still on the Ile de la Cité, 10 mn. walk will take you to this jewel of gothic style consecrated in 1248 to exhibit some Jesus-Christ relics bought for an orageous price by Philippe Auguste to the Byzantine Empire.  Tour St Jacques - This magnificent bell tower is the only remain of a former church built in the "Gothique flamboyant" style. It used to be a protected halt on the pilgrimage way to St Jacques de Compostelle at a time when travelling wasn't a safe experience .

Musée du louvre and palais royal  Musée du Louvre - One of the former royal palaces built on the ruins of the old Philippe Auguste defensive wall converted into the largest museum throughout the world. Start with the visit of the Aile Richelieu covering a range of collections going from the Antiquity to the XIX th century.  Palais Royal - The main courtyard, with access via a vaulted passage, displays a noble main facade and two wings, bordered by colonnaded galleries. The space of this beautiful courtyard is now decorated with a set of 260 unequal sections of columns, striped black and white.

Le marais  Le Marais - From the XII th century some religious fraternities started drying up this swamp area north of the Philippe Auguste wall permitting later the urbanization of Le Marais which remains today a typical medieval district. With your map of Paris in hand, you will enjoy this maze of narrow streets where the traditionnal jewish shopkeepers find themselves in competition with the gay ones. You will find a multitude of mansions such as beautiful Hotel Salé, today Picasso Museum, as well as many art galleries. Don't miss the Place des Vosges where Victor Hugo used to live (museum in his former appartment at n° 6).  Musée Picasso - Located in the Hotel Salé built in 1659 by a tax collector it has been described as a "New rich house" considering the luxury of its adornments.Picasso used to describe himself as "The greatest collector of Picasso's on earth". It explains why his heirs having to pay such a fortune of inheritance taxes decided to trade with the Taxes Department a selection of Picasso's work which happens to be the display of typical pieces of every period of this major master of contemporary art.

Père lachaise cemeterry and montmartre  Père Lachaise Cemeterry - Becoming a hospice for members of the Jesuit order in the XVII th century, the original mansion turned into a meeting place for gentry under the influence of the Père Lachaise, Louis XIV's confessor. It's only in 1804 that the Prefect of Paris opened this graveyard , growing, up to now, as a city of the deads with its neatly drawn avenues, its shady streets, its social hierarchy easily recognizable to the adornment of the tombs and their surrounding. From First Empire's fashionable Egyptian style to Jim Morrison's tomb covered by fans ' graffitis this highlight in the kingdom of darkness offers a display of cults such as the ones of Victor Noir (ladies asking for fertility), Allan Kardec for Spiritists...  Montmartre - From the stairs of the Basilique du Sacré Coeur you can enjoy the best sight of Paris at one glance. But the artists glance is also what made Montmartre famous. It is the birthplace of modern art in France and around. Great impressionnists painters such as Corot, Renoir and Degas were joined later by the Fauvists, Cubists then Futurists. Before 1914 one could come across Van Dongen, Juan Gris, Vlaminck, Braque, Cézanne or Picasso who painted there "The Demoiselles d'Avignon" in 1907.  The Place du Tertre and its many portrait painters perpetuate this "Esprit de Bohème", in a much more commercial way, one must admit!...

Pigalle, moulin rouge  Pigalle - Going down from Montmartre, near the Place Pigalle you will find the famous cabaret,"Le Moulin Rouge, birthplace of the French Cancan, where the painterToulouse Lautrec used to select his models. Pigalle is a fun place to visit for adults only...