Best of WWW. petittute: com:Arts et Vie Vacation Residences Friendly, welcoming and comfortable, the four Arts et Vie rental resorts are designed for holidays where both children and adults can spend their time in sporting and cultural activities. They are equipped with high standard facilities — newly built housing, sports complex, parking lot, quality household appliances, television... They invite you to fully enjoy field sports as well as each area’s natural beauty and cultural marvels. Serre-Chevalier ***** — Hautes-Alpes district (Alps) This high quality comfort residence was inaugurated in 2006. It is located in the Guisane Valley in the Briangon area, perched at an altitude of 1,500 m (about 5,000 feet). For skiing activities, this place is a real paradise - 250 km (155 miles) of slopes and trails, 66 ski lifts. During the summer, mountain hiking is great as well. La Cime des Prés-Chabert — 05220 Le Monétier-les-t Tel. +33 (0)4 92 22 27 37 E-Mail: serre-chevalier @artsetvie.com Samoéns — Haute-Savoie district (Savoy) Samoéns, located at 700 m above sea level (2,300 feet) in the Giffre Valley near Chamonix, has kept its charm of a typical Savoy village. The resort's wooden chalets welcome alpine and nordic skiing lovers during the winter season, and in the summertime, there are plenty of hill and mountain hiking possibilities and lots of activities. 339, route du Grand Massif — 74340 Samoéns Tel. +33 (0)4 50 34 97 78 E-Mail: samoens@artsetvie.com Provence In the heart of Provence, surrounded with vineyards, orchards and cypresses, the Malaucéne village faces the famous Mont Ventoux. The privileged location of the residence enables one to take the most of the magnificent cultural inheritance of Provence, and to relax at the remar- kable watersports centre. Boulevard des Remparts — 84340 Malaucéne Tel. +33 (0)4 90 12 62 00 E-Mail: malaucene@artsetvie.com Messanges — Céte d’Argent in Landes district Messanges resort is located in a pine forest, only 1,800 m (about one mile) away from the beach. Itis an enchanting place for nature and sea lovers. The swimming-pool, the two tennis courts and the multisport complex will ravish sportmen and women. Besides, the proximity with Spain and the Basque Country adds to this place a wonderful cultural and touristic attractivity. Quartier Nature — 40660 Messanges Tel. +33 (0)5 58.48 96 00 : messanges@artsetvie.com ARTS ET VIE RESIDENCE DE TOURISME WWW.EPETITFUTE Ed.7 EST OF FRANCE 2012 V | n parson mes Welcome IseN:97e27aea47672 Le Post Futé was four = EE. iis pbieed by Les n France 1 Ie au dsiorares: Tos Pts in rl iGe | © 01 53 69 70 00 - Fax 01 42 7315 24 F ’ Intemat vow petite. com SAS capital of 1 000 000 € - AC PARIS B 309 769 956 PUBLISHING TEAM Authors : Helene MURRAY, Stéphanie BEE, Jean-Paul LABOURDETTE, Dominique AUZIAS and alter oo Publishing Director : Stephan SZEREMETA Publishing : Romain DAVID, Marie-Cécile HAINGUE, Francois TOURNIE, Audrey BOURSET, Clementine GIRARD and Chariatte MONNIER PUBLICITY TEAM Sales Director: Otvier AZPROZ with Michel GGRANSEIGNE and Victor CORREIA Advertising : Céline OUDOT, Mathieu AVELINE, Nicolas DOJU, Régis BRUGEFE, Christiane BOUCHE-ALBERTIN, Llane COUNORD, Linde CASTAGNIE, Audrey COMPAGNON, Perrine DE CARNE, Céline DUCHESNE, Isabelle BARBION d'ASSIGNY, Antoine FRANCHI, Laetitia GRANGE, Jean-Louis Vincent GREAUD, Kanés HAMELNN, Didier MENDUN, Claude MAILLERET, Nathalie MOULIN, Marine PREISS, Roch POUSSIN, Julien ROCHAS, Syvie SIMON National Publicity Board : Aureien MILTENBERGER, Caroline GENTELET, Orlane de SALABERAY, Stéphanie BERTRAND, Ceroline AUBRY, Sabrina SERIN, Adoino LABELLE, Nario IWEINS Intemational Publicity Board : Karine VIROT assistée de Camille ESMIEU, Guillaume LAEOUREUR, Romain COLYER. and Virginio BOSCREDON Web Technical Ditector : Lionel CAZAUMAYOU Web Management and Development : Jean-Marc REVMUND, Cédric MAILLOUX, Anthony LEFEVRE, Christophe PERREAU, Imad HOULAL and Fiona TOPREND CIRCULATION ET PROMOTION Sales Promotion Director : Eric MARTIN assisté Nathalie GONCALVES and Aissatou DIOP Circulation Manager : Bénédicte MOULET Sales Manager : Jean-Pierre GHEZ Press-Sponsors Partnership Management: Jean-Mary MARCHAL DESIGN AND LAYOUT studio: Sophie LECHERTIER and Natalie THENAUD Layout : Elodie CLAVIER, Sandrine MECKING, Marie BOUGECIS, Antoine JACOUN, Laurie PILLOIS, Evelyne AMFI, Julie BORDES, lode CARY and Delphine PAGANO ‘ictures Management : ‘Sandrine LUCAS and Henri BERLEMONT Mapaing: Sophie CUCHEVAL ADMINISTRATION Chairman : Jean-Paul LABOURDETTE Financial Director : Gérard BRODIN Human Resources Director : Dina BOURDEAU with Sanra MORAS, Cindy ROGY and Aurie GUIBON Account Management Nathalie THENAUD Information Technology Manager : Pascal LE OFF Accounting : Isabelle BAFOURD with Christelle MANEBARD, Oumy DIOUF and Janine DEMIRDJIAN Gollection: Fabien BOWNAN with Sandra BRIJLALL Switehbeard : Laura LAFFERE Couverture : Vigndble du beaujolais © Peay Fi Foureire :Yonties Pere tts annals Impression : MPRIMERIE CHIRAT - io - 42540 Saint-Justla-Pendue Ceite démarche implique le respect de nombreux critéres contribuant i prérerver 'enviroanement. To contactus by emall, family name fowercase) followed by epetitute.con For letters to the editor: Ino@petitfute.com= Sommaire See m= PARIS - IDF === e Lot-et-Garonne 200 =_ ALPES (ALPS) === Albertville, Beaufortain, Maurienne Le Puy-de-Déme. . Vanoise............................123 Vercors sss ssese seer 124 Hotels & restaurants..................126 Géite-d’'Or 270 7 27 ne 27a YONG... sci c esc ceeseeeeeeeser 27D Hotels & restaurants .................281 = BRETAGNE (BRITTANY) =‘ODENEee ey Creer]LANGUEDOC- ROUSSILLON Herault . Lozére Pyrénées-Orientales Hotels & restaurants ... LIMOUSIN ati tee 498 Haute-Vienne ........:.ceeeseeeeeeee 500 Hotels & restaurants ........seeseree 502 - The Pont d'Avignon LORRAINE Meurthe-et-Moselle........ 2.2.0.0 508 MéUea sasseuscesrimascm aed 511 Moselle .... Vosges. Hotels & restaurants ........seeeereee 515 MIDI-PYRENEES AND cevssvenrssssavneserrvend 522 Aveyron... Gers.. Haute-Garonne Hautes-Pyrénes 00.0... eseeese eres 531Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ............. Hautes-Alpes .. Alpes-Maritimes. = VALLEE DU RHONE (RHONE VALLEY) m= = -DE-LA- zz. Loire Loire-Atlantique............-.+-.+ 642 Bhine 205 ee 648 Savoi 808 Sarthe... 653 Haute-Savoie 210 Vendée ........................, 655 Hotels & restaurants... 658PARIS - ILE-DE-FRANCEo Paris ee = THE PARIS OF DISTRICTS = Visiting Paris, is also visiting the districts (not less than 80...) having each its own history put in common in 1860 during the new administrative cut outs of the capital in 20 districts. However, still subsits today a real human and urban identity, a district life to which the Parisians are attached. The Bastille From the Bastille to the Nation, it is the heart of the popular Paris that throbs here since the Revolution when, the 14th July, the prison “La Bastille” is taken to assautt. It will be the end of the absolute monarchy. In 1871, the population of Paris famished by the seige of the Prussian army opposes itself in Thiers which itaccuses of coming to terms with the enemy. itis the beginning of the Commune of Paris that ends with bloodshed. Last bloody episode of this area:: the 8th Febuary 1962, ‘the metro of Charonne is the theater of a violent police repression during an organised manifestation against L'OAS, making 9 deaths. Districts that has become bourgeois, marked by a restoration around the Opéra-Bastille but which stays a place of festivals and manifestations. 5 eee The Champs-Elysées The Greek mythology saw these Champs-Elysées as a place of rest, sweet and pleasant, comparable to ‘the Christians paradise, where the rightones and the heroes tasted to rest after their terrestrial life. This name was given to the opening pierced by Le Notre in 1667 in the prolongation of the central alley of the garden of the Tuileries up to the height of the actual “Rond-Point". As from the Second Empire, the prolonged avenue entered in its festive period by becoming the place of residence of the high society. This cosmopolitan area is the most touristic of Paris. Island of the city This little island of the Seine corresponds to the heart of the ancient Lutece, cradle of a big urban agglomeration, embryon of a country. It was originally a boatmen village, the Parisians that lived peacefully until the roman invasion. Four centuries later, Lutéce took the name of Paris. In ‘the Middle Ages, after many invasion trials, repelled with courage and the miraculous intervention of sainte Genevieve, the population began to establish itself on the “continental” banks of the Seine. The City stays the center of the capital, and remains, with Notre-Dame and its neighbour the Saint-Louis Island, an inevitabe destination for the visitor. Saint-Louis Island Situated upstream of the City, the Saint-Louis Island is anarow parallelogram linked to the island of the City by the Saint-Louis bridge, short link forbidden to cars. Residential area, the Saint-Louis Island easily falls in to strolls on the wharf's border like in its sinuous alleys deserted by cars. The rythm of life is strangely altered compared to the rest of Paris. The Marie Bridge, one of the most ancient of Paris, links the right bank and the Saint-Louis Island. Le Marais This historical and touristic area of Paris was originally a large marsh. The area was integrated to Paris ‘thanks to the fortified precincts of Charles V. The construction of the Royal place, actually Place des Vosges, wanted by Henri IV, begun in 1612. Astrom this period, the Marsh took an elegant and refined ‘tum with its numerous private hotels, gems which give to the area all its specificity and beauty. In the ‘small streets have been installed shops of creators of insolite objects and fashion clothes. The numerous cafés and the discotheques have become the meeting place of the gays of the capital.Montmartre The history of Montmartre begun well before 1876 and the edification of the Sacré-Coeur basilica. But the area nevertheless owes a lot of its notoriety to the Xixth century. Montmartre isinevitably associated to poets, painters, artists in general, to a great liberty of ‘the mind and creativity. With its Pigalle's place, it is ‘the dreamt of picturesque area, with its little detour by the Moulin-Rouge. Quartier latin In the Xitth century, the Paris University originally installed in the Notre-Dame cloister, established itself on the left bank. Since then, this area stays marked by a strong academic tradition (Panteon, Sorbonne, Jussieu, Censier) attracting students in great number. The area owes its qualifier to the fact that Latin was spoken there, official language of teaching until 1793. Long ago, knowledge and libraries area, it has become that of shops and of ‘the rapid restauration. Saint-Germain-des-Prés The area owes its name to saint Germain, bishop of Paris, who asked to Childebert the 1st, son of Clovis, to build in the meadows neighbouring Paris a basilica destined to shelter the tunic of Saint Vincent taken by ‘the king in Saragossa. But Saint-Germain mainly owes its notoriety to its literary cafés (‘Les Deux Magots” or “Le Flore”) where the intellectuals and artists of the after war met. In the caves of this area, we swing to the jazz rythm and the party is at its full. m= THE PARIS OF PLACES = LA PLACE DE LA CONCORDE Subway: Concorde ‘The Concorde place has been planned between 1753 and 1763. Of an area of 84.000 m2, it is the biggest place of Paris and the second in France. Originally, it was named Louis XV place, in honour of which it had been realised (following the recovery of the king after his troublesome episode in Metz, where ‘we thought to see him die). But the equestrian statue of the king, quickly gave place to the guillotine and in 1792, this royal place became the Revolution place. twas the stage of executions during the Terror. 1119 persons, among which the king Louis XVI, his wife Marie-Antoinette, most of their close relations then ‘the chiefs of the Revolution, suffered, on this place, the gloomy fate of the guillotine. In the middle of the actual Concorde place rises the obelisk that was The Paris of places - PARIS < originally found in the Thebes temple, at Louxor. The viceroy of Egypt offered it as a gift to France in 1830, in thanks for the translation of the hierogyphs by Champollion. At the issu of a four years journey, of which the conditions are described on the base of the edifice, it came to decorate the center of the place (with its 3250 years, it is the most ancient monument of the capital). The "Fontaine des Mers" and that of the "Fleuves ", installed between 1836 and 1846, are copies of these decorating the Saint-Pierre place of Rome. And all around the place raises the statues Of the eight big cities of France. LA PLAGE VENDOME Subway: Madeleine, Concorde or Tuileries. In 1799 it becomes Vendéme place and gives its name to the Austerlitz column, raised in 1806 to commemorate the victory of Napoleon the 1st. It is the place of the jewellery and luxury hotels, designing Paris in the entire world as the capital of good taste. Famous for its jewellers, the Vendémo place was. drawn in 1699 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Itoriginally welcomed the statue of Louis XV. Mansart realised a closed place in the tradition of the other royal places. Built in the Xviith century, the very beautiful hotels of the place, most of which have Kept their interior decor, were sold to big financiers and general farmers. During the Revolution, the royal statue was sent back ‘to smelting by the revolutionaries. In 1799 it became Vend6me place. Napoleon hurried to raise in 1806 the Austeriitz column (having become Vendome column along time): of its 40m high, it has been metted with the canons taken from the Austrians and the Russians. The statue representing him in roman emperor who surmounted it did not resist ‘the change of regime of 1815. Today it is the copy of the statue of Napoleon Ill that is in place. You will still notice some bas-reliefs in spiral on the column that tells about the campaign of 1805. LA PLACE DU TERTRE Subway: Anvers, Abbesses or Lamark- Caulaincourt. On the mound of Montmartre, the Tartre place exists since the XIVth century. This ancient village place reminds the memory of the old Montmartre, little village attached by the town, like it isthe case for other areas of Paris, like Charonne, Belleville or Vaugirard, ‘to mention only some. A certain atmosphere of small Village still prevails in these quarters: those that live there know very well but we can also feel it while passing there. Rather early in the day, the tourists invade Montmartre and the painters equipped with ‘their easels take place for a day of portraits and caricatures. The place is very animated. Atthe n° 5, seiged the first mayor of the area, in1790. Find the index on page 825 1 2 3 = a = i Ss ™ a za > = S ™12 > PARIS - The Paris of places LA PLACE DES VOSGES Subway: Saint-Paul or Bastille The Vosges place is the most ancient monumental place of Paris. Originally, the royal house of the Tournelles was found in this location. But following the death of her husband Henri Il, who received during a tournament, a fatal spear blow in the eye, Catherine of Medicis hated it, had it pulled down and moved to the Louvres. It had to wait Henri IV, in 1605, to see the birth of the Royal place (ancient name of the Vosges place) in lieu and place of this ancient royal house. It was inaugurated two years after the death of the king, in 1612, at the occasion of the engagement of Louis Xill to Anne of Austria. Firstiy baptised Royal place, it has something in ‘commom with a game of chess, the king's pavilion, ‘to the south, facing the pavilion of the queen, to the north (more elevated buildings). The place that did not have its garden yet under Louis XIll, was a space where parties and ‘tournaments were regularly organised and the whole Court wished to live there. When they all went to Versailles, it was the high financial bourgeois and tich merchants who occupied the places. Napoleon the 1st renamed it Vosges place so as to reward the first department having paid its taxes, Victor Hugo lived there from 1832 to 1848 (we can still visit his house, installed in the Rohan-Guénémée hotel, at the 6, Vosges place), like Aiphonse Daudet or even Théophile Gauthier. m= THE BIG SITES AND MONUMENTS === The city of light does not lack magical places anchored in the imagination of all. The Eiffel Tower, the Triumphal Arch of the Star, the banks of the Seine, Paris possesses the sites and the monuments the most visited in the world. ARC DE TRIOMPHE Place Charles-de-Gaulle (8") ©01 553773 77 www.arc-de-triomphe.monuments-nationaux.fr Subway: Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile, Open every day. From the 1st October to the 31st March from 10h to 22h30 and from the 1st April to the 30th September from 10h to 23h, Cashiers’ office closes 30 mn before the monument closes. Full tariff: 9€; ‘group tariff: 7€ (groups and tourism professionals) reduced tarif: 5,50 € (18-25 years and teachers), tree for the less than 18 years, for EC national aged between 18 and 25 years old and every first Sunday of each months from November to March. The Triumphal Arch offers to its visitors a magnificent perspective : on one side, the Louvre palace and the Concorde place, and on the other, its contemporary pendent, the Defence Arch (orientation tables are at the disposal on the terrace). Conceived by the architect Jean-Francois Chalgrin, then finished by Abel Bouet, this monument, whose work started in 1806 under the impulse of Napoleon the First is dedicated to the glory of the French armies. The emperor did not see the finished work, its inauguration being held in 1836. The monument flaunts a height of 50m on 45m. large, it comprises on each of its sculpted parts the names of the biggest military victories of french's history and that of the 666 generals who fought during the wars of the Revolution and the Empire. The arch shelters since the 28th January 1921 the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, brought down in the burial vault under the edifice and symbolising the 1500 000 deads of the Great War. The flame of the memory has never been extinguished. It is revived each night at 18h30. Around the Star place (officially baptised the Charles-de-Gaulle place since 1970, but the old usages have a hard lfe...), disposed in rays, the 12 avenues bordered by private hotels were furnished by the baron Haussmann. BANKS OF THE SEINE Registered to the World patrimony of the UNESCO since 1991, the banks of the river are the cradle of the history of Paris. it was at first a commercial port. But the banks of the Seine have long stayed the den of rats, of bandits and a center of epidemics. Today, the lovers of Paris, like to stroll, on foot or in boat... The City island and the Saint-Louis island, Notre-Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Tuileries garden, the Louvres palace, the National Assembly, the Eiffel Tower and the Champ-de-Mars, the Tokyo palace give to this patrimony an eternal charm. In the east, plunge into the modern life of Bercy with the Charles-de-Gaulle Bridge and the glass towers of the National Library of France. At night, the 36 bridges of Paris are illuminated and the magic operates... The spectacle is magnificent. CITY OF SCIENCES AND OF INDUSTRY Villette Park-30, Avenue Corentin-Cariou (19") ©01 40 05 80 00 (vocal server) Wwww.cite-sciences.fr.Subway Porte-de-la-Villette. Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10h to 18h and on Sunday until 19h. Different tariffs according to the activity. Inform oneself. In the years 1970, it was decided to equip the ancient area of the slaughterhouse with a modem concept. The architect Adrien Fainsilber was chosen to plan this City of Sciences, inaugurated in March 1986. This immense complex devoted to sciences and to the techniques of our modern world is one of the biggest scientific museums of Europe. The City welcomes about 3 million persons each year. Principally functionning on the interactivity principle, the public is invited to navigate from expositions to spaces dedicated to diverse themes : the Universe,‘the genes, sounds, image, innovation, space, energy ; ‘the Argonaute is an ancient submarine of the National Marine, now open to visits. As to the "Zizi sexuel, expo” inspired by Titeuf, it always fils the target with the preadolescents. Adults and children leam in this ‘way to enjoy themselves thanks to manipulations and other little experiences allowing to put in concrete the abstract notions. The colossal size of the complex raises difficulties in the enumeration of all the services and attractions offered. The circuit offers also the possibility to access the spectacles of the Planetarium, to enter in the simulator in 3D of the Cinaxe (as from 4 years and prohibited to pregnant women of more than 6 months). Do not miss the Géode that shelters the hemispheric projection Toom (as from 3 years and prohibited to pregnant women of more than 6 months). The site is very well adapted to the persons of reduced mobility: numerous spectales, expositions are accessible to ‘them. The aquarium is of free access and free. NATIONAL OPERA OF PARIS GARNIER Visitors' entry at the angle of rue Scribe and tue Auber © 08 92 89 90 90 www.operadeparis.fr Open from 10h to 17h (access until 16h30 ). Free visit of the grand stairs, the grand hearth, the museum and the temporary exposition space (National Library of France), of the spectacle room that is likely to be closed for artistic and technical reasons, Tariffs: normal 9€ ; groups and collectivities 6 € ; reduced 4€; free for the less than 10 years, * Pass’Opera Jeune " and Culture Card, Guided visits ( www.operdeparis.fr/visites) on Wednesdays and the week-end at 11h30 and 15h30, supplementary visit at 14h inJuly/August © 08 25 05 44 05 (0,15€ TVA minute). Tariffs: normal 12€ ; reduced 10€ /9€ and 6€. Architectural masterpiece of the XIxth century, built by Charles Garnier between 1861 and 1875, the Garnier palace completes with flamboyance the perspective of the Opera Avenue. Thirteenth room of the opera of Paris since the foundation of this institution by Louis XIV in 1669, its construction was decided by Napoleon lil and was inscribed in the framework of the big renovation works of the capital, led by the most famous town planner of the. xixth century, the baron Hausmann. This marble and gold palace, at the same time theater and museum, unwinds the pomp of its grand stair, of its grand hearth and its other public hearths, abundantly decorated with paintings and sculptures. In the ted and gold spectacle room, the ceiling painted by Marc Chagall in1964 evokes, among others, the great lyrical and choregraphical works of the repertoire, With more than 370 representations by season, the National Opera of Paris shares its activity between the Gamier Palace and the Bastille Opera, big modern theater inaugurated in1989. The Big sites and monuments - PARIS <4 EIFFEL TOWER Ghamp-de-Mars (7") ©0144 11 23 23 www.tour-eiffel.fr Subway: Bir-Hakeim or Trocadero, RER: Champ-de- Mars. Sales of tickets online on the official www. toureiffel. fr. Liftfare (up to the 2nd floor) 8€, 12-24 years old: 6.40€ 4-11 years old: 4€. To the top: 13€ 12-24 years old: 9.90€, 4-11 years old: 7.50 €. Stairs fare (up to the 2nd floor): 4.50€, 12-24 years old, 12-24 years old: 3.50€, 4-11 years old: 3€. Access to the 2nd floor for the persons with reduced mobility. Tourism and Handicap label for the hearing and mental handicaps. The big lady of Paris always stays as impressive and majestic. Built by Gustave Eiffel forthe universal Exposition of 1889 (that marked the centenary of the Revolution), its destruction was programmed 20 years later. Finally, it was preserved for scientific reasons. The feet of the building coincide with the four cardinal points and the edifice totally weights 10100 tons. It was the highest monument until 1929. Since 1957, the diffusion antenna of the French Television heightened it to 324 meters. At the foot of the Eiffel Tower extends the Champ- de-Mars, ancient camp for the manoeuvres of the Military Schoo! nearby. Numerous manifestations took place in this legendary spot, of which the big expositions as from the Second Empire, particularly ‘the universal expositions that took place every 11 years: 1867, 1878, 1889 (that of the Eiffel Tower), 1900 and finally 1937. Gustave Eiffel realised his work on an imposed and very precise theme: a tower with a square base of 3001 in height, Such a technical prowess was then destined to show to the other countries the industrial power of France. First described by the artists (" the odious column of bolted iron sheet” estimated Maupassant and Dumas), it ended by acquiring its popularity during the in-between two wars period: symbol of modernity, ‘the cubists Picasso and Delaunay glorified it, tho poets Cendards and Queneau praised it. Today, the monument welcomes nearly 7 million visitors each year, and needs 60 t of painting every 7 years. At 276m of the ground, the Eiffel Tower offers the most extended panorama of Paris. The most remote horizon is, nearly to 70km. We can get our bearing thanks to an orientation table. We equally find, at the summit, a reconstitution of the Office of Gustave Eiffel, represented during a meeting with the American engineer and physician Thomas Edison. A games course for kids is offered on the first floor and animations are regularly organised. Official shops are found on the 1st and 2nd floor ‘Two restaurants are found up at the floors, The Jules Verne is a gastronomic restaurant on the 2nd floor. At nightfall, the Eiffel Tower sparkles of all its lights every hour, during the five first minutes of the hour. Spectacle that never tires... 13 = = B = my ° m a 2 5 2 Ss m14 > PARIS - The Big sites and monuments ROYAL — PALACE Rue de Rivoli (1°) Subway: Palais-Royal. Gardens: free entry. At the Cardinal Richelieu's request, the architect Jacques Lemercier had the Cardinal Palace built, as from 1622. In 1643, just after the death of Richelieu, Anne of Austria and her son, the young Louis XIV, as well as the cardinal Mazarin left the Louvre to stay there. From this period dates its appellation of "Royal-Palace ". In 1692, it became the property of the Orleans who undertook a vast teal estate operation with commercial vocation, transforming the major part of the Palace into luxury shops: called the “Merchant Palace ", we could also find luxury shops, theaters, gardens. But tthe place became also the scene of dissolute living, liberties and Parisian agitations. Dispossessed for some time, the Orlean family took back its possessions until 1848, having the buildings and the gardens arranged back. In 1870, at the downfall of the Empire, the Royal Palace was reconnected to the State and welcomed five years later the State Council, the Constitutional Council and the Comédie-Francaise (as from 1786), then later the direction of the Fine-Arts and finally the Ministry of Culture and Communication. In the main courtyard, the Buren columns installed there are talked of since 1985. LELIDO 116 bis, avenue des Champs-Elysées 75008 Paris (France) ©01 40 76 56 10 Fax : 01 40 76 19 41 www.lido.fr Dinner with show, from 7.00 p.m to 11 p.m. ‘Show at 9.30 p.m or 11.30 p.m. Children’s show: certain days at 2.00 p.m. Fare: as from 80€. Joseph and Louis Clerico opened this high place of the mythical Champs-Elysées in 1948, instead of a cabaret named La Plage de Paris — it was decorated with frescos representing Venice and its Lido. With Miss Bluebell, alias Margaret Kelly, as a chorus-line leader, the show ‘seduce the visitors of the capital very quickly. Stars like Shirley MacLaine, Elton John and even Laurel and Hardy participated in it over the years. The success is such that in 1977, Le Lido has to move to get bigger but always on the Champs! The place has now 1 150 seats (where you can see from everywhere). Carl Clerico, Joseph’s son, is the boss. “Bonheur” is ‘the title of the show presented at the moment. It tells the search of a woman's happiness, in Paris and in India. She is notthe only one, because the Bluebell Girls and the Lido Boy Dancers come with her! Sumptuous costumes, fabulous lights, ‘sumptuous décors, songs, ballets... Ankiis the leader of the show started in 2003, ‘Stéphanie Laurendeau is the principal dancer. Conception and production: Pierre Rambert. He also imagined a show for children with Gilles Arthur the magician: ‘The adventures of Marion or the broken doll”. Le Lido is now open behind ‘the scenes before the show! For a complete show, a discovery of the secrets of the place, count from 110 € to 160 €. = THE BIG MUSEUMS = Capital of the arts and letters, Paris shelters the biggest (and mainly the most beautiful...) museum in the world: the Louvre. Other museums in the town interest all the periods and all the fields. THE ARMY MUSEUM National hotel of the Invalids 129, rue de Grenelle 75007 Paris ©01 44 42 3877 www.invalides.org Subway: Invalides, Maubourg Tower, Varenne. Open every day, except the fisrt Monday of each month, from 10h to 18h from the 1st of April to the 30th September and until 17h from the 1st October to the 31st March. Full entry fare: 9€, Reduced fare 7€, free for the residents and EC National under 26 years old... Free for the less than 18 years. Bom from the fusion in 1905 of the Artillery Museum and the Historical museum of the Army, the Army museum presents one of the richest military collections in the world. Installed in the hotel Louis XIV had built for his hurt or ‘too old to fight soldiers, the museum offers a surprising tour along the military history of France, from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. Occupying two buildings on both sides of the main courtyard, arms, armours, uniforms, boards, emblems, artillery and historical souvenirs are presented (Louis XIll, Frangois 1st, Charles do Gaulle, etc). The "modern" department, entirely restored, presents arms, portraits, uniforms and dioramas illustrating military evolutions and the great figure of the France's history, from Louis XIV to Napoléon Ill, Keeping a privileged place to the Napoleonic period (personal belongings of Bonaparte and his marshals. Inaugurated in 2008, the Historial Charles de Gaulle presents in 400 archive documents a biographic film, 80 years of the course of the General Unavoidable Paris building, the Dome church accommodates the tomb of Napoleon the First (see paragraph "Great Men of Paris").CHAMPS-ELYSEES PARIS Coton ual face Draenei OF CHAMPS-ELYS Pees . vores eee e cnc ior (Dab telever ear DINNER & SHOW from €150 CHAMPAGNE & SHOW from €90 eon ROT ea cw AL ON BC eee MO) OA eel Oe er eo ccla lO e (he SAAC16 > PARIS - The big museums NATIONAL MUSEUM OF GUIMET ASIAN ARTS 6, place d’léna (16") © 01 56 52 53 00 www.guimet.fr Subway: léna/Boissiére. Open every day except Tuesdays from 10h to 18h. For the permanent collections : full tariff 7,50 €, reduced tariff 5,50€, tree for those aged less than 26 years old. Coupled temporary ticket only + permanent collections: tull tariff 9.50 €, reduced tariff 7€. Temporary exposition ticket only ; full tariff 8 €, reduced tariff 6 €. Free every first Sundays of each month, In a magnificently renovated setting, the Guimet Museum invites the visitor to discover Arts from South West Asia, India, China, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet and Nepal, Korea and Japan. Founded in 1889, by the industrialist Emile Guimet, the museum gathers around 45000 arts works (numbers from inventory) thus making of this place the first museum of Asian Arts in the world out of Asia for the extent of its collection. ‘These works are completed by those presented in the Galleries of the Buddhist Pantheon that shelters the original collections of the Guimet museum, like its foundator had conceived them. A Japanese garden completes this atmosphere, like an invitation ‘to travel. The circuit of the museum proposes an itineray which is also geographical, following the Silk Route, but, also chronological, going from the lind millennial before our era to end with the XIX" century, period at which the art amateurs became passionately fond of exotism. The collections allow to appreciate the meticulous work done on the Indian silks, to admire the sumptuous Buddhas of Angkor and even to discover the arts considered as major in Asia, like the calligraphy or painting. The museum proposes also numerous cultural activities, among which figurates the tea ceremony, and organises for the children Chinese painting or kite workshops so that they can disorientaie too. MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS 107, Rivoli street (1*) ©01 44 55 57 50 www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr Subway: Tuileries, Pyramids or Royal Palace. The museum is accessible to persons of reduced mobility by a liftat the 105, Rivoli Street. Open trom Tuesday to Sunday from 11h to 18h. Night visit up to 9.00 p.m on Thursday. Closed on Monday, Je 25 december, ist january and 1st May. Full entry tariff: 9€, reduced tariff 7,50-€. Audio guide included. ina completely renovated architectural interior and ‘a museographical circuit, this museum installed since 1905 in the wing and the Marsan pavilion of the Louvre Palace offers a complete panorama of the decorative arts, of the Middle Ages until our days, on 9000 m? The expanse of collections puts forward the know-how of the artisans, the french art of living, the research, the creativity and the passion of the collectors. Rich of more than 150000 objects, the collection has been constituted thanks to the generosity of the patrons and donators. The more specific collections (Boulle, Le Corbusier, Lalique, Mallet-Stevens, Prouvé, Starck, etc. ) beneficiates of a particular presentation. The 190 works, sculptures and drawings of the Dubuffet donation, rich are exposed alternately. Do not omit to go through the magnificent gallery of jewels or even the toys gallery. Decorative arts also possess exceptional fashion and textile collections as well as a magnificent set of posters, films and advertisement objects allowing the presentation of temporary exhibitions renewed twice a year. The decorative arts museum comprises another site, the Nissim de Camondo museum ( 63, Monceau street, 8¢, Villiers or Monceau metro) presenting the furniture and the art works of the Xvllith century, of a collector of the beginning of the XXth century, in his private hotel inspired by the “ Petit Trianon “ JUDAISM ART AND HISTORY MUSEUM Saint-Aignan Hotel - 71, temple street (4) ©01 53 01 86 53 www.mahj.org Subway : Rambuteau or Hotel-de-Ville. Open from Monday to Friday from 11h to 18h and on Sundays from 10h to 18h. Closure on Saturdays. Full entry tariff, 6.60 €; reduced tariff, 4.50€. Free for the less than 26 years and unemployed. Sheltered in the Saint-Aignan hotel, in the heart of the Marais, the Judaism Art and History museum has been inaugurated in 1998. Through exceptional documents, notably those relating to the Dreyfus affaire, but also numerous manuscripts on the intellectual trends as well as art objects, the museum traces back the historical evolution of ‘the jewish communities, from the Middle Ages to the XXth century. The museographical circuit explores this cultural patrimony and its diverse forms of artistic expressions ina chronological and thematical way, on 4000m?, It gives a big place to the Jewish history in France but also in Europe and in North Africa. At the end of this circuit, you will have a panorama of the cultural diversity of the communities, of their richness and their history, the whole giving to understand the primordial notions ‘on the foundations of the Jewish culture. ARTS-AND-WORKS MUSEUM 60, rue Réaumur (2) ©01 53 10 82 00 Wwww.arts-et-metiers.net Subway : Arts-et-Métiers or Réaumur-Sébastopol. Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10h to 18h. Nocturnal on Thursdays until 21h30. Closed on Mondays and 25th December and the 1st May. Full entry taritf: 6.50€; reduced tariff, 4,50€; temporary exposition 3-€ ; reduced tariff 2€. Free for the less than 26 years.The Foucault pendulum, the calculating machine of Pascal, the aeroplane of Clément Ader, the Panhard of 1898, the cinematography of Louis Lumiere... The arts-and-works Museum presents more that 3000 inventions on a 10000 m? area. This museum traces back the evolution of the techniques in matters of scientific instruments, communication, energy, materials, mechanic and transport. In the ancient instrument collections the astrolabe, the sextant and the sundial still leaves to muse in front of such ingenuity. Created in 1794, the invention temple has for magnificent environment the Saint-Martin-des- Champs abbey. POMPIDOU CENTER — NATIONAL MODERN ART MUSEUM Place Georges-Pompidou (4") ©01 4478 1233 www.centrepompidou.fr Subway: Rambuteau or Hote-de-Ville. Open every day except Tuesdays and the 1st May, from 11h to 21h. Cahiers' office close at 20h. Museum and exposition tariffs vary according to the periods. Full tariff 12€; reduced tariff 9€ or full tarif 10€ ; reduced tariff 8€. Spectacles and concerts: full tariff 14 € ; reduced tariff 10€. Cinemas: full tariff 6€; reduced tariff: 4-€. free access upto 18 years to the museum and the expositions and for all the 1st Sunday of the month in the museum. Access to temporary exhibitions is to be paid. On-line ticketing on the www.centrepompidou.tr/billetterie. Pass: trom 22€ to 72€ for the year. With nearly 5,5 million visitors each year, the National Center of art and culture Georges-Pompidou is a veritable anthill in the heart of Paris. Born from the ‘will power of the President Georges Pompidou, open to the public in 1977, this cultural center is entirely dedicated to the modem creation : the plastic arts coast along with music, cinema and books. With more than 1 400 exposed works, the National museum of Modem Art assembles the biggest modern and contemporary art collection in Europe. At the level 5 are presented the historical collections The big museums - PARIS < (900 works in all) covering the period (1907- 1960) from fauvism to surrealism going through cubism with Braque, Picasso, Léger. The level 4 is dedicated to the productions of after 1960, with a large place done to the creations of the last ten years. This level comprises equally the temporary expositions rooms, a pedagogical space and a space “New Medias ". Finally, the three terraces that prolonge the exposition spaces give to admire the imposing sculptures of Henri Laurens, Joan Miro and Alexander Calder. In addition to its library, of its restaurant, of its café and of its institute of musical research, the public Information Library proposes an important stock of printed and virtual documents coming from the entire world and available for consultation as from 370 multimedia posts. It is possible to consult freely all the national, regional and foreign newspapers. The Pompidou Center is also the 1st cultural national establishment to have decentralised, in partnership with the local collectivities, with the creation of the Pompidou-Metz Center (www.centrepompidou- metz.fn. MODERN ART MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF PARIS 11 avenue du President-Wilson (16") ©01 53 67 40 00 www.mam.paris.fr Subway : Alma, Marceau or léna. RER C: Pont de 'Alma. Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10h to 18h. For the temporary expositions, nocturnal on Thursdays until 22h. Free entry for the permanent collections. Different tariffs according to the expositions. Built on the occasion of the international Exposition of 1937, the modern Art museum of the city of Paris preserved a rich collection of more than 9000 pieces that illustrate the principal art trends of the XXth century ; fauvism, cubism, Dadaism, School of Paris, abstractions, new realism, narrative figuration, conceptual art, etc. Temporary expositions are dedicated to the great ‘movements and tothe major artists of the national and international artistic scene. = S ™18 > PARIS - The big museums CLUNY MUSEUM NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MIDDLE AGES 6, rue Paul-Painlevé (5") 01 53 73 78 00 - www.musee-moyenage.fr Subway : Cluny — La Sorbonne and Saint-Michel. Open every day except Tuesdays from 9h15 to 17h45. Closed on the 25th of December, the 1st of January, and the 1st of May. Full entry tariff: 8€, reduced tariff 6€ ( variable prices according to the temporary expositions). Free for the less than 18 years and for those aged between 18 and 25 years old (EC nationals) and the first Sunday of each month. Gardens opening at 8.00a.m. or 9.002.m. (depending on days): closing at 5.45 p.m. in winter and 9.30 p.m. in summer, Terrace Open trom 9.15 a.m. and 5.45 p.m. Set on the Gallo-roman thermal baths site dating back to the 1st century, the Abbés de Cluny hotel of the 16th Century accommodates the museum dedicated to the medieval period. The tapestries, gold and silver work, ceramics, stained- glass windows on 3500 m?, Roman and gothic. architectural vestiges, make up the collections of ‘this museum of international renown. Among the exposed works are: the famous hanging of the Dame a la licorne (room 13), the retables of Anvers. (room 14) or even the Piller des Nautes (room 9), set in the frigidarium of the thermal baths. Among the items recently acquired, there are an ivory box (beginning of the 14th century) entirely sculpted with representations of the courtly literature (room 11) and a rare example of buckle, endowed with a courtly tribute scene, dating back tothe 1330-1340 years (room 16). The museum offers a variety of activities (concerts, readings, visits...) for all public, as well as an audio-guide especially intended to children. Behind the museum, a mediaeval inspirational garden harmoniously completes this visit. But it is middle aged only in appearance, Ue eT as it has been created in the year 2000 by the landscapers Eric Ossart and Amaud Mauriéres. But ‘the metal reeds planted inthe “Fontaine d’Argent” reveal the contemporary character of this creation. The flowers found there could directly come from one of the tapestries thousand flowers, exposed in the museum. At this period, the flowers of the ornemental gardens carried a symbolism linked with the region. We will find again this idea in the Celestial Garden, where each flower sings the vertues of the Virgin, from the white rose to the lis of the Madone, without forgetting the aquilegia which symbolises the Holy Spirit (in April-May, the petals of its flowers evoke the take off of the doves). the children can have fun with a track game: find the traces left by the Licorn (They will find a hint in the Clairiére de la Licome). CARNAVALET MUSEUM 23, rue Sévigné (3") © 01 44 59 58 58 www.carnavalet.paris.fr Subway: Saint-Paul or Chemin Vert. Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10h to 18h. Permanent collection is free. Temporary expositions are chargeable. Placed in a magnificent Renaissance unit, the Camavalet hotel (Xvith century, restiaped by Mansart in the following century) but also the Peletier hotel of Saint-Fargeau (XVlith century), the Carnavalet museum traces back the history of the city of Paris, from its origines to nowadays. it regroups a medieval Gallo-roman archaeological collection, a collection of objects and paintings evoking the 18th and 19th Centuries’ Revolutions in Paris and a series of busts and furniture of Paris haute bourgeoisie The museographical circuit goes through a maze of rooms (a hundred) that allows at the same time to feel the atmosphere of the private houses from ‘the XVith century to the XIX century. We will notablypay attention to the Sévigné gallery, of the name of the most famous hostess of the place. Indeed, the marquess of Sévigné stayed at the Camavalet hotel from 1677 until her death in 1696. This gallery presents, notably, portraits and souvenirs of the famous letter writer. Apart from the characteristic interior equipping of each concerned period, the Parisian life is related through drawings, sculptures, photographies and engravings, from Lutéce to ‘our days, completing hence the rich patrimony of the museum. Conferences, concerts, plays, the museum's activities are accessible to all. The pleasant formal garden contributes to the charm of the historically charged architecture. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Plants Garden — 57, Cuvier Street (5) ©01 40 79 56 01/01 40 79 30 00 www.mnhn.fr Subway: Jussieu, Gare-d’Austeriitz, Place-Monge, Censier-Daubenton. The garden, of free access and free of charges opens every day from sunrise to sunset (Apline Garden: opening from April to October). The galleries, chargeable place of visit, are Open every day except Tuesdays. Cashiers’ office closes 3/4 h before the site closes: Big Gallery of Evolution: from 10h to 18 hi (full tariff 9€, reduced tariff: 7€) ; Gallery of compared Anatomy and of Paleontology, Gallery of Geology and Mineralogy, Cabinet of history of the Plants Garden: opening from 10h to 17h and from April 10 October Saturdays, Sundays and festivals: trom 10h to 18h (full tariff 6€, reduced tariff 4 €; for the Cabinet of history, full tariff 3 €, reduced tariff 1-€), The menagerie opens every day as from 9h: tull tariff 8 €, reduced tariff 6€. From Jussieu to Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire through Cuvier and Lacepéde, the greatest have worked in what, before being a big museum, wasa research and teaching establishment. Created in 1635 by Guy de la Brosse, doctor of Louis XIll, the place was originally destined to students. Today, they stay a place of knowledge, comprising a botanical garden ( the Plants Garden), a menagerie and many galleries open to the public: the Big Gallery of Evolution, the Gallery of Geology and Mineralogy and, the Gallery of compared Anatomy and of Paleontology. The year 1793 was a turning point with at that period, at its head, an assembly of professors. THE BIG GALLERY OF EVOLUTION In a muffled atmosphere, filtered by the orange- coloured lights, 257 stuffed animals seem on the walk towards... their destiny? The evolution of species? Noah's arch? Their disappearance ? Even if this visit forms part of the classics, we cannot tire of it. The magic operates each time and we always find the royal rhinoceros, the most ancient piece of this impressive collection, coming from the royal menagerie of Louis XV. The animals are so striking The big museums - PARIS < with perfection that the children, particularly, think they are dealing with reproductions: they have to be explained well that it concerns animals that have been stuffed and that, for conservation interests, ‘they should not be touched. The space reserved to ‘the abyssal plains has another surprise in store. And a consequent one : the only giant squid in the world to have been stuffed and preserved. Of a lenght of 6,5m, it has been captures in 2000 and is preserved ‘thanks to a technique called * plastination ". The visit is worth many hours to discover the diversity of the specimens presented around big themes: the diversity of the alive, the evolution of life and Man, evolution factor. Sounds, lights, decor plays, interactive terminals, scenographies... Everything is thought of for the parents and the children to appreciate this pedagogical space dedicated to ‘the history of species. See also the paragraph on the Plants Garden. LOUVRE MUSEUM Main entrance by the Louvre Pyramid (1*) ©01 40 20 53 17 — www.louvre.fr Subway: Palais-Royal — Musée-du-Louvre Open every day from 9a.m. to 6p.m., except on Tuesdays and some public holidays. Nocturnals until 22h on Wednesdays and Fridays. Free entrance for those under 18 years old; those aged under 26 years old EC nationals (except for temporary exhibitions in the Napoleon hall), handicapped persons with an invalidity card and a guide as well as those looking for work (written proof dated up to not less than 6 months). Free entrance on every first Sunday of the month and on the 14th of July (except for temporary exhibition in Napoleon hall). With 35000 works exposed in 60600 m?, the Louvre museum is one of the biggest museum in the world. Founded in 1793, it is also the most ancient. The collections of art explore the antiques civilisations and the Occident to the Middle Ages until 1848. ‘the 60 600 m? of the museum shelter some 35 000 ‘works. in the “Grand Louvre " frame work, the rooms reserved to the works of spanish and italian painters as wellas those reserved to the egyptian antiquities have been particularly developed. The re-equipping of the museum has allowed bringing to light the mediaeval trenches of the ancient fortress that had built, atthe end of the Xilth century, Philippe Auguste at this spot. Gone on crusade, the king had wished to be protected from an eventual attack of the king of England. In 1527, Frangois the 1st undertook big works to make of it a huge house. Catherine of Medicis continued this lineage. In 1564, she had a castle built in the place of the ancient Tuileries. Afterwards, Henri V had the Louvre linked to the Tuileries, in 1594, to make a sumptuous palace. Following the moving from the royal apartments to Versailles, at the time of Louis XIV, the monument became “Central Musuem of arts " and was opened to the public. 19 = = B = my ° m a 2 5 2 Ss m20 > PARIS - The big museums THE LOUVRE OF THE XXITH CENTURY The Website of the Louvre, www.louvre.fr offers a virtual visit of the museum and allows to buy the entry tickets in advance. It is also the occasion to discover the inventory of the works of the department of the graphic Art (60000 images and 130000 texts!) as well as the data base Jupiter (the documentary files and the photos of 5000 objects of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities). Finally, two interactive terminals conceived by the department of oriental antiquities allow to the researches and students to deepen their knowledge on the civilisations of the ancient Orient and on Islam (in free access, room 1bis, groung floor of the Richelieu's wing). To be informed of the closing hours of certain rooms, the visitors can refer on to the web site to a board announcing in advance the available rooms, The collections The museum disposes of 8 departments : oriental antiquities, Egyptian antiquities, Greek antiquities, Etruscan and roman, sculptures, art objects, paintings and graphic arts, and the arts of Islam. The richness of this kaleidoscope divided into three wings of the palace (Denon, Richelieu and Sull) attracts more than 8 million visitors each year. Moreover the renovation of the rooms has allowed to remove from the wings 5000 new huge works and to give a logic to their exposition ‘thanks to a very appreciable thematical lecture. We do not tire to see or see again the classics: “The Mona Lisa” which reveals today new secrets, “The Wedding of Cana ", monumental painting of Véronése, “The Odalisk” of Ingres, and the most famous master of the Nudes. The museum thus conceals marvels like its islamic arts collection having become unavoidable and which will open new areas dedicated to this department in the Visconti courtyard, at the beginning of 2011. Numerous temporary international exhibitions, conferences, workshops and symposiums are organised during all the year, allowing one to deepen his knowledge of art. The Louvre Museum has also: ~ Activities: on reservation by calling on 01 40 20 51 77 (8.50€ for adults; 4.50€ for children and reduced fares) — An auditorium: for info call on 01 40 205555; for reservation call on 01 40 20 55 00 - The Eugéne-Delacroix, found at 15 min away from the Louvre on foot and accessible with the Louvre entry ticket - Visits of the garden at 3.30 p.m., every Saturday, ‘Sunday and public holiday from April to October during the security officers transmit their passion. No registration needed. Meeting point at the foot of the Triumph Arch of the Carrousel ~The Journal du Louvre, term magazine dedicated to the cultural and artistic life of the museum : (unpublished interviews of artists, big themes, complete agenda, etc.). Subscription and sale at news-stand —Awebsite, www.louvre.fr, to discover the works, prepare its visit, but also to discover the tales and stories in the form of short comic strips of the stunning Dominique-Vivant Denon. First director of the museum — An application for iPhone and iPod touch with free download on iTunes so as to discover a variety of the most beautiful works of the museum. ‘An improved version is coming —A multimedia guide: 6 € (2€ for those aged under 18 years old) — A Facebook page so that fans from all over the world regroup themselves around the Louvre Museum. MARMOTTAN-MONET MUSEUM 2, rue Louis-Boilly (16°) ©01 44 96 50 33 www.marmottan.com Subway: Muette or RER C: Boulainvilliers. Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6p.m, nocturnal on Tuesdays until 8 p.m. Cashiers’ office closes at 5:30 p.m. Full entry tariff: 9€, reduced tarif: 5€ for students under 25 years. Free for those under 8 years. Commented visit for groups on rendez-vous. Founded by the Fine-Arts Academy, the Marmottan- Monet museum has installed its paintings in a beautiful private hotel of the XIXth century, ancient hunting pavilion of the Empire style. Along time, the house of Jules and Paul Marmottan, passionate collectors, has become the high place of impressionism, Today, the museum preserves the most important collection in the world of Monet, thanks to the generosity of Madame Donop de Monchy, daughter of Georges de Bellio, great friend of Claude Monet, and of Michel Monet, youngest son of the painter. We can also discover some impressionist work of "Denis and Annie ROUART's legacy" like Caillbotte, Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Jongkind, Boudin. THE ARTISTIC CREATION The collections have diverse origins: the Louvre for the period of 1848-1900, the museum of the “Jeu de Paume “ where we could see, until 1986, the impressionists, the Tokyo Palace for the postimpressionists collections not transferred to the Pompidou center; the province museum... After the painting of the Barbizon School and the great manifest paintings of Courbet, we can find works of ‘Manet with his famous " The Lunch on the Grass *, Degas, Renoir, Monet... all the impressionists that make the reputation of the museum. You cannotmiss the sculptures of Maillol, Degas and his little danser and certain monumentals like “The Gates of Hell “of Rodin. The collections are completed and valorised by diverse manifestations : concerts, films, conferences, expositions and presentations of contemporary objects like boards, sculptures, newspapers... so as to allow to visitors to situate ‘the exposed works in their context. For the children: activities, circuits, and group visits are proposed by the museum. PICASSO MUSEUM Hotel Salé 5, rue Thorigny (3) ©01 42712521 www.musee- sso.fr Subway: Saint-Paul and Saint-Sebastien-Froissart. Closed for renovation until 2012. Full tariff: 8,50 € ; trom & to 25 years uncluded, 6,50€. Free up to 18 years, for the teachers in activity, the unemployed and the R.M.1 beneficiaries, the journalists and for all every 1st Sunday of the month. At the heart of the Marais, the Salé hotel (XVIIth century) unites more than 500 works issued from ‘the personal collection of Picasso and received by ‘the State in donation after the disappearance of the Spanish artist. Of what has become the principal study center on his life and works, you can admire his numerous paintings, sculptures and ceramics, sketches, drawings and notebooks some of which are rather unrecognized. ORSAY MUSEUM 62, rue de Lille (7th) 001 4049.48 14 Www.musee-orsay.fr Subway: Solferino or RER Musée d'Orsay. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9.30.a.m. to 6p.m. On Thursdays in nocturnal until 9.45 p.m. Closed on the 1st of January, the 1st of May, and the 25th of December. Adults 8€ reduced 5.50€. Temporary exposition full tariff 9.50€, reduced 7€. Free up to 26 years and for the members. Buittin 1900 for the universal Exposition, the Orsay station became museum only in 1986. As until 1939, it transported travellers towards Orleans. Afterwards, it only served the south suburbs of Paris. in turn, parcel expedition center during the war, shooting scene for films notably for “The Trial “of Orson Welles according to Kafka, This station, quasi closed down, has become a veritable cultural pole, inaugurated by Frangois Mitterrand, regrouping the works of the second half of the XIXth century hence presented in their period's environment. The collections of the Orsay museum hence prolonge those of the Louvre, that stop to 1848. Its magnificent neobaroque clock, the big vault altemating glass arches and rosace ornated arches, ‘the lightness of the framework lets the light penetrate The big museums - PARIS <¢ this temple of the visual. This museum presents the artistic creation of the occidental world from 1848 ‘to 1914 in all its richness and its diversity. A room is dedicated to the Garnier Opera, symbolic monument of the Second Empire. The restaurant and the party hall that have kept all their authenticity, with their painted ceilings and their chandeliers, illustrate the pomp of the official art of the llird Republic. Mainly ‘the museum offers a very beautiful collection of new Artfrom which is not absent any great name: from Guimard, Horta, Van de Velde or even Gaudi Atthe far end of the museum, stairs lead to a tower ‘that overlooks the vast central alley : from there is offered a panoramic view of the museum and the clock. The lateral windows of the zenithal gallery present a series of points of view on Paris. RODIN MUSEUM 79, Varenne street (7") ©01 44 186110 www.musee-rodin.fr Subway: Varenne. Closed on Mondays. Open from 10.00a.m. to 5.45p.m. Park closed at 5.00 p.m. in winter. Access to permanent collections and to the garden 6 € for adults, temporary exhibitions, adults: 7 Euros; reduced fares 5€ for those aged between 18 and 25 years old, double series ticket: 10€. Free for those under 18 years old and free access to the garden and permanent exhibitions every first Sunday of the month, Entrance fare of the park: 1 Euro. Passport for the Orsay Museum and Rodin Museum: 12€, pass access, Family ticket (2 adults + children under 18 years old) 10€. Auguste Rodin made a donation to the State of his personal collections on the condition that the Biron hotel that he occupied since 1908 with other artists became the Rodin museum. In this private hotel of the XVilith century, the works and collections of the exceptional sculptor are put to play. “The Thinker", "The Kiss", “Toilette of Venus", or even "The Danaid * are many fascinating works that ‘we cannot stop to admire the force of creation. A room “Around Auguste Rodin, pupils, assistants and friends” has recently opened: it presents a selection of documents, sculptures and works given by the artist to his surroundings. This museum also shelters the works of Camille Claudel, as well as paintings of Monet, Van Gogh (of which the admirable portrait of Father Tanguy) that come to complete this visit. The latter could not dream of a better environment than his romantic garden (Sha in the middle of the capital). Bordered by lime-blossom trees, it is crowded with sculptures. We can see the famous "Thinker" amonsgt the roses, the "Burghers of Calais ‘and the monument to Balzac, installed in the shadow of big trees. A coffee in the garden invites for a pause under the trees. The museum regularly invites contemporary artists whose works present an overtone with the work of the master. 21 = = B = my ° m a 2 5 2 Ss m22 =~» PARIS - The big museums QUAI BRANLY MUSEUM 37, Branly station (7*) © 01 56 61 70 00 ‘www.quaibranly.fr Subway: Alma-Marceau, Iéna or Bir-Hakeim and RERC Pont de I’Alma. Bus lines n°92, 80, 72, 63, 42. Open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays trom 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., cashiers’ office closes at 6 p.m. and nocturnal on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until 9 p.m., cashiers’ office closes at 8 p.m. Entry plateau of collections full tariff: 8.50€, reduced Tariff: 7€ and temporary expostitons: full tariff: 7€, reduced tariff:5 €. Free for those under 26 years as wellas the st Sunday of the month for all. And Galerie Jardin (temporary exhibitions) free entrance for those aged under 18 years old as well as for everyone on every 1st Sunday of the month Traditions and lost cities, enigmatic objects, admired or depised cultures, this space traces back 3000 years of history on 4 continents. On pilings, the architecture of the musoum surprises as its takes the curves of the Seine. A long glass wall separates it from the town. This wall allows to preserve the peace of the garden as much as keeping the museum open on the town. The museum will soon be enclosed by a forest of greenery when oaks, maples and magnolias will have grown. The garden, conceived by the garden landscaper Gilles Clément, evokes the savanna with a sweet tint drawing. The architect, Jean Nouvel, has wished that the exposed pieces were placed behind big glasscabinels, to show that they are “free”. Today, the musuem comprises 2 KARD = SOBIEME. NN ii. Pe a ee ee joe eae nearly 300000 pieces of which 3500 objects are presented to the visitor on an imposing plateau long of 220m. Before their exposition, each object has been analysed, radiographied to allow to deepen the knowledge on the civilisations. Think about making the most of the panoramic and gastronomic restaurant, but also of the pleasant Branly Café with view and of the library. The museum integrates also ‘two reading rooms, a theatre and movie theatre for a very rich program. Open since June 2006, ‘the 4th French museum has already welcomed 6,000,000 visitors. NATURE IN PARIS The megalopole, built from an istand surrounded by forests, preserves beautiful royal gardens and other contemporary ones, where nature playswith art. Paris is rich of 400 gardens and the number keeps increasing, Their size vary from a pocket handkerchief, vital greenery islet surrounded by apartment blocks, others, the most ancient but also some contemporary ones, reach some ten hectares. ‘Among the projects, there are even some that will assault the buildings: these are the vegetal walls. PLANTS GARDEN 57, rue Cuvier (5") ©01 40 79 56 01 www.mnhn.fr Subway: Jussieu, Gare d‘Austeriitz, Place Monge, Censier-Daubenton. Open every day, opening hours according to dawn and dusk. Free entrance for the garden. Fare for the menagerie: 8€, reduced fare 6€. Glasshouses Open from Wednesday to Monday from 10.00a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in winter and from 10.00a.m. to 6.30 p.m. in summer. Closed Tor annual holidays on the Ist of May. Fare: 5€, Reduced fare 3€, Under the influence of Jean Hérouard and Guy de la Brosse, doctors of King Louis XIII, was born the Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants in 1635. Enlarged in the XVilith century, after the Revolution, like National Museum of Natural History. Today still, the Plants garden is a place of teaching of the natural sciences and a research laboratory regrouping a community of scholars. It offers to the neophyte visitors a pleasant and instructive stroll, and fulfiis the Confirmed botanists. The Plants Garden comprises a menagerie, the alpine garden, the botanical School, and the big green houses. Among the strong points of the visit is a rosary composed of more than 300, varieties of roses (of which 180 of recent creation), the big labyrinth, along the Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire street, as well as a beautiful collection of arborescent peonies. Animals, rollers and bikes are prohibited. See also the paragraph dedicated to the National Museum of natural history.‘The Paris of the great men - PARIS < 23 LUXEMBOURG GARDEN (6") ©01 42 34 2389 www.jardins.paris.tr RER Luxembourg. Access by the boulevard Saint- Michel, the Vaugirard, Guynemer and Auguste- Comte streets. Open every day, from dawn to dusk. Open from & a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in winter, from 8 a.m. to 9.45 p.m. in summer. Guided visits are organised the first Wednesday of each month, trom April to October included. In the month of June, these visits occur on Wednesdays. Rendez- vous at the André-Honorat Place, in front of the garden's gates. Free entry. Conceived at the initiative of Marie de Médicis, who wished to withdraw from the court of Louvre and created a palace and garden of fiorentine style, the garden was enlarged in the XVllith century before being cut by the big works of Haussmann. The chestnut tree groves, the plane trees and the lime-blossom trees offer a most pleasant shadow in summer, which strongly contrasts with the formal alleys of the rest of the park. The Médicis fountain is a meeting place for lovers who, in all, ignore the mythological scene that is represented there that is neither more nor less than a drama of jealousy (Polypheme is on the point of killing the shepherd Acis who holds Galatée in his arms). The green chairs form an integral part of the decor and are multiplied to infinity, under the windows of the Luxembourg Palace (that shelters the Sénat). The strollers go for a walk among the sculptures of Rodin, of Zadkine or of Bourdelle : we can play on the tennis courts: the children can do a tour on the poneys and the chess players have their corner: the Luxembourg garden offers a lot of activities (puppet theater, playgrounds, location of small sailing boats in summer, merry-go-rounds, karting area, apiculture courses in the apiary and horticulture courses in the orchard). Since the success of the exposition, “The Earth seen from the sky “by Yann Arthus Bertrand, the iron gates of the Luxembourg garden on the Vaugirard ‘street side are used to expose the big photos, renewed each year. m= THE PARIS OF THE GREAT MEN = Not that Paris does not suffice by itself, but what would be its walls, its monuments, and its cobblestones without the great men that have insufflated a history that merges with that of France? INVALIDS HOTEL NAPOLEON'S TOMB Invalids esplanade (7) ©0144 42 3877 Subway: Invalides, La Tour-Maubourg. Open to the public from 7.30.a.m. to 7.00p.m. and access free. The Eglise du Déme, which accommodates the tomb of Napoleon and which depends on the Musée de I'Armée has the same opening hours as the museum: from 10.00a.m. to 5.00a.m. in winter and to 6.00p.m.. Fares: 9€ and 7€ (reduced fare). The Hotel des Invalides accommodates the Musée de I'Armée, as well as the Musée des Plans-Reliefs and the Musée de |'Ordre et de la Libération. Started as from 1679 and finished in 1706, the dome forms a royal crown on the building and its lantern tower decorated with openwork peaks at 107m. The Eglise du Dame has become a military necropolis whose crypt accommodates the tomb of ‘the emperor Napoleon 1st, shaped in red quartzite blocks and placed on a green granite pedestal of ‘the Vosges. See moreover the Musée de I'Armée in the paragraph on the Big Museums. JONWHS-30-31l - SIWVd24 =» PARIS - The Paris of the great men THE PANTHEON Place du Pantheon (5") ©01 44321800 http ://pantheon.monuments-nationaux.fr Subway: Cardinal-Lemoine. Open from 10.00 a.m. to 6.30p.m. (up to 6.00p.m. from the 1st of October to the 31st of March, last admission at 5.15p.m. Adults 8€, reduced 5€. Free access tor those under 26 years old. Guided tours on reservation and free tours. At the very heart of the students area, the Pantheon, maintains its role of guardian of the French memory. Achieved in 1764 by Soufflot, the Pantheon was initially a church. Lacking of financial means, the place was transformed during the Revolution in a necropolis for the great men of freedom. Mirabeau was the first one to be buried ‘there; then came Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Pantheon housed more recently Pierre and Marie Curie, André Malraux and lately, in 2002, Alexandre Dumas. Videos in French and English allow one to be initiated to the mysteries of the Foucault pendulum. To have a 380 degrees view at the very heart of the Latin area, climb at the summit of the Pantheon dome. A small spiral staircase will lead you to a first extemal terrace (from the 1st of April to the 31st of October). PERE-LACHAISE CEMETERY 8, boulevard Ménilmontant (20") ©01 55 258210 ©01 40 33 85 85 Other entrances: 16, Repos street (postal address), 71, Rondeaux street, Reunion street, and Amandiers door on the Ménilmontant boulevard. wwwjardins. paris.fr — Subway: Pére-Lachaise or Philippe- ‘Auguste and Gambetta. Open during the week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer (5.30 p.m. from November to March). Openings at 8.30 a.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. on Sundays and public holidays. Guided visit under increase reserve : 6€. Available plan at the conservation. Visits on Saturdays at 2.30 p.m. (programs of these theme visits on the Web Site). The biggest green space of the capital, after the Villette Park, is no more than a cemetery. The biggest parisian cemetery inside walls owes its name to Father La Chaise, confessor of Louis XIV, who regularly came to this place where was erected a rest home, ancient " folie “ bought back and transformed by the jesuits ( a “ folie " was a country house of aristrocrats in the XVIIth and the XVilith centuries). This house was the Regnautt Folie, from which the name of the street situated near the Father La Chaise, in the Xith major subdivision. Built on a hill, one of the 7 that counted Paris ( comparable in that to Rome, notably), the Father La Chaise has taken the spirit of a landscape garden, it is most prestigious necropolis and the most visited of the capital, known to be a pantheon garden where are reunited an impressive number of tombs of personalities : Pissaro, Musset, Colette, Haussmann, Chopin, Edith Piaf, Modigliani, Oscar Wilde, Simon Signoret, Apollinaire and two of the most visited tombs, that of Jim Morisson and of Allan Kardec, father of the spiritism. The city has acquired this land in 1804 and confided it to the architect Brongniart (but 1 million people nave been buried there) on an area of 44ha, along a maze of 15km of alleys carefully kept. Gothic, haussmannian, baroque, art deco, all the styles are illustrated by great names of sculpture and of architecture. The wall of the " Fedérés “, the chapel, the monumental door, Ménilmontant boulevard, the tombs of Héloise and Abélard, of Moliére, of de La Fontaine, and of the abbot Delille are classified Historical Monuments. m= CHURCHES AND PLACES OF CULT === ‘SAINT-CHAPEL 8, Boulevard du Palais (1*) ©01 53 406097 ©01 53 406080 http ://sainte-chapelle.monuments-nationaux.fr Subway: Chatelet or Cité. Open from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. from March to October, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November to February. Adults: 8€, 18/25 years: 5€. In the enclosure of the Justice palace, discover one of the rarest pearls of the radiant gothic art. The Saint Chapel has been edified by the king Louis X, future Saint Louis, between 1241 and 1248, so as to shelter sacred relics, the thorn crown of the Christ and a fragment of the cross of Christ, bought at a huge price from the emperor of Byzantium, These relics rested then ina silver and copper shrine situated at the heart of the chapel. Place of cult of the royal family, the high chapel was distinguished from the low chapel, reserved to the population and the soldiers. Severely damaged during the french Revolution, it was plundered of its treasures and of its furniture. Only the thon crown was saved and finally stored at Notre-Dame of Paris. Today, the high chapel is still ornated of huge original glass casings. They form a ‘wall of light and constitute the most complete unit of the art of stained glass in the Xilith century. These stained glasses count 1 134 scenes of the Ancient and the New Testaments and are completed by sculpted decors, remarkable by their finesse and their variety, The wall paintings faithfully restituted in the XIXth century and composing a starry sky, are quite remarkable. Concerts are held most nights between March and October. To know the program: ©01 53 40 6092.NOTRE-DAME OF PARIS CATHEDRAL 6,place du parvis de Notre-Dame (4") ©01 42 3456 10 www.notredamedeparis.fr www.monuments-nationaux.fr Subway: Cité or Saint-Michel. Hétel de Ville or Chatelet. From the 1st of April to the 30th of September, Open from 10.00a.m. to6.30p.m. (night visits on Saturdays and Sundays, From May to August up to 11.00p.m.). From the 1st of October to the 31st of March, Open from 10.00a.m. to 5.30p.m. To climb the towers: full fare: 8€ group fare and tourism professionals: 6€, reduced fare: 5€, free for those under 26 years old. The towers can be visited up to 11.00 p.m. Last admission 45 min before closing time. Good physical condition is needed to. climb the towers. On the whole of the Hexagone, the roadsigns situate the measured distance to Paris-Notre-Dame. Moreover, on the parvis, a copper plate indicates tthe place of the zero point. The construction of the cathedral begun in 1160 and saw three kings follow one another (Louis VII, Philippe Auguste ans Saint Louis). The cathedral was ended only 170 years later (near 1330); itis one of the most pharaonical sites that the history of France has known. Since, this monument has become emblematic of the history of France, as much for the beauty of its architecture and its situation in the City Island as. for its participation to the great moments of history. (Crowning of Henri VI, conversion to Catholicism of Henri IV deciding the “Paris is well worth a mass", anointing of Napoleon 1st, ete.). In front of the refinement of this edifice, it is difficult to believe that in the XVilith century, the beauty of the cathedral was not unanimous: it had to wait the publication in 1831 of " Notre-Dame —of Paris" of Victor Hugo for one to take interest to it again, to the point that a big restoration was undertaken as from 1840, under the direction of Eugéne Viollet-le-Duc who introduced the architectural elements that were discused, but that had an indeniable charm (see at this subject the extraordinary gallery of the Chiméres). Some 30 years were necessary to give back its lustre and splendor to this religious and cultural lighthouse. The restoration campaign of 1992-2002 has allowed to give back a bright colour to the stones of white chalk. The edifice does not have imposing dimensions, even if its ‘towers rise to nearly 70 m: the arrow culminates around 90 m, which places it far behind the Rouen cathedral. The visitors who have the courage to climb the 387 steps, enjoy the panoramic view on the cathedral itself, arrow and flying buttresses, but also on the City island and on the Saint-Louis island and if the weather is fine, Paris entirely. The gothic frontage, recognisable among all, comprises ‘three sculpted gates : the Virgin gate, that of the Last Judgement and that of Sainte-Anne. Above, ‘the magnificent rosace | 10m of diameter), framed Churches ans places of cult - PARIS < by two towers: the south tower shelters the drone “Emmanuel *, the famous bell of 13 t which since 1685 does not cease to ring the big Hours of the cathedral like the big lithurgical festivals: Christmas, Easter, Assumption... This drone is also intimately associated to the history of France: Te Deum for anointing of the kings, end of conflicts (of which the two world wars in 1918 and 1945), ‘the funerals of the french heads of states, but also the tragedies of Humanity, when prayer assembles in Notre-Dame the believers and the men of good will like on the morrow of the 11th September 2001... The north tower welcomes as for it four bells, placed in 1856 and which assures the daily ringings: services, angelus, and hours’ chimes. The inside of the cathedral is characterised by the ‘same majestic equilibrium of the proportions (the nave of 130m long can welcome 9000 persons). Most stained glasses and glassworks, most of which are of recent composition and dispensate a subtle luminosity. We will admire also the great organs, and the cloir, ample and rich, with statues realised by the masters of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries (Coysevox and Coustou, notably). Under the parvis, we access to an archeological crypt that contains very intersting documents on the primitive history of Paris. Mae A ue 25 SJONVYI-30-31l - SIHVd 3 i ;26 =» PARIS - Churches ans places of cult SACRE-COEUR BASILICA Parvis du Sacré-coeur (18") ©01 53 41 89 00 ‘www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.fr Subway: Anvers or Abbesses. Possibility to borrow the funicular, Open every day. Basilica from 6 a.m, to 11 p.m, for the visit, the last entries are made around 10.15 p.m. Dome from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., 5.30 p.m. for winter (entry 5€, unique tariff) and crypt from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. (free entry, variable schedules). In 1870, Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury make the wish to build a church dedicated to the worship of the Sacred Heart of Christ so as to expiate the sins committed by France, spiritual errors which according to them, had led France to the conflict against Spain. Their project was approved by the National Assembly: a national subscription was launched after a law declared its creation for public use, in 1873. Built on the summit of the Montmartre hill which overlooks the town at a height of 129m, the Sacré Coeur Basilica was erected as from 1875 (the first stone laid down, followed by many months of support works : without those imposing foundations, the basilica would sink into the clay). Of Romano-byzantine style, it is inspired at the same time by the Sainte-Sophie Basilica in Constantinople and San Marco in Venice. The construction of the crypt started in 1878, while the works of the basilica started in 1881. We owe ‘the plans to the architect Paul Abadie, but six other architects followed each other during the works which lasted 45 years. The whole set was finished on the eve of the First World War but we had to wait for 1919 before consecrating the Sacré-Coeur. The dome culminates at 200m, offering a spectacular view on more than 50km around. The pilgrims and visitors can also admire the interior of the basilica, decorated in a byzantine style. ARCHAEOLOGIC CRYPT OF THE NOTRE-DAME PARVIS 7, parvis Notre-Dame, place Jean-Paul-Ii (4") ©01 44 54 19 30/01 44 54 19 35 From Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cashiers’ office closes at 5.30 p.m. Closed on Mondays and public holidays. Full tariff: 9€, reduced: 7€ (youngs from 18 to 25 included) Situated under the parvis of the cathedral, the archeologic crypt of Notre-Dame of Paris has been planned to protect the vestiges discovered during the diggings realised as from 1965. Are presented elements of the buildings that have followed on the site since antiquity until the XIXth century. We access it by stairs situated opposite the cathedral, near the prefecture of Police. CHRISTMAS A PARIS 7,rue de Condé (6th) ©01 43 26 36 47 www.christmas-a-paris.com contact@christmas-a-paris.com Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30 am to 12.30 am and from 2 pm to 6 pm. Subway Odeon. Near Notre-Dame and the fountain St Michel, this cute shop dedicated to Christmas just like foliage of Christmas tree: persistent. All year round, the shop displays pieces of decoration for different festivities. A good way to avoid the bustle of December to find garlands and Christmas crib figures! All kind of cribs, attractive coloured balls, funny animals to be hung on the Christmas tree to Santa Claus magnets... almost everything can be found ‘there, behind the green forest windows where everything shines and which reminds us that even if Christmas Is over, its spirit remains. MADELEINE CHURCH Place de la Madeleine (8) ©01 44 51 69 00 www.eglise-lamadeleine.com Subway: Madeleine. Open every day from 9.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Madeleine church closes the perpective between the Royal Street and the Concorde place. The facade in the form of a Greek temple is a neoclassical architectural model, in perfect symmetry with the Bourbon Palace which accommodates the National Assembly found on ‘the opposite side on the other bank of la Seine. The construction lasted 85 years: the plans were requested from Pierre Constant d'Ivry in 1761. At the death of the architect in 1777, the building site was taken up by one of his students, Joseph-Abel Couture. But the Revolution and the Empire had ‘to conduct changes to the plans and also to the objective. In 1806, Napoleon the 1st decided to make of it a temple to the glory of his Great Army, project entrusted to the architect Pierre Vignon. After the rout of Russia in 1812, they took the church project again. The works were finally ended in 1842. The sculptors of the time of Louis-Philippe made a veritable museum of romantic sculpture of it. See, in particular in the choir, “the Ravishing of the saint Marie-Madeleine ", monumental work realised by the sculptor Charles Marochetti. The Madeleine, having become back a church, Find the index on page 825was consacrated in 1845. Its organ Cavaillé-Coll is reputed for its sonority. The edifice welcomes frequently classical concerts and more than 600 000 visitors a year. HOTELS 1st arrondissement HOTEL DUMINY VENDOME 3-5, rue du Mont-Thabor ©01 42 60 32 80 — Fax: 01 42 96 07 83 ‘www.hotelduminyvendome.com dv@duminy-vendome.com Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 78 rooms. Single room from 159€ to 229€; double room from 174 € to 329€. Breakfast buffet: 17-€. Additional bed: 30-€. Free Wi Fi. Satellite TV. Between the Louvre and the Concorde, here is a hotel loaded with history, built in the 19th Century on the site of the gardens of the ancient convent des Feuillants. Entirely renovated, it has elegant rooms, topical, well soundproofed and all air conditioned. At the bar, a cosy atmosphere for a ‘téte-a-téte, a reunion, a drink with friends or a relaxing time to make the most of the international press. The breakfast room is a real gem. Found in the basement, it has been decorated with care in a very contemporary way with a black and white mosaic. It is a real pleasure to sit down at the table there... HOTEL DES TUILERIES*** 10, rue Saint-Hyacinthe ©01 42610417 Fax: 01 49 27 91 56 www.hotel-des-tulleries.com htuileri@aol.com Logis de France (3 Chimney Places). Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 26 rooms. Single room as from 150€; double room from 180 € to 240€. Breakfast buffet: 15€. Animals admitted (adaitional fee 10-€ per night). Free internet post. Free WiFi, Satellite TV. This beautiful town house of the 18th century is nestled in a calm street at the heart of the museums, shopping and business area. It belongs to the network of the Relais du Silence which proves that even at the heart of Paris, there is still hotels full of charm and tranquillity, All the rooms are decorated in a different way but they all have the same comfort, whatever their size. They all have independent toilets and bathtub in the bathrooms. Whetherit is in the rooms or in the breakfast room, we do not absolutely seem to be in a hotel. Paintings, wall- coverings and beautiful furniture impart a familial atmosphere of a big bourgeois house. Hotels - PARIS << 27 Christmas all year long Navidad todo el afo Natal todo o ano Weihnachten das ganze Jahr Natale tutto I'anno SJONVYd-30-31! - Sluvd ie Noé soute l'année 7, tue de Condé 75006 PA Tel: +33 (0)1 43 26 36.47 Fax +33 (0)1 43 26 50 www.christmas-a-paris.com M° OdéonLE LOIRET HOTEL”™** FOUND UNDER THE NAME OF: “LOUVRE BONS ENFANTS HOTEL" 5, rue des Bons Enfants ©01 4261 4731 — Fax: 01 42 61 36.85 www.hotellouvrebonsenfants.com Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 31 rooms. Single room from 81 €; double room trom 94 €; triple room from 152 €. Breakfast: 11€. Free intemet connection. Free Wi Fi, Satellite TV. Louvre Bons Enfants Hotel is one of these addresses both discreet and surprising. A serene enclave in the shade of the Royal Palace and its gardens, a few steps away from the Louvre. The recently renovated rooms with air conditioning go for classicism and quality. With blue-red or blue-green tones, material and refined fabrics harmony, each of them offers a particular atmosphere. Some overlook the street, other the green patio. The breakfast room is superb and everything plays between neo-classic and revisited. HOTEL LOUVRE FORUM ** 25, rue du Boulol © 01 42 36 5419 Fax: 01 42 33 66 31 www.paris-hotel-louvre-forum.com hotel.louvreforum@wanadoo.fr M° Palais RoyalMusée du Louvre. Rooms from 95€ 10 390€. Reception open 24 hours a day. Central heating - Bar (no alcohol) — Air conditioning. Free intemet access. Luggage room — Shuttle to/from airport. Safe — Flat screen tv — Mini bar in every room — Safe in every room. Ideally situated in the heart of Paris, the Hotel Louvre Forum has an excellent location in the midst of cultural institutions, trendy spots and green spaces: ‘the Louvre museum, the Palais Royal, the Tuileries Garden, Place des Victoires, the Opera and Concorde are all just a short walk away. 27 well equipped room. Woody and traditional style, a cozy shelter ‘from which you will be able to enjoy the historical and cultural richness of its surrounding environment or rest in between professional appointments. Blanche, Bruce and their team are at your entire disposal as to help you to make the most of your stay and to find your way through the thousand and one wonders of the capital. HOTEL LA PLACE DU LOUVRE *** 21, rue des Prétres-Saint-Germain-L'Auxerrois O01 42 33 78 68 - Fax: 01 42 33 09 95 www.esprit-de-France.com Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 20 rooms. Double room trom 125€ to 196€. Breakfast buffet: 12€. Duplex as from 205€. Free WiFi. Satellite TV. (INTERACTIVE a APPS) 3) penetre | ss & =f GEOLOCATION Hotels - PARIS <4 The plunging view from this ancient house a few steps away from the Arts Bridge and La Cité island which offers to you on the colonnade of the Louvre and the ogives and the arrows of the church Saint- Germain-l'Auxerrois is worth the detour. So prefer ‘the rooms overlooking the street — those overlooking ‘the yard are without doubt calmer but less attractive. Each of them has the name of a modern painter whose lithographs adorn the walls. They are very pleasant in the beige and white tones; functional and air conditioned. Breakfast is served in a magnificent ‘vaulted room (the Mousquetaires room) which, at a specific time, allowed to go back to the Louvre. 2 arrondissement HOTEL VICTOIRES OPERA **** 56, rue de Montorgueil ©01 42 36 41 08 www.hotelvictoiresopera.com hotel@victoiresopera.com M° Sentier or Les Halles. RER A, B or D : Chatelet Les Halles. Rooms equipped with TV, telephone, hairarier, Wé-i, safe, mini-bar, air-conditioning. Single rooms, doubles and junior suites 214 €-335 €. Breakfast 12€. Ideally situated in the heart of the busy and picturesque Rue Montorgeuil, this is one of the ‘trendiest hotels in Paris. The decoration is New York chic, contrasting with the street atmosphere, and will appeal to fans of contemporary design. The low-level furniture in dark wood, consoles and harmonious and relaxing colours are very pleasant. The prices might put you off, though | Although the glass is doubled the rooms overlooking ‘the yard are calmer and the junior suites which end with a 0 are larger. HOTEL DE NOAILLES **** 9, rue La Michodiére © 01 47 42 92 90 Fax: 01 49 2492 71 www.paris-hotel-noailles.com Open all year round, Reception 24 hours a day. 59 rooms. Single room from 250€ to 270€; double room trom 270€ to 340€; suite trom 500€ to 650€. Breakfast buffet: 16-€. Free Wi Fi. Sauna Not far from the Louvre, the Opera and the big shops, this very Japanese design hotel hinges on a pretty garden and the terrace on the second floor. The contemporary decoration has a smooth and effective side, without being cold and impersonal. The very comfortable and well equipped rooms have walls covered with teak, glass and original bright watercolours strips. Some open on the terrace and ‘those on the last floor have a balcony. Each floor has its colour: black grey, night blue, yellow. vf Routes of USERS’ COMMENTS: ABR researc av carecomes 29 = 3 = a = a Ss ps a za > 2 S ™30 > PARIS - Hotels HOTEL ASCOT OPERA *** 2, rue Monsigny © O01 42 96 87 66 — Fax : 01 49 27 06 06 www.ascot-hotel-paris.com M° Quatre-Septembre. Rooms from 130€ to 210€. Interesting discounts on the Internet. Wi-Fi access in the downstairs lounge, hairdyer, safe and mini-bar in each room. Ironing board on 3rd and 6th floors. Difficult to find a hotel quieter than this one, a stone's throw from Opéra and the Grand Louvre in the business, tourist and shopping quarter! It boasts 36 rooms on six floors, with sophisticated decoration in a variety of styles. Here you find a four- poster bed in pastel shades, there exposed beams, wooden furniture and a countrified atmosphere. Each bathroom is different too, depending on which room you choose. The staff is most attentive. History fans will like to know that this place was formerly the composer Offenbach’s private mansion : he later had the Bouffes Parisien theatre built just next door. HOTEL APPI 158, rue Saint-Denis - www.appihotel.com M? Chatelet. Open all year round. 19 rooms. Single room from 30€ to 40€; double room trom 50€ to 60€; triple room 60€. Breakfast 6€. Free intemet connection. Free Wi Fi. At the heart of Paris, this small recent "low cost" hotel welcomes young clients in the pedestrian area of the Halles Montorgueil, a few steps away from the museums, historical monuments and of the great shopping mall, the Forum des Halles. The 19 calm and simple rooms are luminous, equipped with double glass, scattered over 6 floors without lift, you'd better book in advance for the lower floors. PARISIAN HOME 9, rue Mandar © 01 45 08 03 37 www.parisianhome.com Junior, executive or deluxe. Parisian Home offers a choice of over 200 furnished apartments, with size and fittings to suit your requirements, and length of stay. All the apartments we let are top-of-the-range, and are located inthe capital's central districts. We provide excellent value for money and made-to-measure service, You can choose between Grand Louvre, Bohemia, Amour and Nouvelle Vague according to your mood and taste. Longer stays benefit from price reductions! Parisian Home lowers the rate for lets of over a fortnight, and hands you the keys to Paris from only 55 € per night. PARIS ATTITUDE 6, rue du Sentier ©01 42 96 31 46 www.parisattitude.com mail@parisattitude.com If you are looking for an apartment to rent in Paris, Paris Attitude can help you with their wide choice of rentals for long or short stays at very competitive prices. All the apartments are furnished and ready to go. They can also be used by companies for meetings. You can ‘virtually visit’ each apartment thanks to the numerous photos available (4 per room) available in large format. For example: a studio of 45 sqm for 4 people in the Havre- Caumartin area is available from 845€ per week and 2000 per month. Paris Attitude Vente also offers an estate agent service. 3" arrondissement HOTEL DU PETIT MOULIN **** 29, rue de Poitou © 01 42 74 10 10 www.hoteldupetitmoulin.com contact@hoteldupetitmoutin.com M° Filles du Calvaire or Saint-Sébastien Froissart. Private parking. 17 air-conditioned rooms equipped with a mini-bar, telephone, LCD TV, safe, Wi-Fi. Single and Double rooms 190 €-350 €. Breakfast 15€. Reductions all year. Accessible for disabled visitors. Drycleaners, fax, limousine. Bar only for the clients. How do you fancy a hotel entirely decorated by Christian Lacroix? This new adventure appealed ‘to the famous designer, who had carte blanche to fit out the 17 rooms one by one, along with the rest of the hotel. The result is a magnificent blend of Baroque and contemporary, in keeping with the spirit of the place. The facade belonged toa former listed bakery. MURANO URBAN RESORT 13, boulevard du Temple ©01 42 71 20 00 — Fax: 01 42 71 2101 www.muranoresort.com paris@muranoresort Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 52 rooms. From 350 € to 650 €; suite from 750€ to 2500€. Breakfast: € 20. Free Wi Fi, Restaurant. Satellite TV, Canal +. Hammam, bubble bath. What to say about this hotel if it is not that it is a gem of interior design architecture. The entrance leads to a living room where a very large white Chesterfield thrones behind which we see a huge chimney animated with virtual flames. A bit further is the bar where we meet for breakfast or to take a drink with in background music imagined by A hut in Bonifacio, a ryokan in Kyoto... Good spots from around the corner to the edge of the world‘the best DJs who work up to two in the morning. Your fingerprints are used as key to open the door of your room all in white from the floor to the ceiling and can go through light effects changing to yellow, green, blue, etc. The furniture bears a printed flower and the armchairs are in harmonious colours. The bathrooms are magnificent and the household linen perfectly adapted. it is a very ‘trendy and luxurious hotel which we frequent also for its restaurant. 4* arrondissement ‘SULLY HOTEL-PARIS 48, rue Saint-Antoine ©01 42 78 49 32 Fax: 01 44 61 76 50 www.sullyhotelparis.com sullyhotel@orange.fr Open all year round. 22 rooms. Single room 50€; double room from 63€ to 70€; triple room as trom 84€. Free Wii. Satellite TV. At the very heart of Paris, in the Marais area, here is a comfortable and unpretentious hotel. You will be welcomed by Mr. Zeraual the owner, at the end of a long corridor, who will lead you to your room found upstairs. The rooms, among which some have been renovated, overiook either the street or the yard but they are all equipped with double-glazing. The decoration of the Sully is simple. Mr. Zeroual will also know how to advise you for your outings or visits in Paris, at the theatre, at the restaurants... 5" arrondissement HOTEL DU LEVANT*** 18, rue de la Harpe ©01 46 341100 Fax: 01 46 34 25 87 www.hoteldulevant.com hlevant@club-internet.fr M° Saint-Michel. Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 47 rooms, Single room 76€; double room from 103 € to 170€; triple room from 180€ to 230€; suite from 320€ to 340€. Breakfast buffet included. Free Wi Fi. Satellite TV, Canal +. Staying at the Hotel du Levant is to let oneself being seduced by the charm of old Paris. itis a more than a hundred-years-old family hotel, a peace haven, at the heart of the Latin Area. Sophie Abonnat is of ‘the fourth generation. She is the one who lays out, mottles and decorates the place in a classic and contemporary style at the same time. She gives to her hotel a little feminine touch: at each floor, ‘the walls of the corridors are covered with ancient fashion plates found in the attic of her grandmother, a secondhand bookseller. The rooms adorned with very Parisian frescos overlook the yard for the calm or the street for the animation of the area. Even if ‘they are not so big, they offer the necessary comfort Hotels - PARIS <4 ‘to have a nice stay in Paris. Small note: the bath products are made of green tea, the connoisseurs will appreciate. Breakfast can be served in the room or in the very contemporary dining room between 7.15a.m. and 10.30a.m. HOTEL SUNNY 48, boulevard de Port-Royal ©01 43 31 79 86 Fax: 01 43 31 36 02 www.hotel-sunny.com M° Les Gobelins and RER Port-Royal. Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 37 rooms. Simple room from 91 € to 94 €; double room from 91 € to 97 €; triple room from 130 €. Breakfast: 6.20€. Internet connection. Wi Fi. Satellite Ty, Canal +. This familial hotel is very situated, at the border of the 5th and 13th districts, two steps away from the Latin Area and the Luxembourg Garden. Found in a beautiful building of the beginning of ‘the 20th century, the decoration is unpretentious but very warm. We are immediately seduced by its sober and colourful decoration, and its warm reception. The rooms are simple, very well soundproofed in different tones and well equipped. The breakfast room is modern and elegant. Advised to those who like nice and cosy atmospheres and the calm. HOTEL SUNNY 31 2 3 2 a = re So Pu a Z 5b 2 S ™32. > PARIS - Hotels LE FIVE 3 rue Flatters ©01 43 317421 www.thefivehotel.com M° Les Gobelins. 24 rooms and 2 suites with bathroom, air-conditioning, LCD TV, telephone, Wi-Fi. Rooms from 165 € to 350€. Suites from 350€ to 990 € (with a Jacuzzi). Breakfast: 15€ in your room and 12€ in the dining-room. Pets accepted. The Five has an atypical design at the heart of the historical Latin district. Close to the Sorbonne and Notre-Dame, its team welcomes you in a modern setting, mostly inspired by Asian decoration. Elegant paintings, original lightning, and even rose petals on your bed... All of the rooms have their own identity, proper and original. Each of them isa great surprise. A surprising hotel to discover... FAMILIA HOTEL 11, rue des Ecoles ©01 43 5455 27 Fax; 01 43 2961 77 www.familiahotel.com hotelfamilia@wanadoo.fr Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 30 rooms. As from 160€, trom 97 € to 127 €; simple 100m as from 86 €. Breakfast: 6 €. Parking: 5€. Free WiFi. Satellite TV. The Familia Hotel built in 1865 in Haussmann Style, is a building which do not lack either charm or character. In one part of the hall whichis used as breakfast room, a tapestry adorns the wall and we sit at small stylish occasional tables to have croissants and coffee. The rooms with panelling, exposed beams and appeasing tones, are comfortable. A favourite : those which have a balcony — at the 2nd, 5th and 6th floors. They are fitted with tables and chairs with view on Notre- Dame and its towers, and the roofs of Paris, ideal ‘for breakfast for two. The place is decorated with frescos done by an artist from the Beaux-Arts, representing Parisian monuments. The rooms overlooking the yard have a view on a mural fresco representing great impressionists: Sisley. Van Gogh and many others. ONE BY THE FIVE 3, rue Flatters ©01 43315231 Fax: 01 43 3161 96 www.onebythefive.com contact@onebythefive.com M° Les Gobelins. One Suite with 6 rooms (welcoming up to 4 people): 790€ - 999 € per night, depending on the number of nights you spend there. Breakfast included. Reception 24/24, air-condition, Free Internet access, safe box, all- equipped bathroom, kitchenette. Philippe Vaurs welcomes you in this somptuous hotel, a unique of its kind. The One, which is the concept of One hotel with One Suite, is more than an invitation. ttis an entire dream in itself. To create this charming place, 6 rooms in one suite, Philippe Vaurs has appealed to Sandrine Alouf. Room after room, the artist tells usa love story in which senses reveal themselves one after another. As you arrive, admire the sculpted bodies painted on satin and the sparklings of mirrors that create improbable lints. Stay a while in the living-room, that offers a view of the pont des Arts. And the, finally, enter ‘the bedroom: the bed is hanging in the room, flying through the infinite of the sky and on the lightness of the clouds. Ideal for a exceptionnaly romantic stopover in Paris, HOTEL MINERVE 13, rue des Ecoles ©01 43 26 26 04 Fax: 01 44 07 0196 www.hotel-paris-minerve.com Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 30 rooms. Single room from 96 € to 142 €; double room from 126 € to 162€; triple room 162€; suite 295 €. Breakfast buffet: 9€. Parking: 20€. Free Wi Fi. Satellite TV. We spot the building at first sight due to its overhanging railing of foliage and the interior is not deceiving. The atmosphere there is cosy, flowered and refined at the same time. The rooms, among which 20 with balconies, have furniture of classical inspiration, ancient tapestries, exposed beams. Some are adorned with polychrome or sepia frescos bearing evocative names: Mont Saint-Michel, Chateau Josselin or Chambord. The bathrooms are not big but functional with tiles of Italian inspiration. Beautiful suites including each a private entrance leading to 2 very calm rooms with 2 private bathrooms, overlooking the yard, are ideal for families. The hotel is equipped to accommodate seminaries of a maximum of 50 persons with equipment offered on request and buffets, dinners or breakfast. HOTEL DE NOTRE DAME MAITRE ALBERT 19, rue Maitre-Albert ©01 43 26 79 00 Fax: 01 46 335011 www.hotel-paris-notredame.com ma@hotel-paris-notredame.com Open all year round. Reception 24 hours a day. 34 rooms. Double room from 240 €. Breakfast: 17 €. Free WIFI. Sauna. In a typical calm small street of the Latin Area, is the Hotel de Notre-Dame. Its large frontage which had to be the shop window of a shop in former times opens on a very warm reception, adorned of beautiful antique furniture and a superb tapestry. Asmall peace haven, very classical with its rooms with personalised decor and for some of them,