Highlights of Paris

Paris Highlights of Paris Bonjour, and welcome to the diverse, vibrant city of Paris. Today we will see some of its highlights and learn about life in this world class city. Paris is located in Europe……you will find it in the northern half of the country of France. Paris is the capital of France and is home to 2.2 million people, over 12 million if you count the suburban areas. The city came into being more than two thousand years ago. Back then, the river that runs through the city was, and still is, an important means of transporting both goods and people. This river, the Seine, separates Paris into two parts known as the Left Bank and the Right Bank. Each side, or bank, of the river has its own distinct personality. The Right bank of the Seine is usually associated with business, fashion, and entertainment. Whereas the Left Bank is known for its populations of artists, intellectuals, and students. Our tour will take us along the Left Bank of the Seine, returning back on the Right Bank, and exploring the major sites along the way. We will start with one of the most famous landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was built for the World Exposition in 1889, and was the highest tower of its time, at 984 feet. The tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel, a bridge-builder from Dijon. It was meant to be demolished after the Expo but was saved to become a radio tower, and now a television tower. © VFT Virtual Field Trips Ltd. 1 Although unpopular at the time, it has now become one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. It contains 2,500,000 rivets and requires forty tons of paint each time it is painted. On one side of the Eiffel Tower sits the Place du Trocadero. It was built in 1937 and is now home to several museums, such as the National Naval Museum, and the French Monuments Museum. On the other side of the Tower is a large rectangular green space called the Champ-de-Mars. Once a military parade ground, it is now used as a gathering place for outdoor activities. At the end of the Champ-de-Mars is the Ecole Militaire, a military school. Napoleon attended here as a cadet at the age of 16. Nearby is a group of buildings collectively known as the Hotel Des Invalides. They are a complex of monuments and museums relating to France’s military history. At one time, the Hotel des Invalides was a hospital for as many as 6,000 injured and retired soldiers. It was commissioned by Louis XIV in 1671 and has since become a museum dedicated to the French Army. Also on the grounds is the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte in the Church with the Golden Dome. Across the street from Les Invalides sits the Rodin museum, containing a well- known sculpture called “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin. Continuing along the Left Bank of the Seine, we find the famous Musee D’Orsay. This building was originally a train station that was built for the World Exposition in 1900, then later abandoned, and nearly demolished. Since 1986, it has become a famous museum whose art spans the latter half of the 19th century. The next place of note on the Left Bank is a church by the name of St. Germain des Pres. © VFT Virtual Field Trips Ltd. 2 It is the oldest church in Paris, dating back to 542 A.D. Moving away from the Seine we find the most popular park in Paris, the 60-acre Luxembourg Gardens. Here you can find families enjoying the park’s many activities, along with people playing boules…. a game in which metal balls are rolled along the ground in order to hit a smaller wooden ball. Contained within the gardens is The Luxembourg Palace, another government building. It is home to the French Senate. Of the statues and sculptures on display in the gardens, one that is sure to be of interest is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Back on the waterfront we come to a building known as the Conciergerie, a prison for the condemned during the Revolution. It dates back to 1300 and remained a prison until 1914. Its most famous occupant was Marie Antoinette. Paris has been a world-renowned center of learning for close to a thousand years. In fact, one of the oldest universities, the University of Paris, was founded here in 1253. At that time the language of learning was Latin, hence the name Latin Quarter. It is very fitting that we find The Pantheon nearby, since it was created to be a Temple of Reason. Although it was originally built in the late 18th century to become a church, this plan changed after the Revolution. It is the final resting place for many of Paris’ greats – Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Emile Zola, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Alexandre Dumas (who wrote the Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers). The one and only skyscraper in Paris is called the Montparnasse Tower. Such a fuss was made over its height that the building of any more skyscrapers was banned. © VFT Virtual Field Trips Ltd. 3 Crossing over to the Right Bank, we arrive first on the Isle de la Cite, an island on the Seine. There you will find the very grand and timeless Notre Dame cathedral. The cornerstone for it was laid in 1163 by Pope Alexandre III. Almost two centuries later, in 1345 it was finally completed, and has been restored a number of times since then. Notre Dame’s architectural style is known as Gothic. One of these Gothic elements is the flying buttresses - the exterior stone supports - on each side of the rear of the Cathedral. Notre Dame is also known for its remarkable stained glass Rose windows. Historically speaking, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor here, Joan of Arc was canonized as a saint, and Charles de Gaulle’s funeral was held here. It maintains an important presence in the city, and thousands of people continue to visit it daily. Also located on Ile de la Cite is another of Paris’ beautiful churches, Sainte Chapelle. It, too, is known for its stained glass windows. In fact, some call it the most beautiful church in Paris. Crossing over to the Right Bank, the first site we come to is the Place de la Bastille. This is the site where the infamous Bastille prison once stood and the French Revolution was begun in 1789. The prison building was torn down by the Revolutionaries, and eventually this July column was erected in its place. Moving along the Right Bank we arrive at the Hotel de Ville or City Hall. This is the building where the Mayor and the City Council meet to address city concerns. The next site has been the subject of many conversations. It is called the Pompidou Centre - named after Georges Pompidou, President of France from 1969 – 1974. © VFT Virtual Field Trips Ltd. 4 His love of all things modern led him to build this bold, new cultural centre….and to make it unique he built it inside out. It is now a museum of modern art, complete with a metal exo-skeleton. The Louvre is a series of buildings that began as a fortress in the seventh century. Since then it has also been an arsenal, a prison, and then a palace for the monarchy. In 1678 King Louis XIV moved the primary royal residence from the Louvre to the Palace at Versailles. As a royal residence it contained many artistic treasures and so in the 1980’s it was converted to a museum. The Louvre is now the most widely visited museum in the world, with over 8 million visitors each year. The controversial glass pyramid was a recent addition, becoming the entrance to the museum, and echoing the extensive Egyptian collection. The Louvre also contains many masterpieces of European Art, including the famous Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo DaVinci. In all there are over 35,000 works of art on display. Just outside of the Louvre sits a golden statue of Joan of Arc, the young folk heroine from the early 1400’s. At the end of the Louvre complex are the Tuileries Gardens which date from the sixteenth century. It links the Louvre with the famous boulevard called the Champs-Elysees. This green space is much appreciated by the citizens of Paris, since very few people have a backyard or a garden in which to enjoy the outdoors. The Tuileries have elegant layouts, formal flower beds, fountains, and both old and modern sculptures. Yet another famous building nearby is the Opera Garnier, built in 1875. At more than 118,00 square feet, it is the largest theatre in the world. © VFT Virtual Field Trips Ltd. 5 Its elegant interior and impressive chandelier were inspirations for the Phantom of the Opera. Back on the Seine, we come to the Place de la Concorde, originally created to glorify King Louis XV in 1753. For a period it was known as the Place de la Revolution. This was the spot where the guillotine was publicly placed and the condemned from the Revolution met their fate. The two most famous of these unfortunate prisoners were King Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie Antoinette. In 1829, the Concord Square received the 75 ft. high Luxor obelisk as a gift from Egypt. It is 3,200 years old and was one of a set of twins that sat at the entrance to the temples at Luxor.

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