Revised this one a bit and added photos. Please provide feedback and tips on your favorite places to shop, eat, take pictures and people watch in this general area.
This walk could take a day or more depending on how many shops and museums you frequented. I think it is around three miles depending on how much zigzagging and backtracking you do.
START: Pont-Neuf or Louvre.
BASIC CONCEPT: wander west toward place de la Concorde than north towards place Place de la Madeleine and then east in the Faubourg St-Honoré Area. Check out the sights, do a little shopping, take some photos, and maybe take a look inside a museum or a church or two along the way. Plan on stopping at a few cafes to also do some people watching.
ST. GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS. 2 place du louver. M: Pont-Nuef or Louvre-Rivoli.
Behind Palais du Louvre by Pont-Neuf. Royal Parish Church. Romanesque Bell tower and 14C porch. Daily, 0800-2000. Some nice artwork inside.
When the Louvre was still a royal palace (Palais du Louvre), this was its church. It drew an assortment of royalty, courtesans, men of art and law, and local artisans. Sharing place du Louvre with Perrault's colonnade, the Gothic church contains only the foundation stones of its original 11th-century belfry.
www.sacred-destinations.c...errois.htm
LOUVRE. Palais du Louvre. Métro: Palais-Royal.
World's greatest art museum, and certainly one of the largest. The extraordinary collections are divided into Asian antiquities, Egyptian antiquities, Greek and Roman antiquities, sculpture, objets d'art, paintings, and prints and drawings. The quality and the sheer variety are overwhelming. Free the first Sunday of each month.
NOTE: Faster to enter through the Carrousel du Louvre Mall on rue de Rivoli than through the pyramid.
www.insecula.com/musee/M0001.html
CARROUSEL LOUVRE.
Large, bustling underground mall with many small, trendy shops.
ARC DU CARROUSEL. Miniature version of Arc de Triomphe
www.paris-views.com/cat_t...Cat_37.htm
MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris, France. 01-44-55-57-50.
A must for lovers of fashion and the decorative arts, this NW wing of the Louvre houses three chic museums: Musée de la Mode, costumes from the 18C the, a showcase of furniture, tapestries, glassware and paintings from the Middle Ages through Napoléon's time and beyond; and the Musée de la Publicité, with changing exhibitions of advertisements and a brash decor, which combines metal walls and exposed brickwork, faded gilding, black-lacquered parquet floors, and leopard-skin pillars. Métro: Palais-Royal.
JARDIN DE TUILERES. M: Tuileries or Concorde.
Bordered by quai des Tuileries, pl. de la Concorde, rue de Rivoli, and the Louvre. Monet and Renoir captured this impressive garden with paint and brush, Left Bank songstresses have sung its charms, and all Parisians know it as a place to stroll and survey the surrounding city. The planting of the Tuileries is typically French: formal and neatly patterned, with rows of trees and gravel paths. On weekends, string quartets and jugglers entertain large crowds. Métro: Tuileries.
www.insecula.com/musee/M0039.html
MUSEUM DU JEU DE PUME
Musee de l'Orange. Closed for renovation.
FAUBOURG ST-HONORÉ AREA
Located in the area northwest of the Tuileries, this glamorous neighborhood is a showcase of high-end shops, boutiques, and art galleries. The area also encompasses the President's Palace, the neoclassical Madeleine Church, and the stately place Vendôme.
www.insecula.com/salle/MS...M0047.html
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.
One of the worlds most impressive squares. Originally consecrated to the glory of Louis XV, it was laid out in the 1770s and the site where Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined, along with more than 2,000 others between 1793 and 1795. Ornate lamp posts and two incredible fountains. Egyptian Obelisk from Nile, erected in 1836 and dates from 1250BC.
LA FONTAINE DES MERS
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...06753.html
L'OBÉLISQUE DE LOUXOR
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...11229.html
PALAIS DE L'ELYSEE. Presidential Palace.
ENGLISE DE LA MADELEINE.
With an uncompromising array of columns, this church, known as La Madeleine, looks more like a Greek temple. Inside, the walls are decorated with gold. The church was designed in 1814 but not consecrated until 1842, after futile efforts to turn the site into a train station. Mon.-Sat. 7:30-7, Sun. 8-7. Métro: Madeleine.
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...01186.html
www.paris-views.com/html/...1150,1151,
PLACE DE LA MADELEINE is dotted with specialty and gourmet shops and a flower market (Mon-Sat, 0800-1900). Also home to the poshest public toilets in Paris.
LA MADELEINE ARCADE, 9, place de la Madeleine
Built in 1845. Today it has become fashionable again but it isn't very well known. Its typical architecture recalls the Jouffroy and Verdeau arcades: alternating coloured tiles, regular wooden facades and glass roof. It reflects the luxury and opulence of the smart districts. It houses several upmarket boutiques and fashion designers.
NOTE: On the Place de la Madeleine, next to the flower market, take the spiraling staircase down to the subterranean art nouveau luxurious public restrooms. They are an amazing cavern of carved wood, brass and mirrors, with floral frescoes and stained-glass windows in each toilet! Built in 1905, they just might be the most beautiful in the world.
PLACE VENDOME.
Gorgeous and very famous square which is home to home of to many elegant jewelers.
ST-ROCH. 24 Rue St. Roch. M-F 1300 to 1700.
One of the largest churches in Paris and rich in paintings and monuments from the 17C-19C. Look for bullet holes on the front exterior, from the shooting of Royalists by soldiers led by a young Napoleon Bonaparte. Church also has evening concerts occasionally
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...61142.html
NOTRE-DAME DE LASSUMPTION. Rue Cambon.
This 1670 church is noted for its huge dome and solemn interior. It is the parish church of the Polish community in Paris.
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...64746.html
PLACE DES PYRAMIDES. Gilded statue of Joan of Arc
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...46484.html
www.insecula.com/oeuvre/p...32183.html
LOUVER DES ANTUIRES
PLACE ANDRE-MALRAUX. Has a view northwest towards the Opera and two nice fountains.
PLACE DU PALIS-ROYAL. Louver des Antiares chic shopping mall housing expensive antique stores
www.insecula.com/us/salle...62630.html
www.paris-views.com/cat_t...at_345.htm
OPTIONS:
A. You can take a stroll through the gardens of the Palais Royal and investigate the covered passages, such as the Galerie Vivienne and the Galerie Colbert at the northern end of the garden. There are many more passages worth checking out around the Grands Boulevards (passage Jouffroy and Passage des panoramas off Bvd Montmartre.
www.insecula.com/us/salle...46658.html
B. You can take a stroll along rue du Montorgueil, in the 1st arrondissement, behind les Halles. Take a look inside the Eglise St Eustache on your way, which has a famous pipe organ. On the rue du Montorgueil you'll find market stalls, little shops, trendy cafés, and some good eateries. A good one is la Grille Montorgueil (at no. 50) which serves huge portions of excellent, traditional home-cooked French food at reasonable prices.
OPERA GARNIER.
Haunt of the "Phantom of the Opera" and the setting for Degas's famous ballet paintings, the Garnier is still the most opulent theater in the world. You can see the theater and lobby, without going to a performance: Pay an entrance fee and stroll around at leisure, view the foyer, and peek into the auditorium. The stage is the largest in the world - more than 11,000 square yards, with room for up to 450 performers. Marc Chagall painted the glorious ceiling in 1964. Daily 10-5. Guided tours in English at 3 PM. Métro: Opéra.
Note: Check for honey bees on the roof.
Le Grand Cafe is nearby and a good place for lunch. The multimedia show Paris Story, across the street on Rue Scribe, plays on the hour. Following Rue Scribe to Haussman you come to the buildings of Galleries Lafayette. The one just to the right has the gigantic glass dome. Going west on Haussmann there is Cafe Flo onder the glass dome in Au Printemps [La Mode] and a roof deck with marvelous views and a little cafe next door in La Maison. Good spot for picture taking in the AM.
www.insecula.com/salle/MS01868.html
This walk could take a day or more depending on how many shops and museums you frequented. I think it is around three miles depending on how much zigzagging and backtracking you do.
START: Pont-Neuf or Louvre.
BASIC CONCEPT: wander west toward place de la Concorde than north towards place Place de la Madeleine and then east in the Faubourg St-Honoré Area. Check out the sights, do a little shopping, take some photos, and maybe take a look inside a museum or a church or two along the way. Plan on stopping at a few cafes to also do some people watching.
ST. GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS. 2 place du louver. M: Pont-Nuef or Louvre-Rivoli.
Behind Palais du Louvre by Pont-Neuf. Royal Parish Church. Romanesque Bell tower and 14C porch. Daily, 0800-2000. Some nice artwork inside.
When the Louvre was still a royal palace (Palais du Louvre), this was its church. It drew an assortment of royalty, courtesans, men of art and law, and local artisans. Sharing place du Louvre with Perrault's colonnade, the Gothic church contains only the foundation stones of its original 11th-century belfry.
www.sacred-destinations.c...errois.htm
LOUVRE. Palais du Louvre. Métro: Palais-Royal.
World's greatest art museum, and certainly one of the largest. The extraordinary collections are divided into Asian antiquities, Egyptian antiquities, Greek and Roman antiquities, sculpture, objets d'art, paintings, and prints and drawings. The quality and the sheer variety are overwhelming. Free the first Sunday of each month.
NOTE: Faster to enter through the Carrousel du Louvre Mall on rue de Rivoli than through the pyramid.
www.insecula.com/musee/M0001.html
CARROUSEL LOUVRE.
Large, bustling underground mall with many small, trendy shops.
ARC DU CARROUSEL. Miniature version of Arc de Triomphe
www.paris-views.com/cat_t...Cat_37.htm
MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris, France. 01-44-55-57-50.
A must for lovers of fashion and the decorative arts, this NW wing of the Louvre houses three chic museums: Musée de la Mode, costumes from the 18C the, a showcase of furniture, tapestries, glassware and paintings from the Middle Ages through Napoléon's time and beyond; and the Musée de la Publicité, with changing exhibitions of advertisements and a brash decor, which combines metal walls and exposed brickwork, faded gilding, black-lacquered parquet floors, and leopard-skin pillars. Métro: Palais-Royal.
JARDIN DE TUILERES. M: Tuileries or Concorde.
Bordered by quai des Tuileries, pl. de la Concorde, rue de Rivoli, and the Louvre. Monet and Renoir captured this impressive garden with paint and brush, Left Bank songstresses have sung its charms, and all Parisians know it as a place to stroll and survey the surrounding city. The planting of the Tuileries is typically French: formal and neatly patterned, with rows of trees and gravel paths. On weekends, string quartets and jugglers entertain large crowds. Métro: Tuileries.
www.insecula.com/musee/M0039.html
MUSEUM DU JEU DE PUME
Musee de l'Orange. Closed for renovation.
FAUBOURG ST-HONORÉ AREA
Located in the area northwest of the Tuileries, this glamorous neighborhood is a showcase of high-end shops, boutiques, and art galleries. The area also encompasses the President's Palace, the neoclassical Madeleine Church, and the stately place Vendôme.
www.insecula.com/salle/MS...M0047.html
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.
One of the worlds most impressive squares. Originally consecrated to the glory of Louis XV, it was laid out in the 1770s and the site where Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined, along with more than 2,000 others between 1793 and 1795. Ornate lamp posts and two incredible fountains. Egyptian Obelisk from Nile, erected in 1836 and dates from 1250BC.
LA FONTAINE DES MERS
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...06753.html
L'OBÉLISQUE DE LOUXOR
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...11229.html
PALAIS DE L'ELYSEE. Presidential Palace.
ENGLISE DE LA MADELEINE.
With an uncompromising array of columns, this church, known as La Madeleine, looks more like a Greek temple. Inside, the walls are decorated with gold. The church was designed in 1814 but not consecrated until 1842, after futile efforts to turn the site into a train station. Mon.-Sat. 7:30-7, Sun. 8-7. Métro: Madeleine.
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...01186.html
www.paris-views.com/html/...1150,1151,
PLACE DE LA MADELEINE is dotted with specialty and gourmet shops and a flower market (Mon-Sat, 0800-1900). Also home to the poshest public toilets in Paris.
LA MADELEINE ARCADE, 9, place de la Madeleine
Built in 1845. Today it has become fashionable again but it isn't very well known. Its typical architecture recalls the Jouffroy and Verdeau arcades: alternating coloured tiles, regular wooden facades and glass roof. It reflects the luxury and opulence of the smart districts. It houses several upmarket boutiques and fashion designers.
NOTE: On the Place de la Madeleine, next to the flower market, take the spiraling staircase down to the subterranean art nouveau luxurious public restrooms. They are an amazing cavern of carved wood, brass and mirrors, with floral frescoes and stained-glass windows in each toilet! Built in 1905, they just might be the most beautiful in the world.
PLACE VENDOME.
Gorgeous and very famous square which is home to home of to many elegant jewelers.
ST-ROCH. 24 Rue St. Roch. M-F 1300 to 1700.
One of the largest churches in Paris and rich in paintings and monuments from the 17C-19C. Look for bullet holes on the front exterior, from the shooting of Royalists by soldiers led by a young Napoleon Bonaparte. Church also has evening concerts occasionally
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...61142.html
NOTRE-DAME DE LASSUMPTION. Rue Cambon.
This 1670 church is noted for its huge dome and solemn interior. It is the parish church of the Polish community in Paris.
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...64746.html
PLACE DES PYRAMIDES. Gilded statue of Joan of Arc
www.insecula.com/salle/ph...46484.html
www.insecula.com/oeuvre/p...32183.html
LOUVER DES ANTUIRES
PLACE ANDRE-MALRAUX. Has a view northwest towards the Opera and two nice fountains.
PLACE DU PALIS-ROYAL. Louver des Antiares chic shopping mall housing expensive antique stores
www.insecula.com/us/salle...62630.html
www.paris-views.com/cat_t...at_345.htm
OPTIONS:
A. You can take a stroll through the gardens of the Palais Royal and investigate the covered passages, such as the Galerie Vivienne and the Galerie Colbert at the northern end of the garden. There are many more passages worth checking out around the Grands Boulevards (passage Jouffroy and Passage des panoramas off Bvd Montmartre.
www.insecula.com/us/salle...46658.html
B. You can take a stroll along rue du Montorgueil, in the 1st arrondissement, behind les Halles. Take a look inside the Eglise St Eustache on your way, which has a famous pipe organ. On the rue du Montorgueil you'll find market stalls, little shops, trendy cafés, and some good eateries. A good one is la Grille Montorgueil (at no. 50) which serves huge portions of excellent, traditional home-cooked French food at reasonable prices.
OPERA GARNIER.
Haunt of the "Phantom of the Opera" and the setting for Degas's famous ballet paintings, the Garnier is still the most opulent theater in the world. You can see the theater and lobby, without going to a performance: Pay an entrance fee and stroll around at leisure, view the foyer, and peek into the auditorium. The stage is the largest in the world - more than 11,000 square yards, with room for up to 450 performers. Marc Chagall painted the glorious ceiling in 1964. Daily 10-5. Guided tours in English at 3 PM. Métro: Opéra.
Note: Check for honey bees on the roof.
Le Grand Cafe is nearby and a good place for lunch. The multimedia show Paris Story, across the street on Rue Scribe, plays on the hour. Following Rue Scribe to Haussman you come to the buildings of Galleries Lafayette. The one just to the right has the gigantic glass dome. Going west on Haussmann there is Cafe Flo onder the glass dome in Au Printemps [La Mode] and a roof deck with marvelous views and a little cafe next door in La Maison. Good spot for picture taking in the AM.
www.insecula.com/salle/MS01868.html
