While you’re nearby, you should

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While you’re nearby, you should Don’t miss: While you’re nearby, you should probably check out the Musée National Gustave Moreau. The

The old train tracks that join Bastille and Vincennes have now been reclaimed as La Coulée Verte: a verdant, picturesque...
20/09/2022

The old train tracks that join Bastille and Vincennes have now been reclaimed as La Coulée Verte: a verdant, picturesque five-kilometre trail of elevated gardens, the Jardin de Reuilly and tree-lined cycle paths. Kick off at the Bastille end and you can nip up one of the staircases on Avenue Daumesnil to get sweeping views of the city. It’s so scenic that doing the whole thing can easily take up a whole day. If you‘re going to do that, pack a picnic and stop in the Jardin de Reuilly, where there’s (we’re not kidding) Paris’s first sparkling water fountain (there are now around ten more). Then you can carry on to the glorious Bois de Vincennes, which has lakes and leafy, shaded parkland.

The Pompidou’s ‘inside-out’ appearance – with pipes, air ducts and escalators proudly gracing the exterior – has made it...
20/09/2022

The Pompidou’s ‘inside-out’ appearance – with pipes, air ducts and escalators proudly gracing the exterior – has made it one of the best-known sights in Paris. It’s so striking that when it opened in 1977, its success exceeded all expectations… which was kind of a problem, as in essence five times more people turned up than had been expected: in its early years it was a byword for excessive busyness.

This grandiose venue in the North-East of Paris aims to make classical music accessible and non-elitist, with a remit to...
20/09/2022

This grandiose venue in the North-East of Paris aims to make classical music accessible and non-elitist, with a remit to draw in novices well as seasoned concert-goers. This all naturally hinges on the tickets being affordable: at a time when cultural activities are getting increasingly costly, the Philharmonie hopes to counter the trend much as the Opéra Bastille did for opera. Aesthetically impressive and large, this 2,400-seat concert hall frequently dazzles with season after season of eclectic concerts and events.

You’ll find many of the legendary sculptor’s greatest works in this museum based at the hôtel particulier where the scul...
20/09/2022

You’ll find many of the legendary sculptor’s greatest works in this museum based at the hôtel particulier where the sculptor spent his final years until his death in 1917. Timeless highlights including ‘The Kiss’, ‘The Cathedral’, ‘The Walking Man’ and many other busts and terracottas. You’ll also find work on display by Camille Claudel, Rodin’s pupil and mistress. As a further bonus there are works by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Carrière here too.

Paris has had a pretty serious street art scene from as long ago as the 1960s, and it’s only grown bigger since. There i...
20/09/2022

Paris has had a pretty serious street art scene from as long ago as the 1960s, and it’s only grown bigger since. There is plenty of wall space in the city’s suburbs, outer arrondissements and centre for local and international artists to get creative with their spray cans and transform whole areas into outdoor art galleries. By definition this stuff tends to be somewhat transient – if you can, take a look at the several dedicated blogs for up-to-date info.

The Musée Picasso isn’t quite as famous as Paris’s other major galleries, but it’s so absolutely worth a visit. Bang in ...
20/09/2022

The Musée Picasso isn’t quite as famous as Paris’s other major galleries, but it’s so absolutely worth a visit. Bang in the middle of the Marais, this attractive gallery is in a former 17th century mansion. The masterpieces on show here are endless and include ‘La Celestina’, ‘The Supplicant’ and ‘Portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter’. It’s the perfect sized gallery to spend a slow morning in before heading out for a leisurely lunch.

It would of course be ridiculous to visit Paris without at least dipping into the world’s largest museum. The Louvre’s m...
20/09/2022

It would of course be ridiculous to visit Paris without at least dipping into the world’s largest museum. The Louvre’s maze of corridors, galleries and stairways constitute a city within a city – especially when you take into account the sheer numbers that visit (a record 10.2 million people back in 2018). It’s undeniably somewhat intimidating: with 35,000 works on public display, split across eight departments and three wings, there is zero chance you’re going to see it all in a single day. The best bet is to pick the parts you want to see beforehand, be patient and make your way steadily through the crowds. If you want a few starter tips, we recommend a trip to the impressive Islamic arts galleries, which opened in 2012. For the Mona Lisa –yes it’s a cliché, but why wouldn’t you want to see it? – head to the Salle de la Joconde.

When this modern and contemporary art building opened in 2002, many thought the Palais de Tokyo’s determinedly no-frills...
20/09/2022

When this modern and contemporary art building opened in 2002, many thought the Palais de Tokyo’s determinedly no-frills aesthetic amounted to a deliberate statement. In fact, it was purely for budgetary reasons. Happily, the venue has really flourished since then, especially after an extended 2012 overhaul of its open-plan space. Extended hours and a cool café bring in younger audiences, and the roll-call of artists is impressive (Roberto Braga, Wang Du, Theaster Gates and others). The name harks back to the 1937 Exposition Internationale, but is also a reminder of links with a new generation of artists from the Far East.

Elegant precursors to the modern-day shopping centre, in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Paris there were lots of glas...
20/09/2022

Elegant precursors to the modern-day shopping centre, in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Paris there were lots of glass-roofed shopping galleries in areas around the Grands Boulevards. These covered passages allowed you to take shortcuts, escape the elements or (ooh la la!) steal a forbidden kiss with your lover in relative privacy. Not that it was all elegant charm: most passages were also given a salon de décrottage: a room where the dog excrement you’d trodden through was scraped off your shoes. Sadly that service is long gone, but these days passages couverts are perfect little hideaways for an afternoon’s retail therapy.

What is La Petite Ceinture? Basically, it’s an out-of-use railway that girdles Paris like, well, a little belt – hence t...
20/09/2022

What is La Petite Ceinture? Basically, it’s an out-of-use railway that girdles Paris like, well, a little belt – hence the name. The track has been in disrepair since the last freight train went through in the ’80s (the final passenger train went through way back in 1934). Although bits of it are earmarked for transformation into an urban park – and a stretch on the 20th arrondissement actually has been – the city council is on the whole unsure what to do with La Petite Ceinture – for now, it mostly remains an, ahem, unauthorised way of navigating Paris.

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