I was lucky to visit Paris for one of my birthdays. It was a gift from my parents and I went there with my mom for 3 days. Paris is one of the cities that is very close to Barcelona, it’s only 2 hours by plane. And I really wanted to see it. We went there in February and I remember it being very cold and windy. We even had to buy more clothes there to stay warm, a hoodie with a phrase J'adore Paris and I really wanted a little copy of the Eiffel tower for myself.
The historic center of the city is located on the Cité island or l'ile de la Cité. There you can see two of the most famous churches in France: Notre Dame Cathedral (that means as Our Lady Cathedral) and Sainte-Chapelle (or Holy Chapel).
Notre Dame de Paris was built in 1163 by the orders of the bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully. It is the biggest church in Paris. And it is known all over the world thanks to the historical novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. In English, it is known as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Telling about 15th century Paris, The novel is one of the best works in French literature and it has been adapted for film, TV and stage performances. In 1996 Disney aired the animated film The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and 2 years later there was the debut of a French Musical Notre-Dame de Paris with one of the most beautiful songs ever written called “Belle”.
Unfortunately the cathedral was badly damaged by fire on April 15, 2019. And currently is under reconstruction.
Sainte-Chapelle is a Gothic chapel on the territory of the former Royal Palace. The chapel was built by the orders of Louis IX of France, also known as Saint Louis, to make it a place to store the sacred relics taken by the crusaders from Constantinople. It includes one of the most important relics in the medieval Christendom "Crown of Thorns, stained with the blood of Christ,". The possession of this relic strengthened the influence of the French kingdom in the Christian world.
The Eiffel tower was just, as I imagined, very big and beautiful.
It Hard to believe that it was planned as a just temporary structure and intended as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair. But it turned out to be a huge success and became a true symbol of the city.
North of the tower rises the Sacré-Coeur Basilica (or Basilica the Sacred Heart of Jesus ), built on top of the Montmartre hill which is the highest point of the city, and there you can enjoy the amazing panorama of Paris.
During the period called Belle Époque, (which was near the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the twentieth), The artists Renoir, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Utrillo, Rousseau lived and worked here; and later - Picasso, Braque, Modigliani, the poet Apollinaire and others. Favorite meeting places for Parisian bohemians were bars and cabarets such as Chat Noir, Moulin Rouge, Le Lapin Agile. Montmartre is also the setting for several hit films. Such as An American in Paris, Moulin Rouge and Beauty and the Beast.
There are 37 bridges in Paris that cross the river Seine. One of the bridges that was named after one of the Russian tzars, Alexander III. It is a Very fancy single-arch bridge between Les Invalides and the Champs Elysees. The bridge was laid by the last Emperor of Russia Nicholas II to commemorate the Franco-Russian alliance, and he named it after his father, Emperor Alexander III, who was also known as the “Peacemaker”.
Another famous bridge is called Le Pont de Normandie, one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world. Another is Le Pont Neuf, also known as the "New Bridge", is the oldest standing bridge in Paris. Another famous bridge is le Pont des Arts built by order of Napoleon.
The bridge got its name from the Louvre Museum, which at the beginning of the 19th century was called the Palace of Arts. Le Pont des Arts is also famous for a lover’s tradition: to attach the love locks with their names to the bridge, and throw the key into the river as a sign of loyalty. It is a very romantic idea but these "Love Locks" created a threat to the bridge fences due to the weight of the locks and as a result a part of the railings collapsed. This bridge also appeared on the finale of Sex and the City.
In Paris, there are 173 museums dedicated to all sorts of subjects with exhibits from all over the world. The most famous museum in the capital is the Louvre. Opened in 1793 in the former residence of the French kings, the Louvre Museum consists of 35,000 exhibits, masterpieces of Western European art from the Middle Ages up to 1848, as well as ancient civilizations like ancient Egyptians, Romans, Etruscans, civilizations of the Middle East and the art of Islamic peoples. It is also home to "Mona Lisa" and "Venus de Milo" are kept.
On the south of the river there is the Latin quarter that was built around the famous Sorbonne University. The university was founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon with the idea of teaching theology to poor students. Today Paris is home to the most prestigious educational institutions in France and the leader in the international ranking of student cities.
Not too far from the Latin quarter there is a military museum called Les Invalides. An architectural monument, built by order of Louis XIV known as (Louis le Grand) and the Sun King (le Roi Soleil). Intended as a charity house for honored army veterans ("war invalids"). It was one of the first invalid homes in Europe. Today it still accepts disabled people, and also houses several museums and a military necropolis.
One of the statues worth mentioning is the statue of a national heroine of France, Joan of Arc, located on a square called place des Pyramides. She was a commander of the French forces in the Hundred Years War.
Another iconic sight of Paris is the Triumphal Arch or Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, it honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.
In 1853, Napoleon III appointed George Hausmann to reshape the Seine Department. Therefore, he destroyed most of the old Paris to create an axis through the capital and opened up beautiful views of the city's many monuments. All his urban planning work has social and military reasons.
The historical axis of architectural monuments crosses the city from the center to the west. Starting from the Louvre Museum it continues through the Tuileries Gardens, Avenue Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, If you go further there is the Defense quarter where you can see the Grand Arch of Defense in the center.
Champs Elysees is a central street of Paris, Since 1975 it’s used as The finish of the most prestigious cycling race in the world, "Tour de France"
The most popular sports club in Paris is the Paris Saint-Germain football club. Founded in 1970, it plays its home games at the Parc des Princes stadium, built in the late 19th century.
Not too far from PSG stadium, there is The Roland Garros stadium that hosts one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, the French Open.
It is also very recommendable to go outside of the city to see le palacio de Versaille, which was the principal royal residence of France from 1682, under Louis XIV, until the start of the French Revolution in 1789, under Louis XVI. It is located in the department of Yvelines, in the region of ÃŽle-de-France, about 20 kilometers southwest of the center of Paris.
And last but not least if you are a fan of Disney, Marvel, Pixar or Star Wars you should visit Disneyland in Paris. Disneyland is home to two theme parks, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney Village Amusement Park, Golf Disneyland, as well as hotels and business and residential areas.
Operas:
The Phantom of the Opera
Notre Dame de Paris
Movies:
Midnight in Paris
Moulin Rouge
French Kiss
Marie Antoinette
Da Vinci’s code
An American in Paris
Lalaland
How to steal a million
Charade
Funny Face
Audrey Hepburn
Devil Wears Prada
Inception
Paris je t'aime
The Pink Panther
Coco before Chanel
Paris When It Sizzles
Anastasia
Beauty and the Beast
Ratatouille
the hunchback of Notre Dame
TV Shows: Gossip girl
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