PARIS - la ville lumi 232;re

PARIS - la ville lumi 232;re PARIS - la ville lumière Paris is the political and economic capital of France, Paris, the capital and largest city of France, is in the heart of a fertile, heavily populated lowland called the and also the center of French cultural life. It is divided Paris Basin. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the into twenty arrondissements, each one headed by a world. Lovely gardens and parks and historic squares mayor.The Seine River curves through Paris for about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from east to west. The river lie throughout Paris, and chestnut trees line the city's divides Paris into two parts: la rive droite (the Right famous avenues. At night, floodlights shine on Paris's Bank - north of the river), and la rive gauche (the Left many magnificent palaces and monuments. The beauty of Paris has given it the nickname "la ville lumière" Bank - south of the river). The rive droite is larger and has more business and commercial areas with (the "city of light"). Paris is laid out according to plans department stores and theatres. Montmartre, a that developed through hundreds of years. colorful artists' neighborhood on a northern Paris hilltop The larger of two islands in the Seine, the Île de la is located there. Cité (Island of the City), is the heart of Paris. Called Lutèce by the ancient Romans, Paris received its The rive gauche contains the Quartier Latin - an name from the Parisii, the Celtic/Gallic tribe that old student area (in the Middle Ages university students founded the city over 2,000 years ago. In 52 B.C., all spoke Latin). Many educational institutes are Julius Ceasar's Roman soldiers found the area and the located here: la Sorbonne (the oldest part of the Parisii, a tribe of people who lived by fishing. The University of Paris), le Collège de France, l'École de Romans established a colony and Paris soon spread Médicine, l'École Normale Supérieure. out on both banks of the river. It became known as Several bridges cross the Seine. The oldest is the Paris about A.D. 300. It grew rapidly during the Middle Pont Neuf (New Bridge) built in the sixteenth century. Ages, and became a major center of culture and government. About 1200, a fortified wall was built around the city, and as the city grew new walls were built in a series of widening circles. Today boulevards have replaced the walls. The city has a population of over two million, and along with its suburbs forms a complex of over eleven million inhabitants. MUSEUMS Paris is known for its wide boulevards, parks, • The Musée d'Orsay is located in the former train historic monuments, churches and museums. There station gare d'Orsay. It contains a collection of 18th and are more than thirty museums, the most well-known 19th century paintings, and a major group of are: Impressionist paintings. • The Musée du Louvre, dates from about 1200, • The Centre national when it was built as a royal fort. It was rebuilt during d'art et de culture QuickTime?and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorthe 1500's as the royal palace. From then on, many Georges Pompidou, also are needed to see this picture.French rulers expanded it. Napoleon III began to build known as Centre the last addition in 1852. Today it is one of the richest Beaubourg is located in 1art museums in the world (extending /2 mile along the neighborhood called the Seine). it contains the Mona Lisa (la Joconde) by Beaubourg. This Leonardo da Vinci, the Greek statues Vénus de Milo museum opened in 1977, and houses mainly modern and the Victoire de Samothrace. The entrance to artistic, musical and cultural activities. This is one of the the museum is an enormous glass pyramid designed most visited museums in France, partly because it was by I. M. Pei. built with its interior pipes and ducts on the outside. • The Cité de sciences et de l'industrie is a new museum of science and technology. It is located in the Parc de la Villette and it designed for French young QuickTime?and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorpeople. There is the Géode, a spectacular theatre for are needed to see this picture.three-dimensional films shown on a panoramic Omni screen, and the Zénith kids attend rock and techno music concerts. • The Hôtel des Invalides, built in 1676 by Louis XIV houses the red marble tomb of Napoléon 1 Bonaparte, • The Panthéon, in the Quartier Latin, was originally and a huge military museum with collections of historical a church named for Sainte Genevieve, the patron weapons and armor. The museum and tomb stand on saint of Paris. In A.D. 451, she organized the city's the grounds of the Hotel des Invalides (Home for defenses against a threatened attack by Attila the Disabled Soldiers) Hun. It is believed that her prayers prevented the attack and saved the city. In 1791, the church was named the Panthéon, and became a monument to French heroes and other famous people. It is now the burial place for famous French people like: Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, Émile Zola. The motto "Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante" is carved over the entrance. • The Cluny Museum, a house built in the 1400's, has art works and other objects of the Middle Ages, and was built over the ruins of an ancient Roman bath/spa complex. • The Carnavalet Museum, a house dating from the 1500's, has displays that tell the history of Paris. CHURCHES • Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady) is located on the entrances are elaborately decorated with stone Île de la Cité. The cathedral is one of the finest sculptures.. It was built over a Roman temple, examples of Gothic architecture, and was one of the and those ruins may still be seen by entering an first buildings to have flying buttresses (arched underground museum in the courtyard at the exterior supports). The buttresses strengthen the front of the cathedral. walls and permit the use of large stained-glass The cathedral stands on the site of two earlier windows that churches. Construction of the present building allow light to occurred between 1163 and 1250. During the French enter the Revolution (which began in 1789), Notre Dame was building. The heavily damaged by mobs. cathedral's main • Sainte-Chapelle has been called • Basilique du Sacré Coeur (Basilica a Gothic jewel because of its of the Sacred Heart) is a gleaming white enormous stained glass windows. church at the top of Montmartre, Paris's Built by King Louis IX during the tallest hill at 423 feet. With its huge bell 1240's, its walls are made almost tower and onion-shaped dome, it is one entirely of stained glass. The of the city's most familiar sights. windows are separated only by narrow stone frames and extend from just above the floor to the ceiling, a distance of • The Madeleine is an elegant church built in the style of nearly 50 feet (15 meters). a Greek temple with columns all around. PARKS, GARDENS & STREETS • The Bois de Boulogne (Boulogne Forest) located in numerous statues. These were the gardens of the western Paris, it was once a forest, and is now the Palais des Tuileries, city's largest park. It has lakes, several restaurants, a famous royal palace two racetracks, a baseball diamond and the famous begun in 1564, which Roland Garros tennis stadium (where the French stood on the right Open is held). The Bois de Vincennes (Vincennes bank of the River Forest) is at the eastern end of Paris. Seine in Paris. During the French Revolution, • The Place de la Concorde (Square of Peace) is at mobs forced Louis XVI the eastern end of the Champs Élysées. This square and his family to live was built during the 1700's. Within it are eight huge there instead of at statues, two fountains, and the Obelisk of Luxor, a Versailles. For a time, 3,000-year-old stone pillar from Egypt. The Obelisk of the National Luxor stands 75 feet (23 Convention held its sessions in the Tuileries. meters) high. During the Napoleon I made it his home, and it served as the French Revolution (1789-royal residence after the Restoration, until it was 1799), a guillotine destroyed in 1871. (beheading machine) stood in the Place de la Concorde. • The Champ de Mars (Field of Mars) is a beautiful Hundreds of people, including park that was once a military training ground. Among King Louis XVI and Marie its gardens and tree-lined lawns are many attractions Antoinette, were executed on for children, including miniature automobile this guillotine. Other squares speedways, merry-go-rounds, and donkey rides. In in Paris are Carrousel, the Champ de Mars stands the Eiffel Tower. Nation, République, Saint Michel, Vendôme, and • The Champs Élysées (Elysian Fields) is Paris's Vosges. most famous avenue. It is lined with beautiful gardens and rows of chestnut trees. Along its route is the • The Jardin des Tuileries is located at the eastern Rond-Point. This landscaped circle has magnificent end of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées between fountains, and formal flower beds trimmed to look like the Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre. a huge bouquet. At the western end of the Champs At one time it was the huge private garden of the Élysées stands the Arc de Triomphe (Arch of kings, but today it houses merry-go-rounds, children's Triumph). play areas, and lovely walking grounds decorated with MONUMENTS • The Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) rises 984 feet (300 • The Arc de Triomphe (Arch of meters) on the Left Bank at a turn Triumph) was begun by Emperor in the river. It was built as the Napoleon I in 1806 as a symbol of a world's fair called the monument to his troops. It was Universal Exposition of 1889, and patterned it after the triumphal was almost torn down afterwards. arches of ancient Rome. The arch Today visitors can dine in was left unfinished when restaurants on various platforms Napoleon lost power in 1814. It in the tower and enjoy spectacular was completed in 1836, and is the views of Paris. largest triumphal arch in the world. The arch stands 162 feet (49.5 meters) high. The arch • The Opéra Garnier (also known as the Palais Garnier) was designed and built by Garnier in 1875, is decorated with relief sculpture. The grave of France's Unknown Soldier of World War I lies and formerly housed the Paris opera company. It now beneath the arch. holds dance programs, and the Opera de la Bastille The arch is in the presents opera. Paris also has several symphony orchestras, about 60 theaters, and the Comédie-Place Charles de Française, Paris's most famous theater, offers Gaulle (formerly called the Place classics of French drama. de l'Etoile - for of • The Colonne de Juillet (July Column) is a the star pattern in column located in Bastille Square.The Bastille the paving was a fortress / prison in Paris that stood as a stones), one of symbol of royal tyranny. On July 14, 1789, at more than 130 the beginning of the French Revolution, a large public squares in Paris. Broad avenues extend from crowd of Parisians captured the Bastille. This the square in 12 directions. It stands at the western act convinced King Louis XVI to withdraw his end of the broad avenue called the Champs Élysées. troops from Paris. • Le Métropolitain (the Métro) is the Paris subway system. It has has more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of track. The Regional Express Network (RER) is a suburban commuter train system that links the western, eastern, and southern suburbs with Paris. The trains travel at about 60 miles (96 kilometers) per hour. • The Palais de Versailles is a magnificent palace, built by King Louis XIV during the 1600's and the royal residence for more than 100 years. It is now a national museum. The palace stands in the city of Versailles, about 11 miles (18 1kilometers) southwest of Paris. The palace is more than /4 mile long and has about 1,300 rooms. Versailles was originally the site of a hunting lodge built in 1624 by Louis XIII. After he died, his son, Louis XIV, ordered that a palace be constructed on the same site. Work began in 1661 and took more than 40 years to complete. The interior of the palace is richly decorated. The most famous rooms include the living quarters of the king and queen, the Room of Hercules, and the Hall of Mirrors. The Hall of Mirrors was begun in 1678, and is a long hallway lined with mirrors that runs along the front of the palace. The ceiling is decorated with paintings glorifying the achievements of Louis XIV. The palace also contains a magnificent royal chapel and a private theater. The palace gardens were first laid out in the 1660's, were enlarged several times, and now cover nearly 250 acres. Plantings, fountains, and statues are arranged in geometric patterns. The park also includes two small palaces called the Grand Trianon, and the Petit Trianon. Nearby are stables; an orangerie (greenhouse for growing orange trees); and the picturesque hameau, a miniature farm designed for Queen Marie Antoinette. The French Revolution of 1789-1799 led to the overthrow of the French king. Mobs invaded the palace during the revolution and removed or destroyed most of the furniture and art. Little was done to maintain the building until the early 1900's, when restoration work began.